Are you afraid of asking for a raise because you presume that your boss will say no, even though you really deserve it? Do you hold off on specific goals because you are too scared about failing? You may have atychiphobia, also known as the fear of failure.
As humans, we fear certain things, but when this fear begins to control our lives and undermines our quality of life, it becomes a phobia. A phobia is generally referred to as an irrational fear related to a specific object or situation. The situation, in this case, is failure.
Sure, you may be thinking, "No one likes to fail!" And while you are right, there is a big difference between avoiding failure and fearing it so much that you continually think that you will fail at everything. Enter atychiphobia.
Atychiphobia Defined
Atychiphobia is defined as the unwarranted chronic and persistent fear of doing something wrong in your life or making any mistake. Anything that signals failure will result in internalized shame, more fear, and increased anxiety. In some severe cases, atychiphobia can result in depression and feelings of learned helplessness.
The Pronunciation of Atychiphobia
How is the word atychiphobia pronounced? The 'ch' in the word is pronounced as a 'k' sound.
Symptoms of Atychiphobia
Physical symptoms of atychiphobia may include:
- Difficulty breathing
- Unusually fast heart rate
- Tightness or pain in your chest
- Trembling or shaking sensations
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Digestive distress
- Hot or cold flashes
- Sweating
Emotional symptoms of the phobia include:
- An intense feeling of panic or anxiety
- An overwhelming need to escape a situation that produces the fear
- Feeling detached from yourself
- Feeling like you've lost control over a situation
- Thinking that you may die or pass out
- Feeling like you have no power over your fear
Signs Indicating You May Have Atychiphobia
You may take an atychiphobia test to find out if you have this phobia, but remember, nothing beats a doctor's diagnosis. Some of the atychiphobia tests on the internet conclude that you may have atychiphobia if:
- Failing makes you worry about what other people think about you.
- You get distracted by tasks that prevent you from preparation, which were not as urgent as they seemed at the time.
- Failing makes you worry about your ability to pursue the future you desire.
- You tend to tell people beforehand that you do not expect to succeed to lower their expectations.
- Failing makes you worry that people will lose interest in you.
- Once you fail at something, you have trouble imagining what you could have done differently to succeed.
- Failing makes you worry about how smart or capable you are.
- You often get last-minute headaches or other physical symptoms that prevent you from completing your preparation.
- Failing makes you worry about disappointing people whose opinions you value.
- You tend to procrastinate and "run out of time" to complete your preparation adequately.
Causes of Atychiphobia
The intense fear of failure may be caused by:
- Past experiences where you have failed, especially if the experiences were traumatic or had important consequences, like missing out on a significant job opportunity.
- Being a perfectionist.
- Watching someone else fail, also known as "observational learning experience."
- Reading or hearing about someone else's experience, also known as "informational learning."
- Genetics.
- Having a tough childhood, such as having unsupportive parents or being bullied at school.
- Worrying about how others perceive us.
- Lack of self-confidence.
Effective Treatments for Atychiphobia
Treatment for phobias like atychiphobia is individual to each person. In general, the main goal of treatment is to improve your quality of life. If you have multiple phobias, your doctor will likely treat them one at a time. Treatment options may include one or a combination of the following:
- Psychotherapy
- Medication
- Lifestyle changes
Strategies to Overcome the Fear of Failure
Here are some methods on how to overcome the fear of failure:
Visualize the Worst-Case Scenario
In some cases, the worst-case scenario may be genuinely disastrous, and it may be perfectly rational to fear failure. In other cases, however, this worst-case may actually not be that bad, and recognizing this can help.
Redefine Failure
Redefine what it takes to fail. Many successful people believe that the only way to truly fail is to give up on your goal.
Reframe Failure
Reframe your way of thinking about failure. Instead of seeing failure as a negative thing, try to look at it as a positive. Failure can be a learning experience. Remember that most people do not succeed straight away; there will be mistakes and failures along the way.
Visualize Your Failure
Being able to visualize yourself facing your failure and growing stronger from it can be a great tool.
Adopt a New Mindset
Adopt the belief that there is no failure, only feedback. This mindset will help you see undesirable outcomes as opportunities to learn and improve.
Be Kind to Yourself
A big part of why we are scared of failing can be due to our lack of confidence or a strong desire for perfection. Always treat yourself kindly and understand why you are feeling a certain way.
Learning from Your Past
Learning from your past is a great way to change your mindset and face your fears once again. Taking notes and writing down how you feel, what happened, and why can help you face your fear of failure in the future.
Inspiration from Idols
Watch or read stories of those people you admire. In most cases, they have experienced massive failures on their path to success.
Being Optimistic
Positive thinking is an incredibly powerful way to build self-confidence and neutralize self-sabotage.
Analyzing Outcomes
This can help you put things into perspective and see that failing is not the worst thing that can happen.
Exposing Yourself to Failure
Try something new that you may not be skilled in, which could lead to mistakes. This will show you that mistakes are not as scary as they may seem to you right now.
Focusing on Progress
Instead of aiming for perfection, focus on progress. By doing so, you have many victories and opportunities to learn, which reduces your fear of failure.
Having a Plan B
If you are afraid of failing at something, having a "Plan B" can help you feel more confident about moving forward.
Wisdom from Quotes About Failure
You can learn valuable lessons from quotes about failure:
- Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. - Winston Churchill
- The phoenix must burn to emerge. - Janet Fitch
- There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure. - Paulo Coelho
- Everything you want is on the other side of fear. - Jack Canfield
- It's failure that gives you the proper perspective on success. - Ellen DeGeneres
- Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. - Robert F. Kennedy
- I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. - Thomas A. Edison
If you think that you may have atychiphobia, getting a doctor's diagnosis would be the best course of action to begin working on
