Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHistory of the TermSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentCoping

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

History of the Term

Symptoms

Causes

Diagnosis

Treatment

Coping

Do you struggle with every little decision, such as deciding what to wear to work or what to make for breakfast? Do big decisions feel impossible and give you paralyzing anxiety? Do you dread making decisions and put them off for as long as possible? Are you terrified of making thewrong decision?

“Decidophobia is the paralyzing fear of making a wrong decision. Most of us have a little anxiety about some decisions, but someone with decidophobia will feel intense, paralyzing fear about even everyday decisions,” saysAimee Daramus, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist.

This article explores the symptoms, causes, and diagnosis of decidophobia, as well as some treatment and coping strategies that may be helpful.

Where Did the Term ‘Decidophobia’ Come From?

However, from a mental health perspective, decidophobia is classified as a specificphobia, under the umbrella of anxiety disorders.A specific phobia is defined as an extreme, irrational fear of a specific object or situation that doesn’t actually pose any danger.

Symptoms of Decidophobia

These are some of the symptoms of decidophobia, according to Dr. Daramus:

List of Phobias: Common Phobias From A to Z

Causes of Decidophobia

These are some of the potential causes of decidophobia, according to Dr. Daramus:

Phobias can happen to people who aren’t very anxious in other areas of life, as well as people who have other types of anxiety, says Dr. Daramus.

Diagnosing Decidophobia

These are thediagnostic criteria listed for specific phobiasin the DSM-5:

For instance, someone with decidophobia will not even be able to think about making a decision without triggering their fear response. They avoid thinking about making decisions or making decisions at all costs. They find their relationships, career, and daily life are impaired due to their fear.

Fear vs. Phobia: What’s the Difference?

Treating Decidophobia

Decidophobia can be treated with therapy. Below, Dr. Daramus outlines some forms of therapy that can help treat this condition.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapycan help you examine the irrational thoughts and harmful behaviors you’re engaging in as a result of the phobia. It can help you develop healthier habits and thought patterns, to counter the phobia.

Press Play for Advice On Dealing With Unhelpful Thoughts

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapyis the most common form of treatment for phobias. It is a type of cognitive behavior therapy that has been developed specifically totreat phobias.

In exposure therapy, you’re given a series of challenges related to your phobia, starting with very easy challenges and working up to much more difficult challenges. You give each challenge a number from 1 to 10, based on how much you fear it, and slowly work your way from levels 1 to 2 up the scale to level 9 or 10 challenges.

Your therapist may teach youcalming techniquesto help you manage the anxiety as you confront these challenges. They may also put in rewards, called reinforcers, at certain levels to motivate you.

According to a 2015 review, cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy have proven to be effective in treating phobias and can help improve quality of life.

Coping With Decidophobia

Dr. Daramus suggests some strategies that can help you cope with decidophobia.

Believe You Can Make Good Decisions

It can be helpful to look for evidence that you canmake good decisions. You can make a list of decisions you’ve made that have turned out well. Ask friends or family to help with the list.

Knowing you’re capable of making good decisions can help bolster your confidence and reduce your fear of making the wrong choice.

Examine Past Decisions

Review your bad decisions from the past and see if they were really as bad as you think they are.

For instance, you may have accepted ajobthat turned out to be really awful; however, that doesn’t mean it was your mistake. The job may have genuinely looked good, and anyone would have accepted it.

A Word From Verywell

We typically need to make multiple decisions per day, at home, school, or work. While most people occasionally struggle with some decisions, having decidophobia means you experience considerable anxiety when faced with even the smallestdecisions.

If your condition is making it difficult for you to go about your day, it’s important to seek help for it. Like other phobias, decidophobia can be treated with therapy.

5 Common Effects of Phobias on Your Emotions and Personality

12 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Princeton University.Walter A. Kaufmann.American Psychological Association.Without Guilt and Justice: From Decidophobia to Autonomy.American Psychiatric Association.What are anxiety disorders?National Institute of Mental Health.Specific phobia.Boston Children’s Hospital.Phobias.National Library of Medicine.Phobias.Hajloo N.Relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem and procrastination in undergraduate psychology students.Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2014;8(3):42-49.Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ, Miloyan B.Specific phobias.Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5(8):678-686. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30169-XJohns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.University of Pennsylvania.Specific phobias.Kaczkurkin AN, Foa EB.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: an update on the empirical evidence.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2015;17(3):337-346. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/akaczkurkin

12 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Princeton University.Walter A. Kaufmann.American Psychological Association.Without Guilt and Justice: From Decidophobia to Autonomy.American Psychiatric Association.What are anxiety disorders?National Institute of Mental Health.Specific phobia.Boston Children’s Hospital.Phobias.National Library of Medicine.Phobias.Hajloo N.Relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem and procrastination in undergraduate psychology students.Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2014;8(3):42-49.Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ, Miloyan B.Specific phobias.Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5(8):678-686. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30169-XJohns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.University of Pennsylvania.Specific phobias.Kaczkurkin AN, Foa EB.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: an update on the empirical evidence.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2015;17(3):337-346. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/akaczkurkin

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Princeton University.Walter A. Kaufmann.American Psychological Association.Without Guilt and Justice: From Decidophobia to Autonomy.American Psychiatric Association.What are anxiety disorders?National Institute of Mental Health.Specific phobia.Boston Children’s Hospital.Phobias.National Library of Medicine.Phobias.Hajloo N.Relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem and procrastination in undergraduate psychology students.Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2014;8(3):42-49.Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ, Miloyan B.Specific phobias.Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5(8):678-686. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30169-XJohns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.University of Pennsylvania.Specific phobias.Kaczkurkin AN, Foa EB.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: an update on the empirical evidence.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2015;17(3):337-346. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/akaczkurkin

Princeton University.Walter A. Kaufmann.

American Psychological Association.Without Guilt and Justice: From Decidophobia to Autonomy.

American Psychiatric Association.What are anxiety disorders?

National Institute of Mental Health.Specific phobia.

Boston Children’s Hospital.Phobias.

National Library of Medicine.Phobias.

Hajloo N.Relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem and procrastination in undergraduate psychology students.Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2014;8(3):42-49.

Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ, Miloyan B.Specific phobias.Lancet Psychiatry. 2018;5(8):678-686. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30169-X

Johns Hopkins Medicine.Phobias.

American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

University of Pennsylvania.Specific phobias.

Kaczkurkin AN, Foa EB.Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: an update on the empirical evidence.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2015;17(3):337-346. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/akaczkurkin

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