What is the fear of the subway called, and how to get rid of metrophobia and escalaphobia?

Statistics say that approximately 5–10% of the world's population suffer from various phobias. Any object that we encounter in life can be the cause of a phobia. These could be insects, dogs, snakes, spiders, mice, germs, heights, darkness, fear of leaving your home, elevators, escalators, etc.

The fear of escalators is called escalophobia and refers to specific phobias, such as fear of heights, elevators, flying, etc.

This is an uncontrollable fear of a specific object or situation. This phobia is less common than others, but it darkens the lives of many people. And although patients understand the absurdity of their fear, they cannot cope with it on their own. Here you need the help of specialists.

Fear of escalators - escalophobia

Symptoms

The main symptom of a phobia is a panicky fear of taking a step on a moving step. A person tries by any means to avoid riding an escalator. A person suffering from a phobia reacts inappropriately to the escalator, his behavior becomes uncontrollable, and other symptoms may also appear, such as:

• labored breathing;
• heavy sweating;
• tension and trembling in the body;
• horror, desire to run away;
• cardiopalmus;
• feeling of “cotton legs”, numbness;
• abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting;
• dizziness or fainting;
• convulsions;
• chills;
• darkening of the eyes;
• the person does not understand where he is.

It is not necessary that all of these symptoms appear together; only a few may be present.

Symptoms of agoraphobia

The main symptoms of agoraphobia are anxious and phobic manifestations, as well as panic reactions. The most typical ones are:

• “anticipation anxiety” of frightening events;
• obsessive avoidance behavior to avoid situations that cause fear;
• sudden panic attacks while traveling alone;
• panic attacks when traveling to places that previously caused attacks of fear;
• feelings of anxiety and fear are obsessive; rituals may arise to “magically” overcome unwanted situations;
• voluntary isolation within one's own home.

Panic attacks are characterized by suddenness and a large surge of adrenaline. Their duration does not exceed 1 hour, usually about 15 minutes. At this time, the following somatic reactions are present:

• strong heartbeat;
• increased sweating;
• dizziness;
• unsteady or unsteady gait;
• tremor of the limbs, tremors in the voice;
• rapid and loud breathing.

Among the emotional sensations, many people note a lack of control over behavior and feelings, and a strong fear of death.

Causes

There are many different hypotheses regarding the causes of fear. Among them, scientists identify the most common:

• A stressful situation in the past that you participated in or witnessed.
• Perhaps, once upon a time, you saw an accident or had an accident involving an escalator, and now, faced with the need to go up or down on this moving structure, you involuntarily remember the situation that frightened you and “try it on” for yourself. And you are sure that the escalator under you will certainly break, collapse, etc.

Consequences of unsafe escalator use

• Strongly developed instinct of self-preservation. Many fears are based on a sense of self-preservation (fear of snakes, heights, darkness, etc.), which is not bad at all - sometimes it can save a life. But in people with weak psyches, such a feeling often develops into a phobia. A person experiences uncontrollable fear even in situations where there is no danger. In sensitive people, the fear of escalators, like a phobia, may appear after scary stories from friends or watching disaster films negatively associated with the subway and escalators. Just by looking at the escalator, the wild imagination of such people already paints a terrible picture, like in a movie, only they themselves are the main characters.
• Burdened heredity. American scientists claim that if one of the parents suffers from a phobia, then the probability of the child’s illness is 25%, and if both, then 50%, although this is highly controversial.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to understand the causes of fear and correctly assess the current situation on your own, so you need to contact a specialist.

The help of a psychiatrist may be required in the following situations:

• The patient persistently avoids certain places and situations. In our case, a person categorically does not want to go down to the subway or travel on an escalator in shopping centers. If you are afraid of the escalator in the subway, you may not get to work on time.
• A person tries to find any other means of transportation, but this takes a lot of time. Some people suffering from this phobia have problems finding employment - it is not always possible to find work near home.
• Fear is unreasonable and very strong; it causes panic, which prevents a person from controlling his behavior. He understands that it is stupid to be afraid, but he cannot help himself, he behaves extremely inappropriately.
• This condition lasts more than 6 months and causes severe discomfort.

