The automatonophobia It is a type of specific phobia in which there is an excessive and irrational fear of everything that a sentient being falsely represents. That is, a person with this alteration has a phobia of ventriloquist dolls, inanimate dolls, animatronic creatures, mannequins or wax statues..
Exposure to these objects generates a high response of anxiety and discomfort in the individual. Likewise, a person with automatonophobia will try to avoid contact with these elements in order to avoid the discomfort they cause..
In general, the contact with ventricle dolls or animated dolls that the vast majority of people make is usually scarce. However, automatonophobia can be a very annoying disorder in certain situations.
Currently there are very effective psychological treatments to overcome this type of phobic fear, so it is usually advisable for people with automatonophobia to start psychotherapy sessions.
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Automatonophobia is an anxiety disorder. It is a specific type of phobia in which ventricular dolls, mannequins or wax statues are feared excessively, irrationally and uncontrollably.
The main characteristic of this psychopathology lies in the behavioral pattern of the person. That is, an individual with automatonophobia will avoid contact with their feared elements whenever possible..
On the other hand, contact with ventricular dolls usually generates a high anxiety response in the person, who experiences very high feelings of discomfort in such situations.
Finally, the other important characteristic of the disorder lies in the properties of fear towards these elements. For the establishment of automatonophobia, the fear of ventricular dummies must be characterized by being:
The fear that ventriloquist dolls, animatronic creatures, mannequins and cherry statues provoke in automatonophobia provoke a series of anxiety symptoms.
Anxious manifestations of the disorder are characterized by being intense and generating high discomfort in the individual. However, the anxiety response does not usually develop a panic attack.
The most easily identifiable symptoms of the disorder for the individual are the physical manifestations. The fear generated by the elements feared by the person cause a series of alterations in their physical functioning.
Increased heart rate and respiratory rate, palpitations or tachycardias, muscle tension, feelings of suffocation, pupillary dilation, headaches and / or stomach pain, dry mouth, dizziness, nausea and vomiting are the most typical symptoms.
Likewise, automatonophobia is characterized by generating a series of cognitive symptoms. The person with this alteration develops a large number of irrational thoughts about their feared elements, which are characterized by granting high negative attributes.
Finally, the last group of symptoms of the disorder are located on the behavioral plane of the subject. In this sense, automatonophobia generates two main types of manifestations: avoidance and escape..
Avoidance refers to all the mechanisms that the subject sets in motion in order to avoid contact with their phobic stimuli. Escape, on the other hand, defines the behavior that is carried out when in contact with ventriloquist dolls, moments in which the subject tries to escape from the situation.
At present, automatonophobia has a well-studied and well-defined diagnosis. This is identical to that of other types of specific phobias and is characterized by:
At present, the causes of automatonophobia are unknown, although it has been theorized that fear of the pathology could stem from a society's expectations for the way other human beings should behave..
It is also postulated that the phobic fears of the disorder may be driven by exposure to aggressive or frightening representations of robotic or inanimate objects..
Likewise, the hypothesis has been developed that the human brain could possess a certain predisposition to perceive the automaton as something dangerous or terrifying.
More generally, certain authors indicate that, as with the rest of specific phobias, automatonophobia could have genetic factors in its etiology. Likewise, anxious personality traits could predispose to the development of the pathology
Currently, the first-line treatment for automatonophobia is psychotherapy. In this sense, cognitive behavioral treatment has very high efficacy rates for this psychopathological disorder..
This treatment is mainly based on the exposure technique. The therapist gradually and controlled exposes the subject to his feared elements, with the aim of working on the anxiety response and accustoming the individual to his phobic stimuli.
On the other hand, in the treatment of automatonophobia relaxation training is usually incorporated to reduce the subject's state of anxiety.
Likewise, the use of cognitive therapy is effective in treating and managing irrational thoughts about ventriloquist dolls, animatronic creatures, mannequins, and wax statues..
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