Dipsophobia

Alcohol has a negative connotation in many cultures. This frequent societal norm may be used by someone with dipsophobia as confirmation that alcohol is something to be afraid of.

For example, they may purposefully avoid the alcohol section at grocery shops since it would cause them extreme anxiety if they even looked at it. Their fear of alcohol may be so firmly established in their subconscious thoughts that just seeing it causes them to have a “knee-jerk” reaction of dread.

When consumed in moderation, several types of alcohol may be beneficial (e.g. red wine). Nonetheless, someone who suffers from dipsophobia may have a strong anti-alcohol position and believe that all alcohol is intrinsically bad and deadly.

Dipsophobia Symptoms

Anxiety, like with practically all types of phobias, will be one of the most distressing symptoms. For someone suffering from dipsophobia, intense anxiety and dread are prevalent. Their aversion to alcohol may be so strong and unreasonable that they refuse to associate with persons who are social drinkers or who are not anti-alcohol.

When someone with dipsophobia sees someone else drinking alcohol or is urged to drink alcohol, they may respond erratically. Their inability to think rationally about drinking, as well as their inability to control intense emotions, may have a substantial impact on their interpersonal interactions. 

• Anxiety when drinking alcohol or being in the presence of alcohol
• When you think of alcoholic beverages, you get anxious.
• Inability to deal with strong emotions like fear
• They try to move away from everyone
• Tension in the muscles, shakiness, and sweating

Causes

• Dipsophobia is caused by a variety of unknown factors. Genetics and one’s surroundings, on the other hand, are likely to play a major effect. Someone with a family history of mental illness, for example, maybe more likely to acquire dipsophobia. This is because having a family history of mental illness may indicate that they have a genetic susceptibility to developing mental illness.
• If this is the case, it could suggest that all it takes for them to develop full-blown dipsophobia is for them to be exposed to a traumatic event.
• Such traumatic incidents could include getting involved in a serious automobile accident while inebriated, harming someone they love or care about while inebriated, being diagnosed with a disease as a result of excessive drinking, being an alcoholic, and so on. 
• Even if they had sensations of disgust when recalling such events, there would have to be some kind of drastic shift in their brain for them to develop dipsophobia. Reminiscing and feeling guilty or ashamed are not signs that you have a phobia. It is very complicated to understand what they go through.

So, while we might speculate on what could or might not cause someone to acquire dipsophobia, the truth is that we don’t know for sure. However, being aware of the several potential causes may be sufficient to provide us with a very clear indicator of why someone may have developed this condition.

Therapies or Treatment

• Dipsophobia does not have a treatment that is specifically tailored for it. Talk therapy, exposure therapy, and antianxiety medication, on the other hand, may be quite beneficial. Someone with dipsophobia may benefit from talk therapy, since it can help them better comprehend the many flaws in their thinking. The therapist can then provide ways to help them acquire far healthier thinking habits as a result of this.
• Exposure therapy is arguably one of the most frequent types of treatment for persons with phobias, and it can be particularly effective in treating dipsophobia. For obvious reasons, exposing the patient to alcohol by having them consume it during their session may not be the ideal idea.
• However, exposing children to alcohol by having them hold a bottle of alcohol in their hands during their session, smell the aroma the alcohol emits, and pour some of it into a glass, among other things, may be highly successful. 
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – Anti-anxiety medication may also help lower the severity of anxiety caused by dipsophobia. Taking medication alone, on the other hand, may not be enough to alleviate their symptoms in the long run. This is because taking medication will not educate them on how to improve their cognition and hence change their conduct.
• Caffeine consumption with little to no caffeine throughout the day may greatly lower your day-to-day anxiety. Although it is unlikely that this would eliminate all of your anxiety, it will allow you to avoid any unneeded suffering that you may otherwise face if you consume a lot of caffeine. 
• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy – Smiling a little is a particularly helpful DBT practice for assisting someone with dipsophobia. This technique works by having you think about something you’re afraid of or worried about while quietly smiling. It isn’t enough to just think about your anxiety while smiling a little; you must also strive to avoid engaging the traumatising emotions that your particular dread may elicit. 
• Different types of meditation can be beneficial to someone who suffers from dipsophobia. Mindfulness meditation, in particular, is useful in helping people achieve a more balanced state of mind. There are several techniques to practise mindfulness meditation, as well as several meditation apps meant to make things as simple as possible.

Conclusion

Dipsophobia is not a choice, and it is not the outcome of someone making a conscious decision to avoid drinking alcohol for ethical or health reasons. Instead, this illness is most likely caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, which can be caused by a variety of variables including family history and/or environmental circumstances. It’s also worth noting that someone who was once an alcoholic but is now sober isn’t automatically labelled as having dipsophobia. Dipsophobia, on the other hand, is a mental disease marked by unreasonable, out-of-touch thinking habits.