If you notice these signs, don't be afraid to admit that there is a problem. Accepting and understanding the problem will make treatment easier.

Seek help from professionals

Causes of metrophobia and escalaphobia

The fear of the subway is officially called metrophobia. Various simple psychotherapeutic “life hacks”, together with qualified help from a specialist, will help cope not only with it, but also with its frequent companion - fear of escalators (escalaphobia).

Escalaphobia is the fear of going down or going up an escalator. Fear appears:

• if we are afraid of heights, we are terrified: right now we will feel dizzy and fall;
• when we are wary of “relentless unauthorized” machines, we are afraid that we will be “sucked in” as soon as we find ourselves at the bottom or top of the escalator. It is in these places that the steps seem to decrease and disappear;
• because of the all-encompassing fear of falling when we put our foot on “unsteady” moving steps from “solid ground”. This is another typical reason for fear of escalators.

But metrophobia most often occurs in individuals prone to other various fears. The phobia appears:

• if closed spaces make you feel faint. Then we worry: the ceiling of the subway will collapse, a huge mass of earth will bury you alive. Or we are afraid of suffocating in a stuffy carriage;
• if we don’t like darkness, we begin to fear that the light will disappear and the carriage will be enveloped in darkness;
• overly suspicious people, being in space underground, are afraid of terrorist attacks;
• individuals who hate crowds and fuss are afraid that the mass of people will “inadvertently” crush them and push them onto the rails.

In general, fear of the metro is caused by a variety of reasons. For some impressionable individuals, sometimes simply hearing an urban legend about underground “mutant rats” is enough for their consciousness to become filled with irrational fear.

Treatment of phobia

A phobia can become uncontrollable, ruining a person’s life for a long time. How to get rid of the persistent fear of escalators? It is impossible to imagine large cities without a metro. The metro saves us time. This is an indispensable form of transport for most residents of megacities, therefore, it is not possible to avoid the escalator in the metro. The fear of going up or down an escalator undoubtedly makes life much more difficult.

To help yourself, you need to choose the right treatment.

Clinical signs of metrophobia

Metrophobia differs in two clinical signs: one of which is panic attacks, the other is avoidance of movement by this type of transport.

Avoidance is a set of actions by the patient aimed at circumventing actions so as not to experience discomfort from traveling on the subway. Metrophobes refuse underground transport services, choosing other methods of transportation.

Panic attacks are attacks of uncontrollable fear. Even being in the metro area, not to mention going down to the station, can take a person out of a state of mental balance. In cases of an attack of uncontrollable fear, characteristic phenomena are noted: difficulty breathing, flashing of spots, limbs become heavy, as if filled with lead, profuse sweating occurs (cold sweat appears on the back and palms), heart rhythm is disturbed, which leads to heavy intermittent breathing and shortness of breath, the apogee of such symptoms is loss of consciousness.

During a panic attack, the patient cannot concentrate. In this state, he is very vulnerable and is capable of becoming a victim of an accident or accident.

Signs of a phobia

Self-medication

If your fear of moving on an escalator does not entail panic attacks, you can try to overcome your fear on your own. To do this, you need to distract yourself from the subject of the phobia. Try to associate riding an escalator with something good and enjoyable for you. For example, you love sweets, and every time you step onto the escalator, allow yourself some candy or chocolate. Or, while standing on an escalator, look not at the feet of people moving towards you, but at the photographs of your loved ones. Thus, you will associate your trip on the subway with something pleasant for yourself.

At first you will have to force yourself, use willpower. You need to do this several times, then you will feel a pleasant sensation and step onto the escalator without fear. If you constantly avoid your fears, you can only worsen the situation, the disease will progress.

The main thing is not to avoid traveling. The more often you take the subway, ignore the stairs at the mall, and force yourself to ride the escalator, the faster you will stop being afraid of it. Be sure to praise yourself for every such action.

