The Clinophobia Is an abnormal, unjustified and persistent fear of sleeping or going to sleep. Fear can present as a specific response to bedtime or in general, to fall asleep in any situation.
Although it is common to find the name"somniphobia"or"oneirophobia"referred to this problem, the correct term to refer to this condition would be the one of clinofobia. Derived from the Greek"klinein"(bed / bed) and"phobos"(phobia, fear).
Although clinophobia is not especially well-known, it is a surprisingly common phobia, affecting women and men of all ages throughout the world.
As with the rest of phobias, people who suffer from clinofobia are mostly aware of the irrationality or excessiveness of the anxiety they suffer. However, they are not able to control the psychological and physiological reactions that occur in their organism as a response to fear.
If the phobia and anxiety and fear reactions are maintained in the long run; The affected person could have real problems in their general physical and psychological functioning, and may greatly reduce the perception of their quality of life.
Causes of Clinofobia
As with other fears and phobias, clinophobia has its origin in the person's learning history. We understand as learning history all those interactions that a subject makes with the medium throughout life.
When a person interacts with his environment, he is constantly learning. The associations or results that produce these interactions between the person and their environment, give rise to their learning history.
In this sense, clinophobia may occur when there is an association between sleeping behavior and some negatively charged event or consequence, which produces fear and / or anxiety for the person.
For example, a child who urinates in bed may develop clinophobia by associating these unpleasant events with being in bed and going to sleep.
Similarly, an adult could develop this phobia as a result of other sleep-related problems. For example, him Restless legs syndrome , Nightmares, etc.
Despite all of the above, the most common cause of clinofobia is associated with severe insomnia problems. Explained from the above point of view, the association that occurs between going to bed and not being able to sleep, would in this case cause the activation state or anxiety To such conduct and therefore the avoidance thereof.
symptom
Symptoms related to clinofobia usually occur when going to bed and try to sleep. However sometimes, even to the idea of sleeping or trying to sleep can provoke in the person the effects of the phobia.
Although the association of fear with sleep may be specific to a particular situation or event, phobia may emerge from stimuli that are in principle harmless, but somehow represent the initial fear.
The pattern of symptoms that clinofobia presents differs greatly from one person to another, often depending on the degree of severity of the phobia itself. A person may only feel nervous, uncomfortable or agitated before going to sleep; While others with more severe cases may suffer panic attacks And / or anxiety.
Although there are few cases, some people have stated that during crises not only do they present unpleasant symptoms, but sometimes they are accompanied by a worsening of their senses, even claiming to have reached altered states of consciousness or a greater sense of reality .
The symptoms that occur in the clinofobia come from two different ways. On the one hand, there are symptoms that are directly related to phobia, fear and anxiety.
They may include muscle tension, nausea or dizziness, agitation, tremors, hyperventilation, increased heart rate, feeling hot, dry mouth, vertigo, excessive sweating, inability to speak or think clearly. In more severe cases, the person who suffers from clinofobia may be afraid of going mad, losing control, and even dying while sleeping.
The person with clinofobia also presents symptoms not directly related to the suffering of fear, but with the decrease in the quantity and / or quality of the dream that the phobia ends up producing.
In this sense, insomnia problems are the most common result of this phobia. The reduction of the quantity and / or quality of the dream, ends up causing in these people fatigue and constant fatigue, irritability, lack of concentration , Bad mood, apathy And decreased physical and psychological health in general.
It should be noted at this point that insomnia can be both the source of the problem and a consequence of it.
Treatment
Clinophobia is a condition in which a great number of symptoms are present, which can be associated with both the fear and the consequences that it produces in the quality and / or quantity of sleep.
For this reason, the approaches and treatments cover different fields of action. Here are some of the tools that are most commonly used in the treatment of clinophobia.
Psychoeducation
It is fundamental so that the person can understand what is happening to him. In this sense, the Psychoeducation Can show the patient how the relationship between fear and its manifestations works.
The patient will be able to understand where the source of the problem is, how it has developed, what is being maintained and what can be done to control and improve it. For this, the person should receive all relevant information related to the phobia, its causes, symptoms, treatments, etc.
Techniques for Managing Anxiety
At present there are numerous Relaxation techniques Which generate excellent results in the Anxiety control , Such as diaphragmatic breathing, self-instruction training, or Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation.
In his investigations, Jacobson confirmed that the state of anxiety that accompanies the phobic fear, produces a great muscular contraction. The objective of this technique , Is to achieve a state of general relaxation through muscle contraction and subsequent relaxation.
