Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsStigmatizationThe Anxiety Feedback LoopGetting Help
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Stigmatization
The Anxiety Feedback Loop
Getting Help
Dementophobia is a type of phobia that involves the fear of madness or insanity. People who have this fear are afraid that they are going insane orlosing touch with reality, or will in the future. The fear may be due to seeing family members who have struggled with severemental illnessor periods ofsevere stressthat exceeded your ability to cope effectively.
Mental Illness and Stigmatization
Only relatively recently did the medical establishment and the general public begin to recognize mental illness as a treatable medical condition.
If you have dementophobia, there may be additional underlying concerns making the fear even worse. If you have older relatives who went through the early or mid-20th-century asylums, or have seen the documentaries, you may be afraid you’ll undergo the same treatment.
However, as public awareness increases about the brain and the biological, genetic, and psychosocial causes of various psychological symptoms and syndromes, the more readily people discuss their own mental health openly. The social stigma is far less common than it once was.
The History of Depression
It is normal to be concerned about health problems that run in the family and it is wise to take precautions. Research shows there is also agenetic component to mental illness, and you may be validly concerned about mental illness(es) that run in your family.
However, with dementophobia, you may become excessively hypervigilant about any symptom you experience with concern that it resembles the same mental illness your Aunt Phoebe had. People say you look just like her after all.
Phobias tend to run in families, partially due to the way our brains are wired, but also because we learn behavior from the role models around us. For example, you may have a genetic predisposition for developing anxiety, but if your Mother jumped up on the kitchen table and screamed every time she saw a spider, you might learn to respond in the same way.
Those with a fear of going insane often exhibit some of the same thought patterns and anxiety symptoms as people with other types ofphobias. However, with dementophobia, these symptoms can erroneously reinforce the fear that you are going mad.
The Best Online Therapy for Anxiety, Tried and Tested
Cognitive Symptoms
For example, you may analyze the meaning of every thought, feeling, and behavior you have, and find yourself labeling them as sure signs of madness. Some examples of negative thinking patterns include:
Physical Symptoms of Anxiety
Signs of being over-stressed can also include headaches, sleep problems, stomach issues, difficulty making decisions, general anxiety, and other mental health symptoms. All of these can contribute to the feeling that you are not well.
Physical sensations of anxietyare also concerning to someone with dementophobia:
These symptoms can escalate into apanic attack, which is a sudden overwhelming attack of dread and fear with symptoms that can make you feel you are losing your mind or even dying.
Depersonalization andderealizationare subjective changes in perception that are extremely common during panic attacks and during times of intense stress or trauma. They can create an uncomfortable feeling of disconnectedness from your body and the world around you.People who experience these symptoms report feeling like they are losing touch with reality, and for the person with dementophobia, this creates a positive feedback loop that reinforces their fear of going mad.
A phobia of going insane can lead to panic attacks, which can also further heighten the conviction that you are, in fact, going insane. Therapy may be necessary to help break this cycle.
If you think you have this phobia and it is interfering with the quality of your life or causing distress, you may want to seek help from a professional. You can be evaluated to determine if you are indeed dealing with some form of mental illness, or if you are experiencing dementophobia. Either way, treatment is available and you do not need to continue to suffer.
Specific Phobia DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria
Phobias are often treated with a combination ofmedicationsandtherapy.Therapists generally draw from a variety ofcognitive-behavioraland other techniques to help peoplechallenge any distorted beliefsand ultimately develop healthier ways of thinking and acting.
Your therapist may also work with you to explore the deeper meaning that your fear has to you and its origins.Psychoeducation, in which you learn more about this phobia or other specific mental illnesses and their treatment, is often helpful.
The goal of treatment is usually to help you better understand the complex factors contributing to your phobia and learn strategies that will help extinguish the fear or minimize the impact it has on your life.
Get Help NowWe’ve tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of thebest online therapy programsincluding Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you.
Get Help Now
We’ve tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of thebest online therapy programsincluding Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you.
4 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.Rössler W.The stigma of mental disorders: A millennia-long history of social exclusion and prejudices.EMBO Rep. 2016;17(9):1250–1253. doi:10.15252/embr.201643041National Institutes of Health.Common genetic factors found in 5 mental disorders.Caldirola D, Perna G.Toward a personalized therapy for panic disorder: Preliminary considerations from a work in progress.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2019;15:1957–1970. doi:10.2147/NDT.S174433Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462–471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116Additional ReadingAmerican Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.5th ed., Text Revision; 2022.
4 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.Rössler W.The stigma of mental disorders: A millennia-long history of social exclusion and prejudices.EMBO Rep. 2016;17(9):1250–1253. doi:10.15252/embr.201643041National Institutes of Health.Common genetic factors found in 5 mental disorders.Caldirola D, Perna G.Toward a personalized therapy for panic disorder: Preliminary considerations from a work in progress.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2019;15:1957–1970. doi:10.2147/NDT.S174433Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462–471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116Additional ReadingAmerican Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.5th ed., Text Revision; 2022.
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.
Rössler W.The stigma of mental disorders: A millennia-long history of social exclusion and prejudices.EMBO Rep. 2016;17(9):1250–1253. doi:10.15252/embr.201643041National Institutes of Health.Common genetic factors found in 5 mental disorders.Caldirola D, Perna G.Toward a personalized therapy for panic disorder: Preliminary considerations from a work in progress.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2019;15:1957–1970. doi:10.2147/NDT.S174433Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462–471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116
Rössler W.The stigma of mental disorders: A millennia-long history of social exclusion and prejudices.EMBO Rep. 2016;17(9):1250–1253. doi:10.15252/embr.201643041
National Institutes of Health.Common genetic factors found in 5 mental disorders.
Caldirola D, Perna G.Toward a personalized therapy for panic disorder: Preliminary considerations from a work in progress.Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2019;15:1957–1970. doi:10.2147/NDT.S174433
Garcia R.Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias.Learn Mem. 2017;24(9):462–471. doi:10.1101/lm.044115.116
American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.5th ed., Text Revision; 2022.
Meet Our Review Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
What is your feedback?
