Tachophobia (speed phobia): symptoms, causes and treatment

Phobias describe very intense and irrational fears, sometimes disabling, that arise when exposing ourselves to specific stimuli or situations. They constitute a prevalent group of anxiety disorders, and usually present comorbidly with other problems in the same category (generalized anxiety, for example).

Despite what has been said, this fear does not usually motivate consultation with specialists, since those who suffer from it develops strategies to avoid the scenario in which it usually takes place (thus minimizing its interference).

In some cases, however, it is difficult to avoid such clashes, so the person's life is deteriorates rapidly in many different settings (including academics or the labor). In this article we will address tachophobia, a relatively common specific phobia in children and adults. Its symptoms, causes and treatment will be detailed; based on current evidence on the issue.

• Related article: "Types of Phobias: Exploring Fear Disorders"

What is tachophobia?

The term tachophobia comes from the Greek, and more specifically from the words "tachýtita" and "phobos". The first of these refers to velocity (a physical measure that describes the variation in the position of a body according to a specific time unit) and the second is translated as "fear" or "aversion". When both come together they form a word designed to describe the experience of

phobic fear that occurs when someone is exposed to situations in which they appreciate excessive speed.

One of the core characteristics of all phobias, which serves as a hallmark of normal fear, is their foundation. irrational (recognition of its excessive intensity in contrast to the threat posed by the feared stimulus at a level aim).

Nevertheless, speed can pose a real riskTherefore, only that fear that prevents essential activities for the development of daily life will be considered phobic. (getting on a train, traveling by car, etc.) or that is clearly disproportionate (it is triggered even at very high speeds). low).

Symptoms

The symptoms of tachophobia emerge when the subject participates in activities that involve exposure to high speeds. These can be very varied, and include both those in which you have an active role (driving, for example) and those that involve an attitude of greater passivity (going on a roller coaster, occupying the position of co-pilot, traveling by train or plane, etc.). Thus, it is a fear that goes beyond insecurity of losing control and consequently suffering an accident, as happens in amaxophobia.

In severe cases, the fear of speed extends to the most ordinary spaces.. For example, an individual might feel intense discomfort at the moment he decides to run, or even when he was exposed to situations in which he noticed that "things happen too much hurry”. Episodes of tachophobia have also been described during the observation of an object that moves quickly and/or erratically, despite the fact that there is no risk of collision with the person who fears it (in a movie, for example).

In conclusion, tachophobia involves intense fear responses in which speed is the protagonist, especially when the body is exposed to a process of increasing acceleration.

Next we will explore some of its central symptoms. To this end, a distinction will be made between the three basic dimensions of anxiety, namely: cognitive, behavioral and motor.

1. cognitive expression

People with tachophobia may worry about exposing themselves to a speeding situation. This anxious anticipation prevents trips in which it is necessary to use some means of transport from being carried out, since they would not be able to predict their mobility. When such a "journey" is unavoidable, the feeling of threat can last for weeks or even months, growing as the day of departure approaches.

When the moment arrives, in the middle of the journey, excessive attention to visceral sensations associated with body movement emerges (kinesthetic sensitivity): adjustments in the axis of gravity if traveling standing up, for example. This hypervigilance can also settle on the outside, so special attentional emphasis would be placed on the external markers used. to "calculate" the relative speed at which we are moving: dashed lines on the road, static objects on the side of the road, etc Thus, the subject would remain expectant of everything that happened in his body (or outside of it) and that could suggest movement.

This sharpening of visual and kinesthetic sensations it forms a complex stimulus that is interpreted in a catastrophic way, and excessive with respect to the "real" danger. It is common in this context for thoughts such as "we are going to kill ourselves" or "I'm going to faint if he doesn't stay." stopped already”, which contribute to the assessment of threat and the exacerbation of the physiological reactions of fear.

On the other hand, the person usually harbors irrational beliefs regarding speed, overestimating the risk of an accident despite the fact that propitious conditions are not met and perceiving oneself incapable of tolerating what he fears. These beliefs act as the base on which the concrete thoughts, of a catastrophic type, that were previously described, are erected.

