There are people who love speed, since that gives them a great adrenaline rush that they enjoy. However, there are people who present an intense fear of situations that involve moving at a certain speed since they consider it dangerous. Maybe it looks familiar to you or you know someone who is afraid of driving. It is a psychological phobia called tachophobia that usually manifests itself when the person in question is on the road or is going to get into a car and feels in danger.
In order to overcome this fear of speed and all the difficulties generated by the feeling of danger when driving, it is necessary to have information that can provide us with data and tools to lose the fear of these situations, in order to cure tacophobia and get over it. Do you want to know more about this? In this Psychology-Online article, we will provide you with information about the tachophobia: symptoms, causes and treatment
Index
- Symptoms of tachophobia
- Causes of tachophobia
- Treatment of tachophobia
Symptoms of tachophobia.
To understand the symptoms of tachophobia, it is first necessary to resolve what it is in psychological terms. The meaning of tachophobia refers to irrational fear typical of psychological phobias, which arises as a result of situations in which the person perceives a excessive speed.
It should be noted that thoughts about possible fatalities or accidents that arise come into play here. of this type of situation, which generate a fear of speed, of getting into a car or being in the highway.
How do I know if I have tachophobia?
Next, we describe the main symptoms of tachophobia so you can identify them:
- Excessive sweating.
- Elevation of blood pressure.
- Breathing difficulties.
- Fast heart rate.
- Feeling of body paralysis.
- Tremors.
- Avoidance of situations related to boarding a means of transport.
- Isolation.
It is important to keep in mind that the presence of any of these symptoms does not necessarily imply that we are facing a picture of tachophobia. For this reason, the diagnosis should be carried out by ahealth professional, since it will be in charge of evaluating the corresponding conditions of the treatment according to the characteristics of each patient.
Causes of tachophobia.
To understand tachophobia in greater depth and to know why its symptoms occur for your subsequent cure and treatment, it is important to consider the origins of this fear of death. speed. This will enable us to act with greater precision when facing a treatment and overcome tacophobia. For these reasons, we will locate here the main causes of why tachophobia occurs:
- traumatic situations: the symptoms of tachophobia usually develop from an unpleasant event that occurred in the life of the person who suffers from this problem. For example, you may have been in a high-speed car crash.
- Anxiety: The stress that everyday life can bring can lead to psychological fears and phobias. If you suffer from anxiety, we recommend you read this article about what to do when you have anxiety so you can improve your quality of life.
- personal fears: here you can include the fear of death or the fear of being in closed spaces, among other fears.
Tachophobia treatment.
Fortunately, it is possible to cure tachophobia and overcome it by losing the fear of speed. Currently, there are treatments that allow an effective approach to tachophobia. Choosing an appropriate treatment provides a better prognosis for the person suffering from tachophobia, because there are greater chances of improvement. Next, we will expose the different treatments of tacophobia to be able to overcome it.
psychological therapy
Psychological therapy generates the possibility of solving various aspects of life that produce conflicts. Let's see the different types of therapies that are applied to overcome the fear of speed.
- Of short duration: focused on problem solving in limited sessions. The objective is to find other ways of dealing with situations that can trigger anxiety, stress, anguish or anger, as in the case of people with tachophobia, driving or getting into a car or just being in the highway. In this group, we can mention the cognitive behavioral therapy as one of the most important and effective.
- Long lasting: They try to find the origin of why, in this case, tachophobia and its symptoms occur. From this, it is possible that other strategies are adopted that are useful in situations of anxiety, such as those encountered by a person with tachophobia, to begin their treatment and achieve their cure. Here we will mention the psychoanalysis as the most important long therapy.
Meditation
How is tachophobia cured? Meditation is another type of treatment that allows you to downplay certain thoughts that appear in times of great stress and/or anxiety. In the case of tachophobia, the thoughts are fatalities or possible accidents on the road.
In this case, the treatment of tachophobia consists of guided sessions in which the concentration on the breath for effective relaxation. In this way, meditation can have a beneficial effect for people who suffer from tachophobia, and they can even manage and overcome their fear of speed effectively.
We recommend you read this article about the types of meditation and its benefits to know different options that you can apply in your day to day to overcome difficult moments.
psychiatric medication
In cases that are more serious, to overcome tachophobia, it may be necessary to take certain medications. However, this treatment must be supervised by a health professional, given that it will be in charge of evaluating the need for a drug that can alter the functioning of neurons linked to emotions.
Furthermore, it is important that psychiatric treatments are combined with therapy to address the causes that originate tachophobia. In this article you will see what are the differences between psychologist and psychiatrist so that you know well the treatment that each professional can offer you, as well as the benefits of having both if your case requires it.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Tacophobia (fear of speed): symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.
Bibliography
- Kornstaje, M. (2008). Fear of traveling: A state of the art. Critical Journal of Social and Legal Sciences, (1), 1-23.
- Sanchis Fernandez, L. (2018). Coping with the fear of death. Education Faculty. Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology.
