The world of phobias never ceases to amaze us with practically unavoidable situations. Many people find it difficult to imagine what life is like for a person who suffers from a phobia, especially when it comes to meteorological phenomena that are not in our hands to control. On this occasion we talk about thermo phobia or fear of heat.
What is thermo phobia?
Thermo phobia is the fear of heat. It is a specific phobia of an environmental situation that, logically, has no way to control or modify it. If it’s hot, you can’t do anything to avoid it and this can range from labor conflicts to social isolation, especially in summer.
Heat phobia can develop in all parts of the world, but it is especially troublesome in places with hot weather or well-defined seasons. In winter, the phobia is hardly noticeable, except for the high of closed heated places. But the arrival of summer, so celebrated by the majority, becomes a real hell for people who suffer from thermo phobia.
Know the causes of fear of heat
What is the origin of this irrational and inevitable fear of heat? Most phobias develop from an anxiety disorder in which the mind sees danger where there is none. The alarm is triggered by situations that for other people are normal or even pleasant.
Another cause that can cause a phobia is having suffered a traumatic experience related to that situation or object, in this case heat. If you have ever suffered a heat stroke and experienced it as a traumatic situation, it is likely that through conditioning you turned that memory into a phobia.
To these two common reasons that generate phobias, organic or physiological reasons are added in the case of thermo phobia. Due to some particular circumstances, your body does not adapt well to heat and that makes your body experience it as a dangerous situation.
Identify your symptoms
Few people like excessive heat and may experience dizziness and excessive sweating when temperatures rise. Avoiding sunny hours does not make you afraid of heat, what differentiates the phobia is the feeling of obvious fear of heat. Fear, which can become panic, is the most obvious proof that we are facing a phobic disorder.
Logically, the person with thermo phobia experiences the most common anxiety symptoms. And on a psychological level, this phobia means a loss of self-esteem due to thoughts of disability and a deterioration of social and work relationships. A day at the beach, for example, is not an activity that a person with thermo phobia can indulge in.
Treatment of fear of heat
All fears are overcome by facing them, what changes are the strategies. In the case of thermo phobia, gradual exposure therapy is necessary, but be careful, because the treatment of is not an experiment that you can do at home. Ask for psychological help to guarantee your success and safety.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most used to overcome phobias, since it goes to the root of the problem, finds the origin of that fear and works on thoughts, emotions and behavior from that origin. In any case, therapies to treat phobias such as this fear of heat are often accompanied by relationship techniques due to their relationship with anxiety.