Rhytiphobia is the irrational fear of wrinkles. Someone experiencing this mental illness may find that they have extreme amounts of anxiety at the mere thought of them having wrinkles or of showing any sort of age. Due to their intense and intrusive fear, they may go to painstaking efforts to try and preserve their youth. They may do this by purchasing hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of beauty products.
Someone with rhytiphobia may also go through countless surgeries or skin procedures such as Botox in an attempt to minimize the appearance of wrinkles on their face. People with this phobia will typically be concerned about wrinkles on the face much more than they on other areas of their body, such as the arms or neck for example. However, in extreme cases, someone with rhytiphobia may find themselves worrying over any and all wrinkles found on their body.
It is also important to shed some light on the irrationality of this condition. For example, people suffering from rhytiphobia may experience agonizing anxiety from their fear of wrinkles even though they don’t appear to have any visible wrinkles at all. Someone with this condition can be either old or young. Rhytiphobia does not discriminate against age. Though, it may affect people more as they age.
Besides enduring extreme amounts of anxiety, someone with this condition may also feel very shameful about themselves. Even though they may try to exude confidence and security, the exact opposite may be true.
Symptoms of Rhytiphobia
As is the case with virtually all phobias, anxiety will be one of the main symptoms experienced with rhytiphobia. Besides feelings of intense fear and terror when thinking of getting wrinkles, they may also experience a dip in self-esteem as they will more likely be very critical of themselves. They may be harshly judgmental about their appearance and may even believe themselves to be “not good enough”.
If emotions such as shame, sadness, and hopelessness persist for long periods of time without being treated, it may evolve into full blown depression insofar as they have the genetics for this to happen. If this were to occur, then it may only exacerbate their symptoms of rhytiphobia. However, such an occurrence will greatly vary from person to person.
As mentioned before, someone with this illness may spend large sums of money for months or years on surgical procedures, injections, and facial creams in an attempt to rid or prevent themselves from getting wrinkles. Besides their ineptness with rationalizing, another huge cause of their pain and suffering may be due to their inability to accept reality. Being unable to accept the inevitable (i.e. aging) may be one of the major sources of anxiety for someone with rhytiphobia.
Below, you will see some more common symptoms of this phobia:
- Intense anxiety if a wrinkle is found on their skin
- Anxiety at the mere thought of having wrinkles
- Inability to accept reality
- Ineptness with controlling or coping with strong emotions
- Excessive spending of skin treatments
Causes of Rhytiphobia
There are no known causes of rhytiphobia. However, genetics and one’s environment may play a pivotal role in someone developing this very intrusive disorder. For instance, someone with a family history of mental illness, especially of anxiety disorders or phobias may have a much higher chance of developing rhytiphobia than someone who doesn’t have such a history. This has to due to the potential of them then having a genetic predisposition to develop mental illness.
If someone were to have such a genetic predisposition, then it may only take them experiencing some sort of traumatic event for them to develop full blown rhytiphobia. Such a traumatic event may be that they were teased about their appearance from a young age, thus ingraining a belief about themselves that they are unattractive. They may have also been thought to be much older looking than what they really are by one of their peers, thus reassuring the insecurities they may already withhold about themselves.
Another plausible reason as to why someone may develop rhytiphobia is that they may simply be aging with a refusal to accept that they are aging. They may simply be extremely willful about such a reality. If someone was to withhold such convictions, as well as having the genetic makeup to develop mental illness in the first place, then it is not implausible to conceive that they could develop rhytiphobia over time because of this.
However, the reality is that we do not definitively know what causes this condition. The best we can do is look at the pertinent causal factors.
Rhytiphobia Treatments
There are no known treatment methods that are specifically designed for rhytiphobia. However, talk therapy, exposure therapy, and anti-anxiety medication may be able to help reduce the symptoms of this condition. Talk therapy may be very advantageous for someone experiencing rhytiphobia as it can help the patient to become more aware of the many faults in their thinking as it refers to how they feel about wrinkles. They can also expect to learn new ways to improve their harmful thinking patterns.
Exposure therapy is another very effective form of treatment for people suffering from phobias. In the context of rhytiphobia, the therapist may try to expose the patient to their fear of wrinkles by showing them pictures of people who have wrinkles or by perhaps showing them a video of someone speaking who has visible wrinkles. The goal with using exposure therapy for rhytiphobia is to try and desensitize them of their fear by repetitively exposing them to their fear over time.
Anti-anxiety medication may also be helpful for treating the symptoms of anxiety that are associated with rhytiphobia. However, merely taking medication alone may not be enough to treat the many symptoms of this phobia in the long-term. Nevertheless, this will be something that you will need to discuss with your doctor first.
