Fear of events and actions; fear of one's own states and fear of not coping with internal states - psychotherapy treatment. Ergophobia or fear of work

Surely many people have heard about ergophobia at least once in their lives. And some, having learned about the meaning of this term, even found in its meaning a lot of life for themselves. After all, ergophobia is the fear of work, to put it in simple words. It does not arise from scratch, but has significant prerequisites. However, this topic is of particular interest, so it is worth paying a little more attention to its consideration.

origin of name

There are people who are truly afraid of work. What is the name of the phobia, they are well aware. This is ergophobia. Which is often also called ergasiophobia. But this term characterizes a slightly different form of manifestation of the disorder, personifying an aversion to work. However, each of the concepts is derived from two Greek words. "Ergo" means work, and "phobos" means fear.

About prerequisites

Fear of work can develop in a person for many reasons. One of the most serious is prolonged depression. An individual who has lost all interest in life forgets about incentives to work.

Neurosis can also be the cause. A person suffering from neurological dysfunction is not able to engage in fruitful useful activities. He is hindered by preoccupation obsessive thoughts and coping with chronic anxiety.

They are also a big reason. There are people for whom even being in a working environment causes anxiety that develops into panic.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can also cause fear of work. Experience in a previous job could be deplorable for an individual, and even injure him. Memories are a powerful barrier to search new work also raising concerns. Will the bad experience happen again?

Other reasons

These are not all the reasons why there may be a fear of work. Some people, for example, have a phobia of their workplace. One of countless examples: a person can be a foreman and be afraid that something from a construction site will fall on his head at one moment.

Boredom can also be a prerequisite. If a person started his career with a boring job, then the impression is likely that a fruitful activity can never become interesting.

The so-called burnout syndrome also often provokes the appearance of ergophobia. The man just gets bored with what he does. His work becomes routine, and every day is like the previous one. Loss of enthusiasm and desire to work. In people creative professions burnout manifests itself in the absence of new ideas and inspiration.

Also, ergophobia is often accompanied by a fear of rejection. It usually affects people who in the past worked successfully for the benefit of an institution for a long time, but then were fired. Consequently, they have a fear of getting a job, accompanied by a fear of a possible reduction. It's the same as with the bad experience. Fired once, so why shouldn't it happen again?

Opinion of psychiatrists

Experts believe that the fear of work is a phobia of a complex nature. Most often, it is only one of many symptoms of other mental problems. Often this phobia is characteristic of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. It is not surprising, because this disease often provokes the emergence of fears of social situations. Namely, this is the process of employment and work.

The use of certain drugs, often prescribed by a doctor to overcome stress and insomnia, can also provoke ergophobia. After all, a side effect of certain medications is fatigue, depression and fatigue. All this is incompatible with productive work.

Also, ergophobia often accompanies a tall individual. A person who is aware of his low performance is afraid of not being able to cope with job responsibilities. And for some, fear is associated with the obligation to contact other people (colleagues, superiors, clients).

Symptoms

Well, all of the above allows you to roughly understand what the fear of work is. The name of this state is easy to remember. It just needs to be clear that ergophobia is not synonymous with laziness or unwillingness to work. It's a disease. In order not to be confused, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the symptoms.

A person suffering from this disease often experiences acute panic attacks. He also has a rapid heartbeat, excessive sweating, excruciating dizziness and an inability to concentrate.

Many people who are afraid of a new job and labor activity in general, do not know how to deal with it. And often they find solace in drugs, alcohol, gambling, toxic substances. Naturally, this only exacerbates the situation. As a result, the list of problems and phobias is replenished with addiction.

physical manifestations

Ergophobia is accompanied not only by mental changes. Her physical manifestation can also cause a lot of problems.

This disease is accompanied by mild tremor, chills, aching pain in the abdomen and head, breathing problems, general weakness, and stupor. All this suggests that the person really suffers from a phobia, and does not experience the normal anxiety that many of us have at a crucial moment. There is a difference. After the implementation of the action (for example, public speaking) in a person who experienced anxiety and excitement, all of the above disappears. But in ergophobe, “symptoms” persist for a long time.