Riding an escalator as a treatment method

Or another way of self-medication: draw an object of fear as you imagine it in your imagination. Then tear the drawing into small pieces. You need to do this several times. This will also help get rid of the phobia.

You can write down your fear in detail point by point on a piece of paper. Describe the smallest details of your condition, mentally go the whole way. Try to analyze this situation and make sure that everything ended well.

You need to try to force yourself to face your fear, try to hold such meetings more often. Over time, realizing that nothing terrible happened, a person will be able to overcome his fear.

You need to learn to control and get rid of negative thoughts, like “this escalator will definitely break or fall” or “I will definitely be pulled under the moving steps,” etc.

You need to try to really assess the situation, remember the moments when nothing bad happened, and convince yourself that negative thoughts are, in essence, impossible.

You can try to find as much information as possible about your phobia, people with the same fears and discuss your common problems with them.

Good question “I can’t get into the subway”: How do people with transport phobias live?

In this case, we are talking about simple phobias - when a person is afraid of a specific object and the damage that this object can cause. The most common simple phobias are, for example, fear of heights, water, insects, the sight of blood, and dogs. Depending on the severity and reasons for its occurrence, such a phobia may be a symptom of some disorder, or may represent a separate diagnosis.

Some people “diagnose” simple phobias on their own - for example, a person may not like dogs and tell others that he has a phobia. This is not entirely correct. Today, the psychological lexicon penetrates into everyday vocabulary and we often say “I’m depressed” when we are in a bad mood, or “I’m in a period of mania” if we are cheerful and active. The same thing happens with phobias. In fact, like any other disorder, only a specialist can diagnose a simple phobia or other anxiety disorder. But there are signs that indicate you may have a phobia and should see a doctor. This is a strong expressed fear and persistent avoidance - such that it begins to affect a person's life.

For example, if a person does not like to fly on an airplane and is a little worried, one can hardly talk about aerophobia. But if he has to refuse business trips and on vacation he agrees to travel only by train, then here, most likely, we are really talking about her. It also happens that a person has a phobia, but it does not interfere with his daily life - for example, he is terrified of spiders, but he does not have to deal with them. Then, perhaps, contacting a specialist and working with the problem is not even necessary. In order to cope with a phobia, you need to make an effort and face unpleasant emotions, and if your fear does not affect your quality of life, then the efforts are not always justified.

There are two groups of factors that influence the emergence and consolidation of phobias. The first group is provoking factors, that is, those that cause fear to appear.

Firstly, it may be an innate tendency. Humanity has developed a fear of predators, open spaces or poisonous insects over thousands of years. This is an adaptation mechanism that has helped people survive on earth. It is because of this mechanism that some people have an innate tendency towards certain phobias. Research shows that if you artificially try to create a fear of a certain object in a person, the fear of spiders will form faster and easier than, say, a fear of flowers.

The second provoking factor is learning. For example, if a person has been observing a significant adult who has a phobia since childhood, it is likely that he will develop the same phobia. If a mother is afraid of heights and does not allow her child to approach the edge of the bridge, he learns from childhood: “Heights are dangerous.”

The third factor is your own experience. Here everything works very simply: “I was bitten by a dog, and now I’m afraid of dogs.” But it is important to understand: not everyone who has been bitten by a dog will be afraid of them, and not everyone whose mother suffers from aerophobia will also suffer from it. Several factors from different groups must come together.

The second group is supporting factors. If they don’t exist, there won’t be a phobia. Provoking factors are like a push. If you push the wheel, it will roll and at some point stop. supporting factors are the “engine” of a phobia. They, in turn, are divided into two groups: those associated with thinking and those associated with behavior.

If they are related to thinking, then a person who has a phobia distorts information “in its favor.” For example, he tries to rationalize his fear: “Dogs scare me, they are probably really dangerous. We need to study more information." A person begins to look for confirmation of his theory, reads about cases of dog attacks on people or about plane crashes. As a result, a catastrophic outcome begins to seem more likely than it actually is: our brain distorts information to reinforce our own beliefs.

