Whether we like it or not, religion is part of our cultural context and that is why it continues to have a certain influence on our lives. Sometimes for the better and other times for the worse, since there are some phobias related to the religious sphere, such as Papa phobia, which can greatly complicate the life of the person who suffers from it.
What is papa phobia?
Papa phobia is the fear of the Pope, of the visible head or representative of the Catholic Church, of that figure that from Rome travels around the world wrapped in a sacred and mystical halo. It is not so strange that the Pope is the stimulus of a phobia considering all the mysteries and secrets that are created around him.
You can more or less like the, you can identify more or less with the Catholic Church and you can be more or less close to religion. But the phobic disorder appears when the figure of the Pope impacts your life and not in a positive way in your spirit, but in a very negative and avoidant way.
Symptoms of Papa phobia
How does Papa phobia manifest itself? It is the question that we all ask ourselves. How do you know if you are afraid of? The fact that you are critical of the church does not imply that you have this phobia, or that you do not like the Pope for what he represents, or that you do not pay attention to his speeches or even that you change the channel because he does not interest you. That he says.
The phobia manifests itself through a series of physical symptoms that coincide with the symptoms of anxiety. Dizziness, excessive sweating, tachycardia, tingling, shortness of breath, feeling of unreality and may even lead to a panic attack. All this before the idea of the Pope or before the vision of the Pope on television. Not to mention running into him on one of his visits from him, which is something you can very easily avoid.
Causes of Papa phobia
This fear of the Pope is a very rare specific phobia, but it exists and must be treated. Nor is it so strange if we approach concepts such as the human soul, the meaning of life or even abstract ideas such as infinity, which is also the subject of phobias. Everything that is incomprehensible to us can scare us and religion is one of those things that can be distant and mysterious.
From this natural, the sacred, what we cannot understand, it is not difficult to reach a phobic disorder if we add previous anxiety problems. And, as with all phobias, a traumatic experience in which the person felt a great emotional charge due to some event while the Pope was there, for example, speaking on television cannot be ruled out.
Papa phobia Treatment
The fact that Papa phobia is not one of the most limiting phobias in everyday life does not mean that it should not be treated. The presence of a phobia indicates that there are also emotional disorders and treatment must be sought to prevent new fears and new problems from appearing.
The best therapy to overcome a phobia is cognitive behavioral therapy, something that must be done by a professional psychologist. With this treatment you get to the origin of the distorted thought that makes you feel panic when you think of the Pope and from there you can modify that avoidance behavior.
Losing the irrational and excessive fear of the Pope is the objective and throughout the treatment relationship or the practice of meditation is proposed to reduce the component of anxiety that is associated with all phobias.