2. physiological expression

The bodily sensations that the person experiences are similar to those of an anxiety attack (panic), and are the result of sympathetic hyperactivation (the branch of the autonomic nervous system that triggers fight or flight responses when perceiving a risk situation). It is a very disturbing experience for the one who feels it. In the case of this phobia, the dizziness or vertigo reaction exacerbates the fear, since it is experienced as a subjective movement.

The most common response is an acceleration of breathing (tachypnea) and of the heart rate itself (tachycardia), technical terms that make use of the same Hellenic root as the disorder in question (tachy in this case would mean "fast"). In addition, there is evidence of an increase in pupillary diameter (mydriasis) that blurs visual acuity and increases light sensitivity (photophobia). It is also often observed tremor, sweating and tingling in the distal region of the extremities (especially in the fingers of the hands).

In some cases, acute dissociative symptoms come to concur, which surprise the person by establishing themselves as experiences that are judged strange or deeply unreal. Depersonalization (feeling of detachment from mental and bodily processes) and the derealization (perception that the environment has changed in some way or that it has lost its quality distinctive).

3. motor expression

The cognitive and physiological experiences that have been described up to now are so aversive that the person makes a deliberate effort to avoid them on successive occasions when they might appear.

Thus, will make decisions to avoid a situation related to the speed at which the experience was reproduced, which will translate into deep emotional relief in the short term. This coping mechanism, however, is what maintains the problem in the medium/long term (due to a negative reinforcement system).

• You may be interested in: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

Causes

The most common cause for tachophobia is usually, according to the different investigations that have been developed in this regard, having experienced a traffic accident in which the speed was particularly implicated. When the origin lies in childhood, highly aversive experiences related to sudden movements (attractions at fairs or parks) are identified. themes, for example), which precipitate a fear that a posteriori extends to vehicles that move more or less quickly (and to the very adulthood).

these fears are more common in people who have a biological disposition to anxiety. It seems that the disorder is more prevalent in subjects who show basic vulnerability, and who have also experienced a difficult situation related to movement. The union of genetics and environment is the axis on which this mental health problem gravitates, despite the fact that the relative contribution of each of them is still unknown.

Lastly, there is the possibility that this fear is acquired through observational learning (witnessing someone suffering an accident while driving at high speed) or social (assimilating such a fear by living with a family member who suffers). In any case, those who suffer from tachophobia have something in common: the perception that the different mobile elements are subject to chaos and erratism, so they are dangerous and unpredictable.

What is the treatment for tachophobia?

There are effective psychological approaches to tachophobia, generally stemming from cognitive and behavioral models. The one that has shown the greatest effectiveness is undoubtedly exposure, which consists of a programmed (and sometimes gradual) presentation of related stimuli. with speed, in order to stimulate changes in expectations about them and in the reactions they provoke (through a process of habituation and extinction).

The exhibition can be carried out in many ways: from the use of videos related to speed scenes to guided imagery combined with some arousal control technique (such as diaphragmatic breathing or progressive muscle relaxation of Jacobson). These last procedures are designed to stimulate the action of the parasympathetic nervous system, which opposes that of the sympathetic and promotes a state of relaxation.

It may also be useful to design a hierarchy of situations related to speed, ordered according to the anxiogenic potential attributed to them by the speed. subject (a procedure known as systematic desensitization), so that they can be presented in imagination in a structured and ordered. So, the exhibition would advance from innocuous scenes (such as entering a garage) to others that are much more sensitive and relevant (such as driving on the highway).

Finally, it can be very important to carry out strategies of cognitive restructuring aimed at detecting irrational thoughts related to the emotion of fear, and thus being able to replace them with others more adjusted to objective reality (rational debate). The process supposes an exploration of the inner life and of some conceptions that have been forged throughout the years; so it may require time and the use of tools to record the situation, thought and emotion.

Bibliographic references:

• Maples-Keller, J.L., Yasinski, C., Manjin, N. and Olasov, B. (2007). Virtual Reality Enhanced Extinction of Phobias and Post-Traumatic Stress. Neurotherapeutics, 14(3), 554-563.
• Steimer, T. (2002). The Biology of Fear and Anxiety related Behaviors. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 4(3), 231-249.