These attacks are so strong that they can disorganize the activity of the individual, paralyze him. Even habitual actions (like breathing) cease to be automatic, and he has to concentrate in order to at least normalize something.

Treatment

The fear of losing a job, like other forms of ergophobia, is a significant barrier to the socialization of the individual. Because of this mental problem, a person cannot make plans, achieve goals, and fully exist in society. An experienced specialist can help to cope with a phobia. Under his guidance, a person can get rid of fear.

The attending physician usually resorts to several methods at once. He uses meditation, relaxation, psychoanalysis, and prescribes medication, selecting antidepressants and sedatives, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient.

Also widely applicable is the desensitization method, which is combined with deep muscle relaxation. First, the patient completely relaxes, and then he is sequentially immersed in several specially simulated situations that provoke the manifestation of ergophobia. The habituation principle is activated. A person gradually adapts to work activity at a subconscious level, disturbing manifestations become dull. Later, in real life, he gets used to the new reality much faster, which reflects the same situations that have been “worked out” in advance.

Anxiety of young professionals

A mild form of ergophobia may be characteristic of yesterday's students. Many alumni educational institutions afraid to start a professional activity. It is extremely important to deal with this anxiety quickly. Because such a basis is considered by experts to be almost the promised land for the development of real ergophobia.

A thorough study of the future workplace can help. It is worth familiarizing yourself with all aspects, starting with the ethical code of the institution and ending with the team. After such “prevention”, many people succeed in reconciling their ideals with the general vision of the employer’s team.

Effects

Ergophobia is a serious disease, and ignoring it can lead to a number of complications. Moreover, they will concern mental health last.

Over time, a non-working person “acquires” debts, so that later he can pay off his savings, property, and even housing for their repayment. Some begin to look for a way to get rich quick, they are accepted to place bets, buy lottery tickets, play in the casino. As a result, this leads to another addiction and additional debt.

Also, a person begins to neglect himself. He gets by with anything, dresses in bad clothes, forgets about hygiene. After all, all this requires funds. And in this form, it will be difficult to impress the employer.

Ergophobia destroys marriages and families, worsens relationships with friends and family, limits the scope of communication. The consequences can be many. Therefore, it is extremely important to start treating this specific disease in time to avoid all of the above.

Fear is the biggest obstacle to success. Moreover, this is a tricky obstacle. It often disguises itself as logical conclusions, correct thinking, advice from friends, and just doubt. A person does not even want to admit to himself that he is accompanied by a feeling of fear - for himself and for others, he simply changed his mind.

Fear of success is a common fact in psychology. Its danger is that a person is subconsciously more afraid to reach success than failure. Therefore, even starting to do something, he unconsciously slows himself down and sabotages his efforts. As a result, he secures a loss with his own hands.

Therefore, you need to know your fears and, of course, you need to know the methods of how to avoid these fears, how to stop being afraid of success and, finally, start acting.

How does it manifest
fear of success

The most common cause of fear of success is lack of support from relatives, friends and relatives.

At the beginning of the path, success seems to be a haze somewhere far away. And if real people, whom you have known for more than one year, who are close to you, with whom you are used to discussing any issues, they say that you are doing nonsense, you involuntarily start to think, maybe they are right.

Disbelief and ridicule of loved ones - terrible weapon if a person is weak in spirit and does not believe in his dream.

This situation is aggravated by the fact that the unbelief of loved ones is experienced extremely painfully. As a result, fear arises as a desire to get away from this pain.

The next moment - there is a fear, as a result of success, you may be rejected by your friends. There is already another fear - the fear of loneliness. And it turns out to be that "strong hook" that keeps you in the circle of "normal" people - like everyone else, and, as a rule, penniless.

As soon as a person begins to think that he will have to part with one of those who are now dear to him, one more fear necessarily appears - the fear of the unknown. Nobody likes losses. We are oppressed even by the fact that we have lost a material thing. And what about emotionally established connections.

So, the fear of success can manifest itself as

• Fear of changing your life.
• Fear of being rejected.
• Fear of changing circle of acquaintances.
• Fear of disappointment.
• Fear of loss.

What is dangerous
fear of success

Any fear is a powerful chain that binds internal forces person. And accordingly, a person either does nothing at all, or does not act at full strength.