Behavioral factors - avoidance and protective behavior. Without avoidance, a phobia most likely will not develop at all. The person avoids situations in which he might encounter the subject of his phobia. It turns out that he cannot get another, positive experience: for example, petting a dog and remaining safe and sound. But gaining such experience is necessary to cope with a phobia.

Not all scary situations can be avoided. There are people who fly regularly, but continue to suffer from aerophobia because they use protective behavior. Safety behavior is what you do or don't do to reduce anxiety and avoid perceived danger. For example, someone on an airplane constantly listens to the engines - so that a feeling of control is created. Some fly only in certain companies or hold onto their armrests tightly the entire trip. What kind of behavior this is is not so important, the main thing is its purpose. You can sit by the window in order to “control everything”, you can only sit in the aisle in order to “escape quickly, if anything happens” - both of these will be protective behavior.

If you have an irrational fear that is seriously interfering with your life, it is best to consult a specialist. Depending on the cause of fear, methods of work may be different. For example, if a phobia is an independent disorder, you need to work with avoidance and attitude towards the object of fear. The main method in this case will be exposure therapy - regular exposure to a frightening object. But if the phobia is a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder or panic disorder, then the focus of the work will be different.

It is quite possible to get rid of a phobia on your own if you have enough motivation and the fear is not too pronounced, but with a specialist it can be easier and faster.

If you want to try it yourself, there is a self-help algorithm that can make things easier.

First, try to determine what exactly you are afraid of. It’s not just “I’m afraid of dogs” - we need to understand what underlies the fear. For example, “I am afraid of the dog because it might bite me, then I will get tetanus and die.”

Second, you need to figure out what types of avoidance and protective behavior you use. They need to be written out.

Next you need to decide - what is your motivation? Why do you need to cope with a phobia? To do this, you will need to face the object of your fear, this is difficult and unpleasant. But simple phobias can be treated well if a person has good reasons to get rid of them, in such cases he is ready to endure temporary inconvenience.

The next step is to create a hierarchy of your fear. Rate from 1 to 10 how scared you are to perform various actions related to the object of your phobia. For example, thinking about flying - 2, being at the airport - 5, sitting on a plane before take-off - 9, and so on.

Next, you have to rationally assess your fear - turn to statistics and find out how many people actually die in plane crashes? How likely is it to die from a dog bite? There are no situations that are one hundred percent safe, and you have to accept this. But there are fears that, according to statistics, are unlikely to come true.

During this stage, you learn to formulate alternatives to your fearful thoughts. Here you are flying on a plane, and a flight attendant passes by with a worried face. Your first thought: “something is going wrong!” But you can “rewire” your thinking if you learn to ask yourself: “What are the alternatives? Why would she be upset? and find less catastrophic options. For example, “tired”, “quarreled with a friend”, “got a difficult passenger”.

Now that you have understood everything and sorted it out, you can begin to experience situations associated with a phobia in your imagination. Your anxiety will increase, and you should try not to avoid it, but to live through it. Phobias develop precisely when we try to rid ourselves of feelings of anxiety. But if you encounter it again and again and see that your fears do not come true, it will begin to decline. Then you can try to face your fear in real life - for example, go to the airport and look at the planes, take a short flight with a friend, then a longer one, then fly alone - ideas come from your list of the hierarchy of frightening situations.

Exposure therapy works very well, but its main problem is that not all clients agree to it. Now this problem can be solved by the introduction of modern technologies in psychotherapy. Flight simulators, augmented reality, virtual reality - all this makes the exhibition more accessible and reduces the failure rate.

Lastly, be prepared that the phobia may return periodically, especially if there is an innate tendency. The turn from avoiding fear to confronting it must become a lifestyle, only then the result will be long-term.

All these steps are easier to take with the help and support of a specialist, because to do this you need to be able to change your way of thinking and your views on disturbing situations. But if you still want to learn more about how to help yourself, I recommend the book “Freedom from Anxiety” by Robert Leahy.

Phytotherapy

Herbal medicine is based on the use of various medicinal plants. Peppermint is used to produce essential oils that have a calming effect. It is better to use valerian, peony, hawthorn or motherwort in the form of alcohol tinctures, and it is better to brew lemon balm and oregano.

Sedative drug Novo-Passit

Combination herbal preparations based on herbs are available for sale, such as Novo-Passit, Afobazol, Persen. Medicines based on medicinal herbs are good because they have almost no side effects and are sold in pharmacies without a prescription. Their disadvantages: long-term use, cumulative effect, they will not help urgently. And also, do not forget that these are still medications, and they can become addictive, and the desire to enhance the effect will lead to an overdose. For example, hawthorn can cause a drop in blood pressure, and valerian can cause a slowdown in reactions and drowsiness. Read the instructions carefully.

Of course, these drugs do not cure, but they help to relax and reduce anxiety.

Treatment methods

To overcome the fear of the metro, beliefs and understanding of one’s problem alone may not be enough, so a metrophobe will need high-quality medical care. One of the first steps will be to contact a psychotherapist, who will prescribe homeopathic medicines that will provide the patient with calm. Medicinal herbs (valerian, motherwort, lemon balm) have a mild calming effect. In advanced cases, tranquilizers from the benzodiazepine group may be required. They relieve fears, which helps you temporarily forget about the fear of the metro and use this transport when you need to.

If you are afraid of riding the subway, then to eliminate your fear of the subway you will need hypnosis, which will help you find and eliminate the root of the problem at the subconscious level. Hypnotic sessions will give control over emotions and give the patient the desired calm. Painless treatment with hypnosis, as well as methods of suggestion, is a chance for complete healing of metrophobia and restoration of a harmonious life. Exposure to the very nature of fear helps to cope with a phobia.

We must not forget about a healthy lifestyle. Walking in the fresh air, regular exercise, and the ability to organize your work day can strengthen the nervous system and make it less susceptible to any phobias.

Fear is a difficult phenomenon; with the right approach, you can forget about it forever, leaving unpleasant sensations in the past.

Medication

In the treatment of anxiety-phobic disorders, which include escalophobia, different groups of medications are used:

Antidepressants

Thanks to these drugs, anxiety and excessive emotional stress, apathy and lethargy are reduced. The advantage of antidepressants is that they are not addictive and do not require special prescriptions. But these drugs have their drawbacks: they are not fast-acting and cannot help in an emergency. There are also many side effects, such as tremors, gastrointestinal dysfunction, nausea, dry mouth, etc. The effect of the drugs is cumulative and occurs after about 5–10 days. You can buy such antidepressants without a prescription as: Maprotiline, Prozac, Paxil, Deprim, Mianserin, etc.

Beta blockers

The drugs block excess adrenaline. This hormone is produced when a person feels worried, worried or afraid. Beta blockers help control physiological symptoms such as trembling hands, legs or voice, excessive sweating and rapid heartbeat, but do not affect the emotional symptoms of anxiety. Beta blockers include Anaprilin, Bisoprolol, Atenolol, etc.

Tranquilizers

Indications for the use of tranquilizers are various anxiety conditions; tranquilizers are especially effective for eliminating acute stress (in this case they are taken in a short course). Unlike antidepressants, tranquilizers do not improve mood, but reduce the expression of emotions, both negative and positive. Due to the high likelihood of addiction, tranquilizers can be taken in short courses. This group of drugs includes: Phenazepam, Afobazol, Grandaxin, Rudotel, Phenibut, etc. In most cases, the withdrawal of tranquilizers is accompanied by an exacerbation or resumption of phobias. The effectiveness of tranquilizers was not as high as expected.

