Guidelines

Is Ablutophobia a mental illness?

Is Ablutophobia a mental illness?

Ablutophobia is the overwhelming fear of bathing, cleaning, or washing. It’s an anxiety disorder that falls under the category of specific phobias.

What causes Ablutophobia?

Causes of Ablutophobia Like all specific phobias, a traumatic past event is the commonly the trigger for ablutophobia, although you may or may not consciously remember it. 2 How did you get ablutophobia? A traumatic past event may have happened to you, a relative or even someone in a movie or television show.

What do you need to know about ablutophobia?

It linked bathing time to bad experiences. Symptoms associated with Ablutophobia include: extreme avoidance of bathing, dread or panic when bathing time draws near including strong uncontrollable reaction to the fear. In addition, the affected individual can experience rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and trembling.

How is hypnosis used to get rid of ablutophobia?

Hypnosis can focus on moving forward by helping to erase the fear without the need to understand or take the client back to the original event. Many people cringe at the thought of being forced to relive an event, or using a therapy that forces situations to induce artificially ablutophobia and the fear.

Why do people with ablutophobia fear washing machines?

For ablutophobics though dishwashers and washing machines are a necessity as you can imagine, or their lives could be even worse as adults! Okay then, where does this phobia start or evolve from? There’s no specific cause as to how this phobia started, but it’s most likely linked to some very early, childhood trauma.

Can you avoid bathing if you have ablutophobia?

Ablutophobia is real. While some phobias can be avoided, ablutophobia is difficult to avoid while maintaining your regular daily activities. It can be devastating if you have it because bathing and washing are a part of everyday life. If left untreated, the complications this condition may include: