Neophobia - Fear of new things. Like food, a change in location, a change in someones appearance... etc...

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I was wondering if anyone else suffers with this phobia? I recently got diagnosed it along with agoraphobia from my therapist. And I do admit, I do find it hard to cope with anything that is different or that i'm not used to.
Some examples on the things I get scared of:

• I cant take it when I leave the country or my town
• When someone changes their appearance, I dont ever stop thinking about it and I sometimes freak out and I dont know why.
• I cant watch anything like a movie or a comic book that is ongoing without worrying about it constantly.
• Just, any changes make me uncomfortable.
• I'm scared of breaking routine incase I encounter anything different.
  

Can anyone help with this? I'm going to Spain in a few days, and I am already terrified of going. I am waking up early and not getting much sleep anymore due to the constant worrying.[/align]

Hello Oriibu and welcome to the forum.

Im afraid i have no experience with this phobia at all, i can see however how much it can affect you.

Its good to see that you have been getting professional assistance from a Therapist. Do you know when this started? Was it recently or is it something that you have suffered for a while?

Did the Therapist determine what may have triggered it off?

(08-07-2011 06:46 PM)Snooks Wrote:  Hello Oriibu and welcome to the forum.

Im afraid i have no experience with this phobia at all, i can see however how much it can affect you.

Its good to see that you have been getting professional assistance from a Therapist. Do you know when this started? Was it recently or is it something that you have suffered for a while?

Did the Therapist determine what may have triggered it off?

I think I have had this my whole life, just never got it checked out and diagnosed. My parents told me I was like it when I was younger too.

I do suffer with colitis, which means I have to go to hospitals all the time. Including when I was younger. The therapist wasn't sure what triggered it, but my guess is that the constant bad trips to hospitals has gotten me nervous about going to different places. Since, the hospitals were spread around, not just in one place. That's just a guess though.

Well given how traumatic it can be going in and out of hospitals, i reckon that would be a pretty good guess at the trigger.

So what course of action(s) is the Therapist recommending now? Is he considering medication etc, or focusing on counselling? Are you happy with the plan?

(08-08-2011 05:00 PM)Snooks Wrote:  Well given how traumatic it can be going in and out of hospitals, i reckon that would be a pretty good guess at the trigger.

So what course of action(s) is the Therapist recommending now? Is he considering medication etc, or focusing on counselling? Are you happy with the plan?

She's just telling me to do breathing exercises and listen to music until I go on holiday tomorrow. It's not really helping since the bad thoughts just keep coming in no matter what I do.

Perhaps it may be also worthwhile discussing with a GP the medical options. I cant say im a fan of being on medicine, but, it can be effective in some circumstances.