The Hoplophobia Is a persistent, abnormal and unjustified fear of firearms. It is a type of specific phobia in which the feared element are weapons such as guns, shotguns, machine guns or any type of firearm.
The person suffering from hoplophobia fears in a totally irrational and excessive manner the firearms. And when exposed to them, it presents very high sensations and manifestations of anxiety.
At present, this alteration has been established as a type of psychopathology, and its clinical characteristics can be encompassed within the diagnostic group of anxiety disorders.
This article reviews the information available about this disorder. Their symptoms and their possible causes are commented on, and the treatments that can be done to overcome phobic fear of firearms are explained.
Characteristics of Hoplophobia
Hoplophobia is an alteration that is defined by the experimentation of an irrational, excessive and uncontrollable fear of firearms.
In fact, its name comes from the Greek where"hoplon"means gun and"phobos"means fear.
Firearms instructor Colonel Jeff Cooper claims to have coined the term of the alteration in 1962, with the aim of describing a"mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to arms."
Likewise, the instructor stated that hoplophobia implied the belief that the instruments have a will of their own, different from that of their user.
Beyond these origins, today the study of hoplophobia is done from a scientific point of view, which explains the fear of weapons through the mechanisms of development of phobic fear.
Research on hoplophobia is still scarce today, and data on its prevalence in the population are not available. However, there have been cases of people experiencing excessive fear of firearms.
In this sense, hoplophobia seems to be a specific phobia very similar to other types of phobias, and is characterized by the suffering of a fear of firearms that is characterized by being:
- Irrational.
- Excessive.
- Uncontrollable.
- Persistent.
Likewise, the fear of hoplophobia causes the person with the alteration to completely reject contact with firearms, and try to escape whenever he detects their presence, with the aim of also avoiding the discomfort that originates him.
symptom
Hoplophobia is considered a anxiety disorder Because the manifestations that the fear experienced when it is in contact with a firearm are mainly anxious.
In this sense, a person with hoplophobia experiences high feelings of anxiety whenever he visualizes a firearm. The symptoms of anxiety that an individual has with this condition can be divided into: physical, cognitive and behavioral symptoms.
Physical symptoms
Fear of firearms motivates an increase in Activity of the autonomic nervous system Of the brain, a fact that causes a series of alterations in the functioning of the organism.
These manifestations have to do with an increase in the state of corporal tension, and although they can vary in each case, it is maintained that a person with hoplophobia may present some of the following physical symptoms:
- Increased heart rate.
- Palpitations or tachycardia.
- Increased respiratory rate.
- Feeling of choking or difficulty breathing.
- Increased muscle tension.
- Headache and / or stomach pain.
- Excessive body sweating.
- Dizziness, nausea or vomiting.
- Feeling of unreality.
- Dry mouth.
Cognitive symptoms
Apart from the physical manifestations, hoplophobia causes the appearance and development of a series of thoughts related to the fear of firearms.
These cognitions motivate the appearance of phobic fear and are characterized by incorporating irrational thoughts about the negative properties of weapons and the damage that can receive itself if it is close to them.
Behavioral symptoms
Finally, hoplophobia can be seen also reflected in the behavior and behavior of the individual.
In this sense, the alteration usually causes the development of two main behaviors: avoidance and escape.
Avoidance incorporates a series of behaviors that allow the individual to avoid contact with firearms. The person carries out these behaviors with the aim of avoiding the discomfort and anxiety that causes him to be near the weapons.
Escape is a behavior that occurs when the person has not been able to avoid contact with firearms and is close to one of them.
At such times, anxiety and discomfort caused by contact with the weapon motivates the development of escape or escape behavior.
Causes
The causes of hoplophobia are not well studied today, however, it is postulated that the etiological factors could be the same as those of other types of specific phobia.
In this sense, having experienced traumatic experiences related to weapons or having received educational styles in which a wide rejection of these elements may be important factors that lead to the development of hoplophobia.
Treatments
Hoplophobia is a Type of phobia Which is generally considered to be relatively disabling, mainly because the contact with arms that must be carried out by the majority of the population is minimal.
However, this may be different in specific situations. For example, in countries where firearms are legalized or in persons who must use these items at their workplace (eg police), hoplophobia may result in a more serious alteration.
For this reason, psychological treatments exist today that allow to overcome the hoplophobia and that can be very useful for those person in whom the fear to the arms is an inconvenience.
The type of psychotherapy that has been most effective is cognitive behavioral therapy, which can overcome phobic fear through a gradual exposure to guns.
References
- American Psychiatric Association (2013). DSM-5 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Washington: American Psychiatric Publishing.
- Barlow, D.H. (1988). Anxiety and its disorders: the nature and treatment of anxiety and panic. New York, Guilford.
- Bateman, A.; Brown, D. and Pedder, J. (2005) Introduction to psychotherapy. Manual of psychodynamic theory and technique. Barcelona: Albesa (pp. 27-30 and 31-37).
- Ninan; Dunlop (2006). Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Anxiety Disorders . Pennsylvania: Handbooks in Health Care. P. 107. ISBN 1-931981-62-0. Table 7-1 Names of Some Phobias... Unusual... Hoplophobia-fear of firearms.
- Vassilaros, Dimitri (January 8, 2006)"Bloomberg's hoplophobia". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved 2012-08-24. Hoplophobia is a tongue-in-cheek neurosis"discovered"in 1962 by firearms instructor Jeff Cooper to mock those who think guns have free will. Or any will for that matter.