The bibliophobia It is the response of exaggerated and irrational fear to books, or to the reading of specific texts. This kind of phobia is caused by negative experiences with books, or reading, which can be generated by lack of understanding of the text, neurological disorders developed in early childhood, ridicule or some type of physical and psychological abuse for not reading correctly ...
This phobia produces various symptoms such as excessive sweating, anxiety and tremors that cause discomfort and significant difficulties in the environments where the individual develops.
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The term bibliophobia has been known since ancient times. It is found in texts since the 18th century, where it was believed that the irrational fear of books came from multiple factors such as: restrictions, lack of reading, superstitions, prudery, jealous apprentices, pedantry and political fears.
It was also believed that it was caused by the absence of experiences with books during childhood, although they had discovered that there were cases of children who had been exposed to books and similarly presented bibliophobia. That is, these experiences did not immunize said phobia.
In addition, it was believed that this outright rejection was caused by the lack of freedom to choose a book, since previously they were not allowed to read all kinds of texts. There were prohibited books because their content went against the beliefs of a society or culture. Similarly, there were mandatory readings that allowed indoctrination.
According to Jackson (1932), this phobia was caused by superstitions, since there were people sacrificed for their knowledge, such as Galileo during the Inquisition. Likewise, it was also fostered by the pedantry of certain renowned writers, who preferred to find the necessary means to prevent the emergence of new knowledge that negates one that they had proposed..
In addition, this was also produced by political fears, when experimenting and observing how libraries were burned, suggesting that if you decided to opt for these readings your life could be in danger.
At present, where the restrictions are much less, scientific advances have managed to demonstrate other causes to generate bibliophobia.
Bibliophobia is associated with traumatic childhood experiences, such as abuse or bad experiences with a literary genre.
These experiences may be related to some physical or psychological abuse - bullying - that is exercised against the child due to his difficulty in reading..
Negative experiences can be associated with a literary genre or subgenre. For example, with a suspense book that produces anxiety and fear in the child, generating irrational terror or generalized imminent rejection.
Covert illiteracy can also be a trigger for bibliophobia. Certain people who cannot read properly prefer to omit it out of embarrassment or avoid an alleged rejection.
It will also depend on the interests of the individual and the understanding of the text. If we instigate the person to read books that are not at their level of knowledge, or their interest in them is null, it is likely that they will develop an aversion to these texts, as well as others of the same genre.
One of the causes of higher incidence could be a misdiagnosis or a misdiagnosis.
That is, in certain children, bibliophobia may occur due to the difficulty they have when reading, which can be the product of a neurodevelopmental disorder such as: specific learning disorder (dyslexia), attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, disorder of communication and intellectual disability.
In addition, we can find reading difficulties in children with language development disorder:
Bibliophobia can be related to disorders such as: epilepsy, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
According to the International League Against Epilepsy (2014), it is a brain disease defined by a pathological and lasting tendency to present recurrent seizures.
Degenerative mental illness that begins in older adults (over 50 years). Its symptoms correspond to memory loss, confusion, difficulty thinking, and changes in language, behavior and personality.
This spectrum is marked by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, highly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior, and less prominent negative symptoms (decreased emotional expression and decreased activities on their own initiative).
People experiencing manic episodes or crises and major depressive episodes or major depressive episodes and hypomanic crises.
People with bibliophobia feel irrational fear or hatred of books or reading, as we mentioned earlier. The most common symptoms are:
In bibliophobia, multiple treatments used to date are applied. As primary treatment we have medication, at the time the person is suffering a persistent and repetitive discomfort.
It is prescribed by a psychiatrist to diminish and diminish the symptoms that accuse the individual. It should be taken into account that the signs disappear for a certain time, as long as the appropriate medication is taken, although the disorder with medication is not cured.
Another treatment option is psychotherapy, corresponding to some currents. The most used in phobias are behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and neurolinguistic programming (NLP). There are also alternative therapies, such as hypnotherapy and energy psychology.
Behavioral therapists treat phobias with classical conditioning techniques.
The cognitive-behavioral ones work the "here and now", directly with the symptoms that the person is presenting. Relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and gradual exposure are commonly used in phobias..
In the same way, within the cognitive-behavioral current, systematic desensitization is applied with greater success, where the therapist gradually exposes the person to their phobia. It is first carried out within a totally controlled environment, such as the office, then tasks are sent home.
NLP is based on mental processes, and on the use and value we give to the word, that is, the way we express ourselves reflects the internal representations of our problems.
In this current, the reprogramming of beliefs, behaviors and thoughts is worked, making the person aware of their words, gestures and facial expressions that cause and detonate irrational fear
Hypnotherapy is an alternative treatment based on relaxation, intense concentration and focused attention on one or more topics that you want to treat to modify thoughts, emotions evoked by a particular situation or object, or to find the psychological cause of the disorder.
A very high state of consciousness must be reached, which is called a trance. The therapist will guide the person in focusing their painful thoughts, emotions and memories to explore them and find the trigger for the symptoms.
Hypnosis is widely used to recover thoughts and memories that are in the unconscious. However, there may be the danger of creating false memories without any therapeutic intention, so it is vitally important not to carry it out in psychotic or dissociative disorders.
If it can be carried out in sleep disorders, eating disorders, onychophagia, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, phobias, in substance-related disorders (tobacco, alcohol, etc.) and in gambling.
Energy psychology is a therapy that is based on the mind-body connection. Therefore, it focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, behaviors and the bioenergetic system of the individual..
This current is the integration of the theory of meridian acupuncture, neurosciences, quantum mechanics and physics, biology, medicine, chiropractic and psychology. It has been used in anxiety disorders, depressives, phobias, pain, stress ...
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