Exercise for Rhytiphobia
Exercise has been shown to be extremely beneficial for people suffering from anxiety disorders, including rhytiphobia. Specifically, cardiovascular exercise can significantly help to relieve one’s stress. This is not to say that weight-resistance training would not benefit someone with anxiety, but rather that aerobic exercise is has been shown to be more effective at releasing those feel good chemicals in the brain, such as endorphins.
According to the American Psychology Association, exercise can help to condition the mind to better cope with stressful situations. This makes sense when we take into consideration the high amount of stress that the body is put under during strenuous exercise. So, if you yourself are sedentary, then engaging in some form of aerobic exercise may be able to significantly help reduce your symptoms of rhytiphobia by making it much easier for you to cope with the anxiety and stress that’s associated with this condition.
There are many different aerobic modalities that you can partake in to help reduce your symptoms of rhytiphobia, such as swimming, biking, skiing, walking, and jogging. You can also acquire the many benefits of exercise by playing sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, and racquetball, among many other sports. Engaging in some form of exercise consistently may be able to help relieve some of the pain associated with rhytiphobia over time.
Practicing Yoga for Rhytiphobia
There are numerous different yoga poses that can substantially benefit someone who is suffering from rhytiphobia. In part, this is due to the meditative state of mind that yoga tends to emit in those who practice it on a consistent basis. Yoga can be thought of as meditation in motion. It can help to relieve some of the anxiety associated with rhytiphobia due to the mere fact that by engaging in yoga, your attention will be redirected to something more productive.
There are many different types of yoga that someone with rhytiphobia can benefit from, such as hatha yoga or hot yoga, among many others. Nevertheless, regardless of the many different forms of yoga that exist, virtually all of them can help to relieve some of the stress and anxiety that is associated with rhytiphobia.
If you have never practiced yoga before, then it may be in your best interest to take a class or watch some guided videos that can help you through each pose. Just like with meditation, the more you practice yoga, the more adept you will become at it. Besides helping you to reduce your symptoms of rhytiphobia, you can also expect to acquire increased strength and flexibility, among other benefits.
Reducing Caffeine for Rhytiphobia
It is no secret that consuming large amounts of caffeine throughout the day can aid in making you more anxious. This makes sense when we look closely at how caffeine affects our body’s physiology. When we consume a high dose of caffeine, our heart will start to beat faster and we become more tense. Essentially, our body will begin to go into a “fight or flight” state of mind. Such a frame of mind is often a precursor for someone with rhytiphobia to experience panic attacks.
So, consuming little to no caffeine throughout the day may be able to significantly help reduce your day to day anxiety. Although doing so will likely not make all of your anxiety go away, it will indeed help you to reduce any unnecessary suffering that you would have otherwise experienced if you were to consume a large amount of caffeine.
Beverages like coffee and tea are often high in caffeine, as well as some energy drinks. In fact, even some foods have caffeine in them as well, such as dark chocolate. Being more conscious of your daily caffeine consumption may help you to reduce some of the symptoms associated with rhytiphobia.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Rhytiphobia
DBT is a very effective form of treatment for people struggling with emotion regulation. It is often used to treat people suffering from borderline personality disorder. Nevertheless, it can also be very advantageous for someone suffering from anxiety disorders like rhytiphobia too. This is due to the numerous amount of coping skills you can expect to learn in a DBT group. These groups typically last about 6 months long and can have anywhere from two people to several people depending on how many join the group.
One very effective DBT skill for helping someone with rhytiphobia is half-smiling. This technique works by having you think about that which you fear or upsets you all while slightly raising the corners of your mouth by lightly smiling, thus the term “half-smiling.” Although, it isn’t enough to just think about your fear while half-smiling, you also have to try and refrain from entertaining those painful emotions that your specific fear may evoke.
Mindfulness meditation is also heavily used in DBT and can greatly benefit someone with rhytiphobia as it is done in a group setting, which helps to put the patient out of their comfort zone. These group mindfulness practices may include drinking warm tea to hone in on the sense of taste and tactile senses or simply focusing on the breath.
Coping ahead is another very useful DBT skill that can help someone with rhytiphobia. With coping ahead, you will want to find a place where you can sit down quietly without distraction. Close your eyes and then think about the many different possible scenarios where you would face your specific fear and overcome it or cope with it. Doing so will help you to be much better adept at coping with your rhytiphobia when you are actually exposed to the specific fear associated with it in real life.
Psychiatric Medications for Rhytiphobia
Anti-anxiety meds
These types of medications are very useful to help prevent panic attacks. Such drugs can be extremely useful for people suffering from severe rhytiphobia due to the fact that people with phobias often experience panic attacks as well. Some common anti-anxiety medications include Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin, among many others.
These types of drugs are not typically taken on a daily basis, but they may be insofar as their rhytiphobia is severe enough. However, this is something that you should first discuss with your doctor before you decide to do so to ensure that it is safe and effective.
