Phobias considered rare are those rare phobias, or those we have never heard of… Perhaps this happens to you with dinophobia , which consists of the phobia of the sensation of vertigo and/or dizziness (not to be confused, but, with the phobia of heights).

In this article we will see exactly what this phobia consists of, as well as its associated symptoms, some of its possible causes and treatments that can be applied.

Dinophobia: what is it?

Dynophobia is the phobia of vertigo and/or dizziness. We should not confuse this phobia with the fear of heights (acrophobia), since in dinophobia the phobic object is vertigo, not heights (which would be one of the causes of vertigo).

Thus, is a specific phobia (a type of anxiety disorder), catalogued as such in the current DSM- 5 (Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

Thus, in dinophobia there is a disproportionate, intense and irrational fear of feeling vertigo or even dizziness. What is also feared are the sensations associated with this physiological state; for example, feeling that the body goes on one side and the head on the other, feeling short of breath, feeling that everything around you moves/shakes, losing balance, lack of stability…

Dynophobia is actually a rare phobia; that is, it is a rare phobia. It is much more common, for example, acrophobia (phobia of heights).

Vertigo

Vertigo consists of an objective sensation of movement, of turning of the environment or of oneself. It is also related to a feeling of “rushing into the void” (even though this does not really exist). The sensation of vertigo does not only appear when we are in high places, but it can also appear in a panic disorder, for example.

This altered psychophysiological state is related to an alteration in the vestibular system (related to balance, posture and spatial control), and is found in the ear. In addition, the sensation of vertigo is very unpleasant and can cause intense fear, so it is logical that this sensation can end up causing a phobia like dinophobia.

On the other hand, vertigo may be accompanied by other symptoms, such as a feeling of impending fainting, loss of balance and/or nausea.

How long can the feeling of vertigo last? It depends on your trigger, etiology… but usually from minutes to days. Vertigo can affect anyone (we must differentiate it, but, from the dinophobia itself), although the most frequent ages of appearance are between 40-50 years old and from 70 years old.

Relationship to other phobias

As a curious fact, has been related to other types of phobia, in this case phobias to more abstract objects , such as eternity or infinity (apeirophobia).

An evolutionary sense…?

Like many other phobias, dinophobia could also have, etiologically, an evolutionary meaning . That is, our ancestors could have feared this feeling of vertigo when relating it to possible damage or traumatic events.

As a result, we may have “inherited”, to some extent, this type of phobia. The same is true for more biological phobias, such as the phobia of heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), etc.

Symptoms

The symptoms associated with dinophobia are as follows.

1. Intense fear of vertigo

The main symptom of dinophobia, as with all specific phobias, is an intense, irrational and disproportionate fear of a particular phobic object (in this case, vertigo and/or dizziness). This fear can be triggered by stimuli that remind us of this sensation of vertigo , or simply appear without a triggering stimulus.

Physiological symptoms

Let’s remember that specific phobias are anxiety disorders. They all involve physiological symptoms such as: dizziness, vertigo, feeling of shortness of breath, tachycardia, sweating, trembling…

In the case of dinophobia, these are the same symptoms (causally, one of them is dizziness/vertigo itself).

3. Interference

In order to diagnose a phobia as such, the symptoms must cause interference in the person’s day-to-day life a. Although it is true that there are some phobias that do not interfere with daily functioning, because the phobic stimulus is not found in everyday life (think, for example, of snakes, living in a city…). So the same can happen with dinophobia (although, let’s remember, a triggering stimulus is not always necessary for the symptoms of dinophobia to occur).

4. Discomfort

Another important symptom of dinophobia is the discomfort that the phobia itself causes, since the person can be limited in his day-to-day life, by that constant fear of suffering from vertigo.

Causes

Phobias can have many causes, although the most common cause is a traumatic event . In the case of dinophobia, the person may have experienced a traumatic situation related to these bodily sensations (dizziness or vertigo), as well as to bridges, heights, planes…

Thus, the fact of experiencing a situation of these characteristics (with a great emotional charge associated), may be enough to develop dinophobia. This also includes cases where one does not directly experience such a situation, but hears about it, sees it in others (vicarious conditioning), etc.

In addition, once the symptoms of dinophobia are experienced, it is common for the following to occur: a terrible fear of reliving the symptoms , which turns the disorder into a vicious circle that is difficult to break without treatment.

Treatment

The treatment of dinophobia, on a psychological level, includes two major options: exposure therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy (they can be used together, although normally exposure therapy already includes cognitive-behavioral techniques).

Remember that exposure therapy is the most effective treatment for specific phobias, as several studies have shown. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also offers very good results.

Exposure therapy, on the other hand, includes exposure to phobic stimulus, in a gradual way (through a hierarchy of items). The aim is for the patient to go through "overcoming" increasingly difficult items until he manages to face the phobic situation without having to escape from it.

This is often done by training the patient in coping strategies that can be used when high levels of anxiety are felt, such as breathing, relaxation or positive imagery.
On the other hand, cognitive-behavioral therapy includes, essentially, cognitive restructuring, which has the objective of "restructuring" the patient’s catastrophic thoughts in relation to vertigo and its associated symptoms, in order to replace them with other more functional, realistic and adaptive ones.

In other words, with phobias, cognitive distortions and irrational thoughts often appear that should be combated; this is also the case with dinophobia. Therefore, the mission of cognitive behavioral therapy is to offer the patient tools to be able to detect such thoughts, and then modify them.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Madrid: Panamericana.
  • Horse (2002). Manual for the cognitive-behavioral treatment of psychological disorders. Vol. 1 and 2. Madrid. Siglo XXI (Chapters 1-8, 16-18).
  • Derebery, M.J. (2000). Diagnosis and treatment of vertigo. Revista Cubana de Medicina, 39(4): 238-53.
  • López, A. (2005). Specific phobias. Faculty of Psychology. Departament de Personalitat, Avaluació i Tractament Psicològics.