All About Nosocomephobia, the Fear of Hospitals, & How To Overcome it with CBT Therapy & Counselling in Wolverhampton & West Midlands

What is Nosocomephobia?

Nosocomephobia is the Fear of Hospitals or of having hospital treatment and may also be expressed as Haemophobia, the fear of blood.

One of the biggest problems associated with having a fear of hospitals is that sufferers are likely to avoid essential surgical interventions if they become necessary, thus increasing the risks of health problems.

This fear became much more prevalent during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic in which large numbers of people were admitted to hospital for Covid-19 problems.

This may also have been exacerbated by the idea that many Covid-19 infections were transmitted within the hospital environment leading to a reluctance to be admitted.

All phobias, regardless of what the feared object or circumstances are, produce feelings of anxiety and stress for the sufferer, and Nosocomephobia is no different in this sense.

Whilst the feared object or situation may seem, to other people, to be ‘ridiculous’ or ‘silly’, the person who suffers from Nosocomephobia knows only too well that the anxious feelings they experience are real enough.

We completely understand this and will treat you and your Nosocomephobia seriously.

Nosocomephobia Symptoms

The symptoms of Nosocomephobia are very similar to other specific phobias and will often include:

• Anger problems
• Generalised Anxiety
• Social anxiety
• Control issues
• Feelings of depression
• Insomnia & sleeping problems
• Low Self-Esteem
• Low Self-Confidence
• Panic attacks
• Overthinking things
• Paranoia
• Stress
• Avoidance and safety behaviours

Nosocomephobia symptoms tend to be automatic leaving the sufferer feeling like they have little or no control over the way they feel.

This often results in the use of avoidance or safety behaviours in an attempt to prevent exposure to what they consider to be the triggering events.

Unfortunately, safety behaviours tend to produce a paradoxical effect and end up reinforcing the phobia and associated distress rather than making things better.

Nosocomephobia may be the result of earlier traumatic experiences that can be directly (or indirectly) linked to the object or situational fear, but this is not always the case because phobic responses can also be inherited as learned behaviours from the social context in which they were brought up.

Over time, Nosocomephobia may have become normalised or accepted as part of a person’s life and where this has been the case, sufferers may not seek help for their problem for many years as they have learnt to live with it.

In just as many cases, however, Nosocomephobia may become much worse and start to get in the way of normal living. This is particularly true if the safety and avoidance behaviours have grown in frequency and sophistication.

The good news is that the majority of people who suffer from Nosocomephobia will find a course of psychotherapy helps enormously.

Therapy & Counselling for Nosocomephobia

You can read more about the different types of psychological therapy for the fear of Hospitals below.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Nosocomephobia

If you’re determined to overcome your Nosocomephobia then we highly recommend following our Tranceformental CBT programme with Paul which is available as an Online Therapy as well as a self-help course.

The Tranceformental programme is a highly successful & pragmatic psychotherapy course, run over 10 sessions, that will teach you everything you need to know to understand your problem, identify any unhelpful thinking styles or limiting beliefs and then show you how to make changes using methods derived from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Tranceformental CBT programme is a clinically proven approach used by mental health practitioners around the World.

Alternative Psychological Approaches for Nosocomephobia

Although our preferred form of psychological therapy for Nosocomephobia is Tranceformental CBT, we also offer alternative psychotherapies for those who might prefer a different approach.

These include:

Psychodynamic therapy which focuses on understanding why the problem has arisen and relies on the therapy relationship to bring about change. Available with Paul.

Counselling which is less formally structured than CBT but still provides a safe and non-judgmental environment in which to discuss issues. Talking problems through with a skilled counsellor is often therapeutic in its own right.

Hypnotherapy is an alternative form of psychotherapy that can be applied to a very wide range of problems and is available with Joan.

Free Initial Consultations for Nosocomephobia

We offer all prospective clients FREE initial consultations to discuss your Nosocomephobia problems prior to commencing any therapy programmes.

The consultation and lasts around 50 minutes.

During this consultation we will discuss the various psychological therapy options that are available to you and make a considered recommendation based on your individual personal circumstances.

Initial consultations are also available online.

At Tranceform Psychology we recognise the importance of the therapy relationship in helping people to bring about effective change, so it is important to meet (either face-to-face or online) before deciding to follow a course of psychotherapy.

Our policy is to help people make a fully balanced & considered decision about undertaking work with us, including both the financial and personal implications.