The human mind is so complex it can perform functions more rapidly than the most advanced computers and has incredible recall. It is designed to receive data from all the senses including sight and touch. The mind not only logically processes the data, but can assign an emotion to the input. There can be an emotional response (good or bad) to touch or the visual presence of an object. While many may be cautious of the onset of any brain disease there are some who fear mental disease even if there is no evidence that it exists or may become a reality. This fear is known as Meningitophobia.
Most will realize that brain disease also includes dementia, and the reality of that prospect can instill a great deal of fear in a person.
What Causes Meningitophobia (The fear in the brain)?
This fear may be obtained in interacting with a friend or loved one who has lived with brain disease. The responses of those with brain disease may be remarkably different from what may be considered typical. Watching a person deteriorate with brain disease can instill fear of what it would be like to live with a similar disease.
This fear can also be the result of observing someone you love and trust who already lives with this fear. Their pronounced anxiety related to this fear can leave you feeling as if it is worth fearing – even if you never thought so previously. The anxiety in others is always a stimulating factor in the development of personal fear.
The Symptoms of Meningitophobia
An individual with this fear is likely fixated on prevention techniques, even when no mental disease is known or expected. They will look for supplements that claim to assist in improving brain function, they may engage in mental brain strengthening academic exercises and they may work to keep up to date on advances in treating mental disease.
Other symptoms may also include…
- Air hunger
- Trembling
- Elevated heart rate
- Weeping
- Screaming
- Panic attacks
- Loss of control
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Feeling as if you are losing your mind
The frustration with this phobia is that by attempting to hold off brain disease an individual can exhibit symptoms that may resemble the onset of brain disease. By obsessing about the possibility, the result can look like reality – even when it’s not.
How to Overcome Meningitophobia
Many who have this fear already know a lot about mental disease, but they may be focused on the wrong information. A broad look at mental disease suggests that there can be a reasonable approach to brain care that does not err on the side of obsession.
Sometimes the help a meningitophobe needs can be found through therapy. This approach allows a therapist to help you rewind life’s programming to find out where the fear started and what caused the initial obsession. They can then work to deal with that fear along with the emotional response that is often the motivation towards greater fear.
The fear of brain disease is also referred to as:
- Brain disease fear
- Brain disease phobia
- Meningitophobia
