Algophobia or algiophobia is a phobia of pain - an abnormal and persistent

fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

of pain that is far more powerful than that of a normal person.Barker, R. L. (1992). Fear and Phobias. Mental Health and the Elderly: A Social Work Perspective, 271. It can be treated with

behavioral therapy Behaviour therapy or behavioural psychotherapy is a broad term referring to clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviourism and/or cognitive psychology. It looks at specific, learned behaviours and how the environment, or o ...

and

anti-anxiety An anxiolytic (; also antipanic or antianxiety agent) is a medication or other intervention that reduces anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiogenic agents which increase anxiety. Anxiolytic medications are used for the treatment of anxiet ...

medication. The term comes from the el, ἄλγος, ''álgos'', "pain" and , ''phóbos'', "fear". According to Sabino Metta, a behavioral psychologist, the phobic reaction is a learned behavior. A common example of this reaction would be an elderly person who hears about all of their friends' various ailments and pains. This person will begin to anticipate the problems and experience the results before anything actually happens to them. People with this problem probably have

hyperalgesia Hyperalgesia ( or ; 'hyper' from Greek ὑπέρ (huper, “over”), '-algesia' from Greek algos, ἄλγος (pain)) is an abnormally increased sensitivity to pain, which may be caused by damage to nociceptors or peripheral nerves and can ...

. The Fear of Pain Questionnaire (currently the FPQ-III), a mental health screening tool, has been used to test for algophobia in the past and was found to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability.McNiel, D. & Rainwater, A (1998). ''Journal of Behavioral Medicine''. Volume 21, Number 4.

References

{{reflist Phobias

See also

References