Thus, the consequences of the fear of success are very sad, moreover, they arise on different planes. But of all the most dangerous are the following four:

First, the matter is usually not brought to an end. Either aspiration, or motivation, or all together disappears, because. small intermediate achievements are simply missed. This approach creates difficulties in professional growth and career, because a person in life feels constrained.

Second- if success does come and the goals are achieved, then this success is greatly underestimated for the sake of the value of either some mythical future achievements, or the achievements of other people. Those who are subject to the fear of success are afraid of being responsible for their success. Therefore, they try in every way to avoid any responsibility.

Third, the fear of success leads to a strong underestimation of one's own self-esteem. To avoid competition and envy, it is easier to say that there was no personal merit in achieving success, just circumstances were fortunate.

Fourth- Fear gives rise to constant expectation of trouble. A list of what can happen with success and what should be feared is already prepared in advance: envy, new responsibilities, conflicts, quarrels ... Since these expectations are stored in the subconscious, then, in turn, suspiciousness, resentment and suspiciousness are born. As a result, relationships with other people deteriorate sharply.

I think that no one wants to earn such consequences for themselves, as they say, “out of the blue”. There is only one way out of this - to learn how to stop being afraid of success and start taking action.

First steps
to overcome fear

So where do you start in order to overcome your fears? Of course, at the very beginning you need to learn how to catch the most first manifestations their fears. Only in this way can you take control of the situation in time.

Fear of loss manifests itself in two ways:

• as dependence on someone else's opinion;
• like the fear of missing something.

Moreover, the first is generally some kind of ephemeral fiction that exists only in the head of the person himself. Because others, in fact, are deeply indifferent to what happens to you there. Everyone, first of all, cares about his personal life.

So here you need to clean your brains, at least using a few that were given earlier.

You need to work more deeply with your own - since this is one of the most powerful emotional markers. It is on it that most marketing strategies are built. And most people who are not able to control their emotions fall for this hook. Earlier, I gave a curious trick that students at Harvard Business School fall for every year (and they are by no means stupid!). So, if you don't want to feel like a fish on a hook, work with your emotions. How to do this more specifically, we will consider further.

Fear of being rejected can also appear in two ways.:

• as personal low self-esteem;
• as from others.

Moreover, the second follows from the first. So in this case, you need to work on increased confidence in itself. A strong help here will be specific to you. It will be enough to start your work on yourself.

One more thing to be noted important aspect that feeds this species fear is yours environment. It is likely that you will have to reconsider the circle of those people with whom you constantly communicate. Which, in itself, is not so easy. That's why this question I even singled out a separate fear - the fear of changing the circle of acquaintances. And on this topic I will prepare a special article.

In the meantime, if you see that some of your acquaintances are slowing down your success, then at least try to communicate less with him.

Fear of changing life directly related to, which reflects the degree of development of the individual. Therefore, it belongs to everyone. Because any expansion of this zone is a jump. And we really like to jump without the need.

Therefore, we take the example of big sport and just we train ourselves for changes. To do this, we are working on the habit of doing what we have not done before. Do uncomfortable things more often - this is a real way to develop yourself and get rid of fear.

Or we master the techniques and periodically do something out of it. This way you don't have to break yourself and do unpleasant things. And besides - get an additional bonus as a sea of ​​\u200b\u200benergy.

Whatever causes your fear, everything can be changed if you start acting. remember, that

Only person,
who can do something for you -
it's you yourself!

In this regard, I want to remind you of the unique film by Luc Besson "". I believe that it should be watched more than once by everyone who is afraid of their success - this is where it is clearly shown how to stop being afraid and what actions lead to if they are done.

What would you do - whether it's life or work - if you weren't afraid of anything? Such a simple question awakens countless fantasies, desires and regrets.

If the fear of being patient or looking like a complete idiot has ever kept you from doing what your heart called for, you will need a very important advice from business consultant Sandja Brugmann. You don't have to fight fear. Just accept it and don't let worries slow you down on the path to your dream.

We usually view fear as an unpleasant emotion that we do our best to avoid. Fear literally paralyzes, so instincts willy-nilly switch to survival mode. Alas, such behavior can lead to actions that have nothing to do with moving towards our goals.

Sandia Brugmann

In other words, if you let fear control you, you can forget about success.

This is especially dangerous for entrepreneurs. Running a business is a pretty daunting and exciting business in itself, from having to make financial commitments, dealing with frustrated customers or employees, and realizing that the decisions you make affect not only your well-being, but also the lives of other people.

On the other hand, notes Brügmann, fear is an emotion inherent in man by nature. You won’t be able to get rid of him once and for all, and you don’t need to.

We are not faced with the task of curbing fear and preventing its occurrence in the future. Our goal is to understand what it is and learn how to act, relying on willpower and not hiding our heads in the sand.

Richard Branson put the same idea in a slightly different way.

Fear sometimes makes you wet yourself, but courage makes you act even in wet pants.

Richard Branson

The metaphor is not the most elegant, but the essence conveys absolutely correctly: do not give up on dreams because of fears, just accept them as part of life. Here are some tips to help you stop being afraid and start doing something.

1. Accept your fear

"What if I told you that your fear is a gift?" Brügmann asks. Pain and tension help us to fill life with genuine depth, because without all this it would be boring. Fear indicates the direction of growth and ultimately helps you understand who you really are. When we view fear from this perspective, it evokes curiosity or even gratitude.

2. Control your instincts

When faced with something frightening, people usually exhibit one of the following types of behavior: trying to fight, running without looking back, or falling into a stupor. If you have noticed this in yourself, know that you are guided by instincts. It is they who make us trust decision-making to fear. What will come of it? Absolutely nothing good.

3. Treat every situation as your choice.

Entrepreneurs know that things often turn out the way you never planned. As Eckhart Tolle said, “Whatever the present moment brings you, take it as your own choice.” For both you and your team, this is the most humane way to deal with what happened. By fully accepting the current state of affairs, you save yourself from various forms emotional resistance, including fear.

4. Give everything you have to work

This is not about savings under the pillow, it means the ability to immerse yourself in as much as possible. It is how easily you engage with colleagues and activate your thinking abilities to look at the problem from a non-standard point of view and find creative way her decisions.

5. Handle objections and criticism positively

“If you're doing something really new, get ready to be rebuffed by traditional thinkers,” Brügmann says. By creating something that did not exist before, you challenge the status quo. Some people are frightened by innovations, while others are made ashamed that they themselves did not think of it before.

You can measure your success by the amount of criticism you receive.

Sandia Brugmann

6. Make fear and failure work for you.

If you, like most people, are afraid of failure, make fear your assistant. What is needed for this? Sandia Brügmann advises revisiting the very definition of failure. "Failure for me is not the exact opposite of success, failure is what will happen if I don't get out of my comfort zone."

Look at any business from this angle, and the fear of failure will force you to act.

7. Don't let superfluous thoughts take over.

You will never be able to control everything that happens, but you are free to choose how to react to it. When something bad happens, we tend to look for the cause of what happened in ourselves.

For example, you worked for a long time on the launch of a large-scale project or negotiated with an intractable client, but in the end everything went to pieces. Does this mean that the project or idea was so-so? No. It doesn't say anything about you as a person at all, so don't waste your time reflecting. Think better what will be the next step towards achieving the goal. And remember, your path to success is by no means tied to just one particular person or opportunity.

8. Learn to hear your fear

Try to recognize the signs of fear as early as possible and understand how it affects you. Yes, it's not that easy. Sandia Brügmann believes that explaining to ourselves who we really are is one of the most difficult tasks. The biggest lie, in the truth of which we ourselves believe and make others believe, is the idea of ​​ourselves as a whole and unchanging person.

In fact, we are made up of many subpersonalities. Our task is to thoroughly study each of them, finding positive features and those that need to be corrected. Judgment has no place here. This is just a path to growth, change, the ability to curb fear and make informed choices based on your inner strength.

9. Rest in the heart of the storm

“Find a stable and balanced position within yourself and stay in it for as long as possible,” advises Sandja Brügmann. This is the point of your self-confidence, it is here that you can draw strength in order to follow the goal during periods of ups and downs in work and in your personal life.

