What You Need to Know About Athazagoraphobia, the Fear of Being Forgotten
Athazagoraphobia: The Fear of Being Forgotten After Death
Athazagoraphobia (also known as Autophobic) is a phobic disorder characterized by anxiety or dread over the possibility of not being remembered after death. It may occur due to fear of being abandoned, ostracized, shunned or even killed in some way.
The term “autophobia” comes from the Greek words for fear and grief. A person with this condition may experience extreme feelings of anxiety when thinking about their own mortality.
They are often afraid that they will not be able to remember anything at all, or that something terrible might happen if they did remember it. Some sufferers feel so anxious about this issue that they avoid social situations where there is the potential of them forgetting something important.
Symptoms of Athazagoraphobia
In general, the symptoms of athazagoraphobia include:
Fear of dying. Fear of being forgotten after death.
Difficulty concentrating and remembering things. Feeling lonely and isolated. Depression or low mood. Feelings of guilt or shame about having this phobias and how they affect your life. Generalized anxiety. Needing constant reassurance that you will never be forgotten. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Worrying excessively about death and your memories after death.
What Causes it?
The fear of being forgotten after death may develop from a variety of different factors. It is important to explore the root cause of this phobia because this can help with finding a solution that will help you overcome it. Getting professional help from a psychologist or psychiatrist is also highly recommended.
Some of these common causes and risk factors include:
A traumatic event in which a loved one or important person died and you experienced a separation anxiety. A fear of mortality.
A fear of being forgotten or not remembered after death. Death occurring around you at an early age. Excessive planning or worrying about the future. Genetics, meaning you may have inherited it from family members. Lack of social skills and feelings of isolation. Obsessing over others deaths, especially celebrities or people close to you.
Treatment Options for Athazagoraphobia
Once the root cause of your fear of being forgotten after death has been identified, it can help you and your doctor decide on a suitable treatment plan to help you manage or get rid of it altogether. Some of the options that you and your doctor may explore include:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) – This form of treatment helps you change the way you think to help you manage your condition in a more effective way. Hypnotherapy – In this treatment, a therapist helps you get in touch with your inner mind and subconscious in order to address the core issues behind your phobia.
Medication – Doctors can prescribe certain medications to help reduce anxiety, boost your mood, and help you feel relaxed. Support groups – In these meetings, you can share your experiences with others who suffer from the same condition and learn how they deal with it in their own lives.
Recommended Treatment Options
The following are some of the most popular treatment options for athazagoraphobia:
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a great option if you want to learn how to manage your condition yourself without the use of drugs. Sessions are completely confidential and your therapist will work with you to get to the root of why you feel the way you do about death and being forgotten.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This option involves meeting with a trained professional on a one-on-one basis in order to learn how to identify, analyze, and modify the faulty beliefs and thoughts that cause your phobia. The benefit of this option is that it can be done discreetly without the hassle of meeting with a group of people.
Support Groups
If you want to learn how to deal with your condition by hearing experiences from people who suffer from the same phobia, this is an option for you. Usually, support groups are in person, but there are online support groups that you can join as well.
You can also do a combination of both in order to learn how to deal with your fear.
Sources & references used in this article:
THE MIDvvEsT QUARTERLY by W Empson – search.proquest.com
Brand entification as a post-anthropomorphic attribution among Twitter-using Millennials by H Sashittal, A Jassawalla – Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 2019 – emerald.com
Forget memory: Creating better lives for people with dementia by J Gordinier – 2008 – Penguin
Phobias: When Fear Becomes Irrational by AD Basting – 2009 – books.google.com