Antidepressants
These types of medications aren’t only for people who suffer from depression as they can also help people suffering from anxiety disorders as well, such as rhytiphobia. Some common antidepressants are Paxil, Zoloft, and Lexapro, among several others. These drugs may be able to help reduce some of the symptoms of rhytiphobia.
These types of drugs are typically taken on a daily basis. They can indeed help prevent panic attacks from occurring, but they are more so used to help reduce people’s daily anxiety. Talk to your doctor to see if taking antidepressants can help to reduce your symptoms of rhytiphobia, as well as whether or not it is safe to do so.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Rhytiphobia
CBT is a psycho-social intervention that aims to improve one’s mental health. It is a modality that is often used to treat people suffering from anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder and OCD. Someone with rhytiphobia may also be able to benefit from CBT as well seeing as how it would allow them to have a much better understanding as to why they think and behave the way they do in relation to their irrational fears.
CBT can be immensely helpful for someone with rhytiphobia given the sheer automaticity of their symptoms. For example, when someone with rhytiphobia is exposed to their fear, they will almost always have an instantaneous subconscious reaction to their fear. Such a lack of introspection is likely a large part of why someone with this condition will suffer to the extent that they will. CBT can help you to take a step back and analyze your fears more deeply than you typically would.
Besides learning to be more fastidious with regards to understanding one’s specific fears, someone with rhytiphobia engaging in CBT can also expect to learn various other skills aimed at helping to relieve the anxiety caused by their condition.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for Rhytiphobia
MBSR is an 8-week evidence-based program that offers secular, intensive mindfulness training to help people who are suffering from anxiety, stress, depression, and other sorts of mental anguish. MBSR may be able to significantly help someone who is suffering from rhytiphobia as mindfulness meditation has been shown to be very beneficial for anxious people. In such a structured program, someone with rhytiphobia can expect to learn a plethora of different skills that can help them to relieve the intense anxiety that’s associated with their specific phobia.
Talk to your doctor or therapist to see if MBSR can help you to reduce the intensity of your symptoms of rhytiphobia, as well as where to find MBSR programs in your area.
Practicing Meditation for Rhytiphobia
There are many different forms of meditation that exists which can be very advantageous for someone suffering from rhytiphobia. Specifically, mindfulness meditation has been shown to be quite beneficial for helping people to enter into a more equanimous state. There are many different ways with which you can implement mindfulness meditation and there are also many different meditation apps which are designed to make things as easy as possible for you.
Mindfulness has the potential to significantly help those suffering from rhytiphobia due to how it will help one to distract themselves from their fear by refocusing their attention onto something else that does not have any sort of emotional baggage attached to it, such as by focusing on the breath for example. This is one of the most basic ways that one can meditate and be present.
For someone with rhytiphobia in the midst of a panic attack, redirecting one’s attention to the various sensations felt when breathing can actually help to reduce the amount of mental anguish experienced during such an influx of anxiety.
To implement mindfulness meditation to help relieve one’s symptoms of rhytiphobia, you can do so by paying close attention to the way the muscles in your abdomen and chest contract and relax with every inhale and exhale. You can spend time dwelling on how it feels as your chest expands during each inhale and how it sinks in with every exhale.
Besides focusing on your breathing, you can also focus on the sounds around you, the way your skin feels as you touch certain objects, the way foods taste, as well as the way certain aromas smell. Essentially, honing into your 5 senses can significantly help you to reduce some of the anxiety that is associated with rhytiphobia. Also, remember that it will take a lot of practice to become an adept meditator. So, practice is key.
Exposure Therapy for Rhytiphobia
As previously mentioned, exposure therapy is one of the most common ways to treat anxiety disorders such as rhytiphobia. It can be an efficient way to help desensitize the patient to their specific fears. Be that as it may, it is imperative that the therapist implementing it on their patient is very adept at doing so. For example, if the therapist were to slightly expose someone with rhytiphobia to their fear, then it may not be very effective as they may need a higher amount of exposure to truly trigger any sort of worthwhile change in the patient.
The same can be said for the antithesis of this scenario. If the therapist were to excessively expose someone with rhytiphobia to their fear, then doing so could be highly counterproductive to the point to where their rhytiphobia may become immensely worse due to the therapy alone. So, it is paramount that the therapist implementing exposure therapy for someone with rhytiphobia has a very strong sense of just how severe their symptoms are so that they can know the level of exposure that the patient will likely be able to handle.
If you think you may be suffering from some of the symptoms of this condition, then you may benefit from therapy. Feel free to reach out to your doctor or local mental health clinic to see what your available options are and to see if there is any sort of discount or promo code available to help you with the costs of treatment, as well as if your health insurance will cover treatment costs.