Crowd phobia or ochlophobia occurs in places where there are many people, in a concert, a fair, a shopping center or any other large gathering. Symptoms and tips for overcoming it.
What is the real name for fear of crowds?
Crowd phobia is also called Ochlophobia (“ochlo” means “crowd” in Greek). Ochlophobia is therefore the fear of being in contact with the crowd. “She is often confused with social phobia which designates the fear of the gaze and judgment of others, or to agoraphobia which corresponds to the fear of large spaces but which is often associated with a fear of confined spaces and public places with the fear of losing control in these situations” remarks Dr. Gérard Macqueron, psychiatrist in Paris.
Is it the same as agoraphobia?
No, not quite. These two fears are often confused. Agoraphobia is based on anticipation and corresponds to the intense and lasting fear of places from which one cannot easily escape if necessary, or in which one cannot be rescued in the event of a problem.
What are the symptoms of a fear of crowds?
The ochlophobe fearsto be stuck, crushed, carried away by the movement of the crowd. In contact with the crowd such as in a department store during sales, on the metro platform at peak times or in a concert hall for example:
- The person is taken by a real panic
- She feels a feeling of suffocation
- She may have palpitations cardiac
- She might feel nauseous
- She has deep inside her the oppressive desire to leave the situation for relief.
- “In extreme cases, if the subject cannot escape or control his anxiety, he may imagine that the others are hostile to him, wish him harm and that they are directly responsible for his discomfort” specifies the psychiatrist.
What is the origin or cause of this fear?
The origin of this phobia is often traumatic that is, it occurs after an experience in which the person felt unsafe in a crowd. “More rarely, it comes from a overprotective upbringing and the lack of experience: the person living in a closed environment and with family, going out little and being little exposed to public places then experiences the fear of being confronted with them” adds the specialist.
What are the solutions to overcome the fear of crowds?
“The treatment of crowd phobia is essentially based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBT) by working on a program of gradual exposure to feared situations and erroneous thoughts or EMDR (neuro-emotional integration through eye movements) in case of trauma for reduce the emotional burden which is reactivated when confronted with situations that recall the traumatic situation” explains Dr Gérard Macqueron.
Thanks to Dr Gérard Macqueron, psychiatrist and co-author of the book “How to overcome shyness” and the collective work “The psychology guide to everyday life” written under the direction of Christophe André and published by Odile Jacob.