There are as many phobias as there are objects, stimuli or situations in the world. In this article we will know the iophobia, which consists of the phobia of being poisoned , either accidentally or provoked.

But why does this phobia appear? What are the symptoms? How can we treat it? We will answer all these questions and finally make a differential diagnosis.

Iophobia: What is it?

The word iophobia comes from the Greek “ios” (poison, toxic) and “phobos” (phobia, fear). Therefore, iophobia consists of the disproportionate fear or phobia of poison . Specifically, it is an abnormal and unjustified fear of poison, of being poisoned or of poisons.

Thus, iophobia consists of the sensation of fear of consuming, ingesting, breathing or having any kind of contact with any poisonous substance; on the other hand, the person may also be afraid of being accidentally poisoned, and therefore iophobia is related to toxicophobia or toxophobia .

A specific phobia: symptoms

Iophobia consists of a specific phobia, as in this case one is afraid of a specific stimulus or situation. In specific phobias, a person has an intense fear or anxiety about the stimulus or situation , for at least 6 months.

In iophobia, the phobic situations would be the possibility of being poisoned and/or dying from poisoning, and the objects or stimuli would be, for example, substances, chemicals, liquids, etc.

These sensations of fear that are born in the individual, provoke the intense need to flee from the stimulus , as well as the avoidance of both exposure to it and situations where it could appear (if the situations are not avoided, they are endured with high anxiety or discomfort).

All of these symptoms alter and interfere with a person’s normal functioning in all areas of life.

Causes

There may be several causes for the appearance of iophobia (the origin may be different). Let’s look at some of them:

1. Conditioning

Repeatedly receiving or seeing news of people who have been poisoned (and/or have died of poisoning), either accidentally or provoked (by themselves or others), along with a personal predisposition or vulnerability to suffer from a phobia, can generate iophobia.

We may also have experienced a poisoning situation ourselves (traumatic experience). Thus, the person with iophobia can acquire the phobia conditioned by past experiences (own or vicarious).

As we have seen, if it is vicarious, it occurs by visualization of a poisoning through direct observation, reading or audiovisual media .

2. Other related phobias

It may also be that the person already has some fear (or directly, phobia) of different plants and animals.

We can relate this to Seligman’s theory of preparation , which holds that there would be certain stimuli or situations more likely to trigger phobias (since they would be phylogenetically prepared, that is, we would “inherit” such fears from our ancestors when they faced dangerous or life-or-death situations). For example, fear of lions, a snake bite, or some herbs or poisonous substances (all of which can cause death).

Thus, the human being would have “inherited” the fact of being afraid of certain animals or plants and would have learned to avoid them, feeling an innate fear or repugnance towards them.

3. Predisposition

We also find a predisposition (whether genetic, biological, social…) at the base of many phobias, including iophobia. Thus, the person could have this vulnerability, added to the generalization of fears prior to death or illness due to an external agent not directly visible (for example, a poisonous substance, a bacterium, etc.)

This would fulfil an adaptive function when the person would avoid those stimuli that could cause him/her to die (increasing his/her possibility of survival)

Treatment

The most effective psychological therapy at present to treat specific phobias is exposure therapy . In this type of therapy, the individual is exposed to the feared stimulus or situation (usually gradually after the development of a hierarchy of items between patient and therapist).

In the case of iophobia, the exposure will not be “real”, that is, the subject will not be exposed to being poisoned in a real way, but the exposure therapy can be done in imagination (where the individual must imagine in detail that he is being poisoned). On the other hand, it will also be possible to work on the situations avoided by the subject as a consequence of iophobia.

We can illustrate all this with an example; imagine a person with iophobia who does not drink from any glass served to him in a restaurant. In this case the therapy would consist of exposing the subject to drinking from the glasses served to him and not avoiding such a situation. Another example would be to expose the subject to using cleaning products, or simply eating out.

On the other hand, can also be used the cognitive restructuring technique (within cognitive behavioural therapy); this will be aimed at discussing the patient’s irrational beliefs and fears, as well as the meaning attributed to these beliefs, as well as the poison itself.

Differential diagnosis

Finally, a good differential diagnosis should be made, mainly with:

1. TOC

Patients with OCD may manifest obsessions and compulsions related to cleaning (this is not an iophobia per se).

Psychotic disorders

Patients with schizophrenia, delusional disorder or others, may manifest the delirium of being poisoned (neither would be an iophobia).

Bibliographic references:

  • Horse (2002). Manual for the cognitive-behavioral treatment of psychological disorders. Vol. 1 and 2. Madrid. Siglo XXI (Chapters 1-8, 16-18).
  • Belloch, A.; Sandin, B. and Ramos, F. (2010). Manual of Psychopathology. Volume I and II. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.
  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-5. Masson, Barcelona.