Thus, it allows us to generate through progressive muscle relaxation a response (relaxation) that is incompatible with the state of activation and stress that causes fear. The state of relaxation achieved through this practice not only affects the musculoskeletal system, but also allows the relaxation of the nervous system Both central and autonomous .
Training in this technique also facilitates that the person is able to discriminate signals of tension in his own body, so that he can control them later.
Systematic Desensitization
The Systematic desensitization Is one of the techniques most used in the treatment of specific phobias, since it combines the techniques of relaxation with the progressive approach to the object of phobia.
When the person has learned to control their activation states (through relaxation techniques) and also knows the way in which phobias develop and maintain (through psychoeducation), this technique allows learning to respond without anxiety to stimuli that initially Provoked responses of fear.
The objective of systematic desensitization is the gradual exposure to the object of phobia, combined with the use of relaxation techniques. It is intended, therefore, that the response of fear diminishes by using an incompatible behavior such as relaxation.
As it is not possible to be anxious and relaxed at the same time, training in this technique allows the person to face the threatening situations gradually. This is your procedure:
1- A list of situations that produce anxiety are produced
First, a list of situations that are related to fear, such as"putting on pajamas"or"brushing your teeth","getting up from the couch to go to sleep"or"locking the door"is created.
2- A hierarchy is done with the listing
After this, the different behaviors are ordered hierarchically, from the situation that less anxiety produces until more, assigning scores from 0 to 10 according to the degree of anxiety and activation that causes the situation to the person.
3- Combine exposure with relaxation techniques
Once this is done, you will start working from the situation that less anxiety and Activation produces. From that moment, exposure to the anxiety situation can begin to be combined with previously learned relaxation techniques.
Imagine for example that the situation that less anxiety generates the person is"getting off the couch to go to the room". The session will begin using the relaxation techniques learned.
When the person is relaxed, the therapist will ask you to imagine the situation of"getting up from the couch to go to sleep"in the most vivid and detailed way possible. After a few seconds, the patient should indicate the new level of anxiety that the situation produces from 0 to 10.
Whenever the score is greater than 0, it will be necessary to relax and expose yourself to the situation again. When the situation is assessed with a degree of anxiety or by the patient on two or more occasions, proceed with the following situation; And so on until you complete the listing.
We have already commented previously that systematic desensitization as a technique for the control and extinction of phobias, has now been positioned as the most effective tool and that produces better results.
However, we have also found that people who suffer from clinofobia may have a large number of problems related to sleep; As the phobia may be cause, but also a consequence of poor quality or quantity of sleep.
Therefore, it is essential to accompany any treatment in clinophobia of correct sleep hygiene guidelines, which facilitate the restoration of quality and / or quantity of sleep.
Tips to have proper sleep hygiene
Below is the Decalogue of tips for establishing proper sleep hygiene.
- Get up and go to bed every day at about the same time, or at least not more than an hour apart.
- Avoid as much as possible naps during the day. In any case, its duration should never be more than 30 minutes.
- Establish a constant"pre-sleep"routine.
- Take care of the ambient conditions of the room: light, temperature, ventilation, noise, etc.
- Avoid copious dinners before bed.
- Avoid consumption of tobacco, caffeine and alcohol, especially in the previous 4-5 hours.
- Avoid tasks that are activators in the final hours of the day.
- Use the room only for sleeping. Avoid work and leisure in the bedroom.
- Avoid using televisions, computers, tablets, mobiles, etc. in the room.
- Spend some time outdoors every day.
- Perform physical activity in the morning or afternoon, but never in the hours before sleep.
What is fear?
Fear is a universal and adaptive emotion. We all experience fear when we face certain situations or threatening stimuli, whether real or imagined.
The emotion of fear is what allows us to survive in dangerous situations. Although there are also irrational fears and phobias, which are responses of fear that present themselves to stimuli that are not potentially threatening or dangerous.
Sleep is one of the vital functions of the organism. It participates and regulates a large number of important psychological and physiological processes, such as the consolidation of memory .
Under normal conditions, a person can spend a third of his life sleeping. Therefore, its importance is vital for the regulation of biorhythms, as well as to ensure a good state of wakefulness.
There are, however, a large number of people who present problems related to quality or quantity of sleep, such as The insomnia , Sleepwalking, Sleep apnea (Temporary interruption of breathing during sleep), or the night terrors .
In a study conducted by Clínica Davila (Chile), it was stated that up to 50% of the adults who participated in the research had a sleep problem. Knowing and understanding them will help us to overcome them.