Medicines as prescribed

Neuroleptics or antipsychotics

Drugs in this group are intended for the correction of mental disorders of various origins and severity. They act directly on the human brain, therefore they affect the entire body. Neuroleptics have a peculiar calming effect, which is accompanied by a slowdown or complete removal of reactions to external stimuli, weakening of psychomotor agitation, and suppression of fear. These include the following drugs: Etaperazine, Triftazin, Teralen, Fluanxol, etc.

Many people suffering from phobias, including fear of escalators, begin to take tranquilizers, antidepressants and other drugs to slow down arousal and dull fear. This brings a little temporary relief and hope for a cure. But the problem remains. It has been clinically proven that after stopping taking medications, the phobia returns, and physical and psychological dependence on medications occurs, memory may deteriorate, depression and other side effects may occur. It must be remembered: drug treatment is prescribed and controlled only by a doctor. Do not self-medicate, it is dangerous to your health.

What does a phobia lead to?

This type of phobia cannot be classified as dangerous or deadly, but it significantly complicates life. The patient has to give up a fast and convenient form of transport, he avoids going to large shopping centers, and obsessive thoughts prevent him from concentrating on work and personal life. If a certain point can only be reached by metro, then the patient refuses the meeting and plans. In general, he is constantly looking for alternatives, adapting his life to the phobia.

The second group of consequences is psychosomatic. Chronic stress weakens the immune system and worsens heart function. Constant mental stress is fraught with nervous breakdowns, isolation, depression, and neuroses.

Psychotherapy

Psychological help

Despite the fact that specialists use different methods of psychological assistance, in any case the interaction between the doctor and the patient is important. Initially, psychological assistance consists of carefully examining and talking through the problem, simulating situations that frighten the patient. The main thing at this stage is that the doctor will teach the patient how to behave correctly in a critical situation and cope with the consequences of panic. The psychologist develops recommendations that will help control emotions in unusual circumstances, individually for a particular patient. A person suffering from a phobia, after talking with a psychotherapist, will be able to behave adequately in a critical situation without succumbing to panic. These recommendations will help normalize a person’s life.

Rational psychotherapy

This technique is based on the formation of common sense and the development of logical thinking in the patient. To a person suffering from a phobia, the doctor explains the true causes of the disease. The specialist forms in the patient a correct understanding of the symptoms of a phobic disorder so that vegetative signals are not perceived as signs of a disease of the internal organs. A person realizes that dizziness, sudden darkening of the eyes, “sticky” palms, nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing are the consequences of fear, and not symptoms of some disease. This is connected precisely with a specific object or situation that frightens him. If a person understands this, his anxiety decreases. As soon as he gets rid of the object of fear, the symptoms disappear.

Neurolinguistic programming

NLP involves three stages of treatment:

1. The doctor collects all the information about the symptoms, causes and course of the disease.
2. A goal is set for the patient, and it is clarified and explained what exactly the treatment will be aimed at.
3. After passing this stage, the patient evaluates the effectiveness of the work. If he is satisfied with the result, the treatment moves to the next stage. If not, the doctor and patient go back a step and adjust the goals and objectives of treatment.

The basis of NLP is hypnotherapy.

The main means is speech influence. The doctor and patient study in detail the prerequisites and causes of the phobia and determine the resources that will be needed to achieve a positive treatment result.

Hypnotherapy is an effective method

NLP allows you to quickly collect and analyze the necessary information about the patient. Some NLP techniques can eliminate anxiety-phobic disorder in just one or two sessions. But this issue is very controversial; many scientists consider the NLP method to be pseudoscientific.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

According to numerous studies, CBT ranks first in terms of effectiveness in treating phobias.

CBT is aimed at correcting a person’s actions, thoughts and emotions in problematic situations that are destructive and cause anxiety.

The main task of a psychotherapist is to identify erroneous thinking that needs to be corrected or completely changed. The doctor helps the patient formulate and accept the correct thoughts and behavior patterns in a critical situation.

