There is a great deal of controversy surrounding medications. While on the one hand they alert us to the risk of self-medication, on the other hand there are those who deny any medication, even vaccines. And indeed, medications are not without their side effects, but in most cases they are absolutely necessary to regain health. Few times in our dictionary have we dealt with one as dangerous as pharmacopoeia or the fear of drugs? Do you know what is it about? We will tell you about its symptoms, its causes and its treatment.
What is pharmacopoeia?
Pharmacopoeia is the fear of drugs or medication. It does not matter if it is a question of ingesting pills than of giving you an injection, inhaling some medicine or even applying some cream. Anything prescribed medically and originating from a pharmaceutical company is considered so dangerous that the person with this phobia feels an irrational fear.
The phobia or fear extends to those places where medications are prescribed or where you can buy them. Pharmacies, health centers and hospitals are prohibited places for people with pharmacopoeia. And that is when the characteristic avoidance behavior of phobic appears.
And we ask ourselves, can you live without going to the doctor, without ever going to a hospital or without taking the treatment that is prescribed to heal an ailment or disease? As you can see, if another we warn of the daily limitations imposed by fear and the drastic reduction in quality of life, in pharmacopoeia this goes one step further and endangers one’s life. The highest risk is death, which can be reached if you refuse to medically treat a disease.
Symptoms of pharmacopoeia or fear of drugs
The symptoms of pharmacopoeia are the. Sweating, feeling of danger, tachycardia, shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, vomiting or even panic attack. The thought of having to take medication can cause a real emotional overflow.
Because pharmacopoeia not only has physical symptoms, it also has psychological ones. We are talking about an extreme and irrational fear caused by a distorted thought that has become obsessive. If you have pharmacopoeia, it is not that you refuse to take drugs because you prefer to die, it is that you think that the drug itself will kill you or leave unacceptable squeal.
The anxiety crisis does not come only when you see yourself in front of a box of pills or an injection. It can also happen to you when you feel any minor discomfort and think that you should go to the doctor to see what it is. Or even when you see someone close to you take a medicine, when you find it in a drawer at home or when you see it on television.
Causes of pharmacopoeia
And what is the origin of this phobia ? As you know, phobias are characterized by an excessive and unmotivated feeling of fear. And in the case of pharmacopoeia, the fear is excessive but it is not entirely unmotivated. The fear of taking medication has a real basis because we all know that a drug cures a certain ailment but its side effects can cause a new one or cause certain consequences.
There is also the theory, increasingly accepted although it may seem like a conspiracy theory that Big Parma is playing with our health. That their medicines treat diseases that they themselves create to continue selling their product. And even if this is not the case, the truth is that pharmaceutical companies arouse great suspicion in the majority of the population. What am I actually taking?
One of the most frequent causes of pharmacopoeia is found in this common problem that many people suffer from when taking a pill. These people have had a very bad time on occasion and have felt as if they were suffocating when the pill gets stuck in their throat. It is a more frequent problem than it seems and that, together with, can cause the phobia to originate.
And like any phobia, in some cases we can go to the traumatic experience to understand its origin. A hospital admission for something serious in childhood, having seen the consequences of drugs in someone in the family or even an optional error, which there are, could have generated an enormous emotional charge and remain in the form of trauma. From there to developing pharmacopoeia is only a small step.
Treatment of fear of drugs
The first problem we face when treating pharmacopoeia is intrinsic to the disorder itself. Phobias are overcome with psychological treatment, of course, but in most cases a pharmacological treatment based on anxiolytics it is also necessary to reduce the anxiety component. And in this case, the drugs are the problem.
So you have to start with the psychological treatment that most of the time opts for a Cognitive in which distorted thinking about drugs is worked on. In principle, it must be recognized that medications carry a certain risk, but the truth is that they can also save your life. And the risk of side effects, in the case of pharmacopoeia, is overstated.
By working on irrational thinking, it is possible to reach that more objective point of view about drugs, but therapy does not end here. Because now you have to transform that behavior or behavior to which the person has become accustomed, which is the avoidance of all contact with any medication?
Avoidance is achieved with Exposure. And no, the therapist is not going to put a pill in front of you and tell you to take it. Exposure Therapy works if it is done gradually and progressively and you can start by daring to go to a health center or even to enter a pharmacy and familiarize yourself with the drugs.
It doesn’t hurt to have an in-depth talk with a medical professional or the pharmacy itself who offers a more positive, albeit realistic, view of medications, their risks but also their benefits. At this point, the person with pharmacopoeia already knows perfectly well that he needs drugs to maintain his health from him, the only thing that he still does not dare to take them.
As all phobias present with high doses of anxiety, therapy must also be aimed at reducing the emotional charge produced by medications. And to handle very useful strategies such as breathing exercises, relaxation or Mindfulness, something that in the long term will.
We would like to warn you that pharmacopoeia is a serious disorder that can endanger your life. So forget about those prejudices when going to the psychologist and avoid that promises almost miracles or various pseudo therapies that ensure you overcome the phobia in a short space of time. Put yourself in the hands of a professional because your life is at stake.