If your well-being, peace and happiness depend solely on external factors, the stress level will be too high and eventually become a barrier to success.

Get rid of the event orientation. So you can go on the chosen course for as long as you like. You will gain the ability to accept and stop postponing them for later, justifying yourself with fear and the tension generated by it.

A pathological fear of action arises when an individual begins and/or anticipates performing strictly defined activities. One of the causes of these disorders is the negative personal experience with painful somatic manifestations fixed on a conscious and subconscious level. However, some personal characteristics, such as indecision, passivity, spinelessness, self-doubt, are an exceptionally favorable background for the development of fears.

In this group, there are relatively "light" phobias that do not greatly spoil the patient's life and do not force a radical change in priorities and behavior: in order not to provoke a new attack, it is enough for the patient to avoid any certain actions. Although when it comes to fears that completely take over the mind of the patient and prevent them from living a full life, the help of a specialist is needed.

One of the common phobias, which is characterized by intense anxiety with seizures panic attacks, – (fear of flying). During or in anticipation of a flight, the patient has a feeling of panic, he tries to calm down with the help of alcoholic beverages, frantically looking for information about air crashes. Awareness of the complete and absolute lack of control over the situation, the feeling of helplessness of the passenger of the plane makes the fear very strong, and the phobia, accordingly, intractable. The "brothers" of the fear of flying are less common phobias: fear of moving railway transport (siderodromophobia) and fear of travel(hodophobia).

Among the fears of action there are quite rare and "strange" disorders, for example:

• Chorophobia - fear of dancing;
• Ideophobia - fear of ideas;
• Vestiphobia - fear of dressing;
• Mageirocophobia is the fear of cooking.

Among the recorded clinical cases of disorders in representatives younger generation It is possible to distinguish a subgroup of phobias characteristic of this age, including:

• Gnosiophobia - fear of gaining knowledge;
• Sophophobia - fear of learning;
• Fronemophobia - fear of thinking;
• - Fear of going to school.

"Favorite" in this subgroup can be called with confidence stage fright or public speaking – . FROM panic fear in front of the stage are familiar to many famous people and artists who, in the course of their professional activity often perform in front of large audiences. A strong pathological fear of speaking is one of the most common reasons for visiting a psychotherapist. Glossophobia is quite well studied and treated by the appropriate specialists quite successfully.

AT last years frequently observed cases somniphobia – severe fear of sleep. And this disorder may occur at any age. This phobia has its own peculiarity: it appeared unexpectedly in childhood and disappeared without treatment after short term, the disorder returns a few years later to an adult. Some psychiatrists argue that the abundance of negative information in the modern media space: horror films, crime reports, computer games- "zombie" is the main factor in the occurrence of somnophobia. Untimely treatment of the disorder leads to physical exhaustion of the patient's body, changes personal characteristics and affects a person's behavior in society.

Among the fears of action, there are also “medical” anxieties., for example:

• - Fear of going to the dentist
• Opiophobia is the fear of being treated by doctors.

It is very difficult for those suffering from these disorders, because it is impossible to imagine a person who would never be sick in his life.

Scientifically interesting, relatively young disease - decidophobia (fear of making decisions). The patient suffering from this disorder is so afraid of making bad decisions that he prefers not to make decisions at all. Decidophobe tries to find and surround himself with people who will make decisions for him and be responsible for putting them into practice. Such “advisers” can be parents, spouse, political parties, church teaching and even sects. Very often, patients with decidophobia turn to astrologers, fortune-tellers, psychics on all personal and financial issues. The most surprising thing about this disorder is that the decidophobe who surrounds himself with advisers does not feel sick and unhappy, he is quite satisfied with his life.

To get rid of fears of action, you need to seek help from qualified specialists in the field of psychiatry, because in most cases self-treatment does not bring proper and lasting results.