The psychotherapist helps the patient to adequately assess what is happening and change his incorrect beliefs. The doctor teaches you to identify “wrong thoughts” that are the basis for the emergence of fear, and with the help of logic and analysis to resist them. The specialist forces the patient to turn his thoughts into a positive direction and look for the positives in the current situation.

The psychotherapist immerses the patient in a situation that causes pathological fear. But at first only in the imagination. The doctor and the patient analyze all possible ways out of the current non-standard situation and make the only right decision. With each session, the doctor complicates the task, asking the patient to get out on his own. When the patient can calmly react to frightening circumstances, the doctor suggests moving on to reality - taking a ride on a real escalator. In the presence of a doctor, the patient steps onto a moving escalator. Under the supervision of a specialist, these exercises are repeated until the patient calmly responds to the moving staircase.

This method is good because after completion of treatment, patients can independently cope with their fears in critical circumstances.

Hypnosis

This method is used infrequently, but it is found to be very effective.

Hypnosis was discovered in 1958. It is recognized as a safe method of treating phobias, because it works on a subconscious level. This is a very difficult process. The hypnologist relaxes the patient as much as possible by putting him in a trance state. During the session, the doctor evaluates the patient’s facial expressions, gestures, and phrases and, based on the observations received, analyzes and influences the subconscious. It neutralizes the true cause of panic fear, eliminates the “wall” created by the patient to avoid frightening situations, and bypasses psychological defense mechanisms.

When treating with hypnosis, the specialist often simulates a situation where the patient is confronted with the object of his fear and instills the correct attitude to resolve the problem.

Why fear of the subway occurs: causes of phobia

Like other types of obsessive fears, metrophobia arises gradually under the influence of several predisposing factors. Most often, excessive anxiety and the manner of fixing attention on one’s own feelings are due to unfavorable heredity. The tendency to react to a stimulus in one way or another is passed on to children from parents. The importance of a person’s temperament is also important: the weaker the nervous system, the greater the risk of developing neurotic conditions.

A specific physiological state of the mechanism can also lead to the emergence of a pathological fear of the subway. Chronic diseases, vascular pathologies, defects of the autonomic nervous system, hormonal imbalances - all somatic abnormalities negatively affect a person’s mental health.

The leading culprit of metrophobia is a specific personal portrait - the presence of certain qualities in a person’s character. Almost all patients addicted to fear of the subway are suspicious, vulnerable, impressionable and emotional people. They take the information they see and hear to heart. They do not subject the information received to the required criticism. Such people focus on the negative aspects of life and discuss tragic situations for a long time.

Patients with metrophobia see the present in dark colors and do not feel any optimism about the future. They are characterized by low self-esteem, self-doubt, and indecision.

However, the above factors in themselves do not cause metrophobia. For the development of the disorder, a trigger is required - a provoking mechanism. The trigger can be any extreme situation that is directly or indirectly related to the metro.

For example, a person becomes an involuntary witness to a theft being committed on the territory of the metro and sees a victim who in the blink of an eye has lost all his cash. The subject is shocked by the scene he saw, and the thought arises in his head that being in the subway is unsafe. An example of an indirect connection is the case when a person, while traveling in a subway car, experiences some kind of severe crisis, accompanied by pain, for example: an attack of appendicitis. In the individual’s subconscious, a relationship is formed between pain and being in the subway. To prevent pain attacks in the future, the subconscious uses a kind of defense - fear, which protects a person from visiting the subway.

Very often, the onset of metrophobia coincides with the deterioration of the crime situation in the world. Information about terrorist attacks and explosions in public places forces a person to take measures to protect his life. And the fear of the subway is nothing more than a perverted hypertrophied instinct of self-preservation.

Often, metrophobia is associated with incorrect attitudes and prejudices . Some people, on a subconscious level, perceive the underworld as the kingdom of the dead. The underworld, in the understanding of many people, is an undifferentiated dark kingdom filled with suffering and sadness, the abode of the dead and the refuge of souls. A person mired in prejudice simply does not want to voluntarily descend into the “afterlife,” the modern embodiment of which is the metro.

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