Other phobias associated with the implementation of actions:

• ablutophobia - fear of swimming
• Agirophobia - fear of crossing the street;
• - fear of transport;
• ambulophobia - fear of walking;
• vestiphobia - fear of dressing;
• graphophobia - fear of writing;
• didaskaleinophobia - fear of going to school;
• cyberphobia - fear of working with computers;
• kleptophobia - fear of stealing or being robbed;
• mageirokophobia - fear of cooking;
• maleusiophobia - fear of giving birth;
• social phobia - fear of social actions;
• - fear of giving injections;
• pharmacophobia - fear of taking medications;
• philemaphobia - fear of kissing;
• - Fear of work

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Work is part of our Everyday life. We all need to work to earn money, live comfortably, provide for ourselves and our families. However, some people have experienced acute traumatic experiences related to work situations - this is how ergophobia develops. What could these situations be?

A person may suddenly lose a job, or be subjected to prolonged humiliation in the workplace. He may also feel overwhelmed, or constantly reprimanded for not finishing things on time. The other person's boss is a real monster. For the third, the fear of work is caused by the desire to avoid responsibility, the fear of communicating with colleagues, or the fear of speaking during business meetings. In any case, all these people associate work with fear.

Characteristic

Ergophobia is a persistent and irrational fear of work. Sometimes another name is used for this phobia - ergasiophobia or "aversion to work." Both of these terms are derived from two Greek words: "ergo" - work, and "phobos" - fear. People with a fear of work often tend to avoid their jobs. Instead, they just roam the street, or beg for money from other people. They can lie on the couch for months, watch TV all day, and give up looking for a job.

From the point of view of psychiatrists, ergophobia is a form of social anxiety disorder. Individuals suffering from this phobia are afraid to look for work, or simply do not want to go to work due to increased levels of social anxiety. Ergophobia is usually a complex phobia. Often it is just one of the symptoms of other mental problems. For example, the patient may be afraid to work with their hands or go to work for fear of injury. However, many ergophobics are also afraid of highly skilled labor. But, as practice shows, in most cases, such an irrational fear of work causes a fear of communicating with other people.

Thus, ergophobia can become very large social problem because a person is always dependent on other people, because he needs to go to work for food and money. Therefore, all ergophobics have very tense relationships with loved ones. AT advanced cases a person cannot even ask for help due to limited financial resources.

Etiology

This phobia can occur in any person: both those who have worked very successfully before, and those who have not worked a day in their lives. The main causes of ergophobia are:

Symptoms

Many people are disgusted by the fact that they have to get up early every day and go to work, but the main difference between ergophobia and the usual unwillingness to work is that in an ergophobic, even the mere thought of work can cause a pronounced panic attack.

Ergophobia symptoms include feeling dizzy, nausea, sweating, and shortness of breath. An ergophobic at the moment of a panic attack feels like in a "fog", he completely falls out of reality. He is not able to think clearly, he is not aware of what others are saying to him at that moment. In addition, he may have memory lapses.

Often, to an outside observer, a person with this phobia seems quite normal. However, many reactions take place in his head: periodically they struggle with their desire to run away or hide, suppress unreasonable sobs, persistent thoughts of death, etc.

In addition to actually avoiding work, an ergophobic may become addicted to substance abuse, alcohol or drugs, thus trying to counter his phobia. Naturally, this only exacerbates the situation.

Ergophobia in its advanced form leads to the fact that the patient evades his work duties for many days, which contributes to his dismissal or demotion. This further increases his fear. In addition, there are other complications, such as strained relationships with loved ones, divorce, financial debts, neglect of personal health and hygiene, etc. Often it comes to the fact that a sick person loses their home, suffers from long-term malnutrition, or has other serious problems.

Therapy

The best solution for treating ergophobia is to see a psychotherapist. However, this is often difficult for such patients, as they usually do not have sufficient financial resources for treatment. The most effective in getting rid of this phobia are methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy, psychological counseling, hypnotherapy and group psychotherapy. However, their effectiveness is highly dependent on the time and duration of treatment.

Professional consulting can help find a person suitable job. The patient may also try to start their own business or look for work-from-home options. Also, with ergophobia, systematic desensitization and gradual exposure therapy help well. The person may try to work part-time and gradually increase the hours at work. These are enough effective method overcome this phobia.

People with this phobia should realize that work is a necessity these days. If being in the workplace causes ergophobia, it may be worth trying to find another job, the person will feel more comfortable. And in more complex cases, medication or a psychotherapist will help.

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