Could Wallonaphobia be an actual thing? Let’s find out why anyone should have such fears. Generally, it is known as an irrational fear for the Walloons.
The Walloons are just a group of people who speak the French language, live in the neighboring region of France, or lives in the southern or eastern part of Belgium.
We understand that communication is essential, and language is an integral part of conversations.
However, not everyone will learn more than one language or feel comfortable with others who speak a different language.
What is Walloonphobia
Like we discussed above, Walloonphobia, is basically, an irrational fear for people who speak French, or for people who live around France or reside in Belgium, and these people are known as the Wallonia.
Walloonphobia doesn’t just end at being a mere phobia; those who suffer from this particular fear can experience severe anxiety just by thinking of people with these characteristics.
There have cases of people who endured a full panic attack just by thinking of people who speak the French language. Although it’s not always the case with everyone, the possibilities of it occurring is not inevitable.
Anyone with this phobia usually experiences the following, increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, trembling, excessive sweating, blood pressure, muscle tension, and many more.
Usually, people with the phobia, go through a lot to avoid that which is the cause of their pains and fears; most times it’s not just avoiding a Wallonia, but also taken premeditative precautious plans to ensure they never come in contact.
For example, someone with this type of phobia might ensure they never go anywhere near Belgium or its surroundings, and this usually leads to mental anguish.
But i a lot of cases, this is usually not the best way in dealing with the problem, as doing so may worsen their problem in the long run, due to the fact that they would only be justifying their fear towards the Wallonia by actively avoiding them.
Signs and Symptoms of Walloonphobia
Anxiety is a prevalent symptom in a lot of phobias, and Walloonphobia is not an exemption.
Just like was discussed earlier, some cases might lead to full-blown panic attacks, and this might be so severe that it might, in turn, get them hospitalized, though this would vary from person to person and would depend on a lot of factors.
Below is a list of some of the most common symptoms of the Walloonphobia
- Constantly avoiding the Walloons
- Being unable to cope with the anxiety of the Walloons
- Excessive anxiety when thinking of the Walloons
- Muscle tensions, shakiness, and unending sweating
- Panic attack episodes due to the Walloon
Causes of Walloonphobia
Technically, there are no definite causes for Walloonphobia. Nonetheless, the environment and genetic structure can play a huge role in determining if the person would suffer from the disorder.
If a family has a history of mental illness, then it’s very likely, that people from that family could develop Walloonphobia.
If someone was born from such a genetic strand, then all that might be needed to trigger the phobia is some traumatic experience for them to develop Walloonphobia.
Any painful experience related to the Walloon is enough to produce the phobia, as long as he or she has the corresponding genetics.
Like in the first paragraph, there are no definite causes for Walloonphobia, as we do not know what the exact cause of the phobia is.
Though among professional mental health practitioners, the consensus is that genetics and environmental factors play a very significant role in all kinds of mental disorders.
So we would advise you to take a closer look at these two to determine what steps you would take in curbing said disorder.
Treatments of Walloonphobia
Clinically, some article sees Walloonphobia, less as a clinical illness, but more as a prejudice; like Xenophobia or homophobia, and just as there aren’t really any definite causes of the disorder, there is also no sure treatment for it.
But regardless, some countless ways or procedures have been claimed to treat this disorder. Some of these include; exposure therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and some psychiatric medications.
Exposure Therapy
This is by far the most convenient way of tackling various forms of phobia. Exposure therapy; is a form of introducing people suffering from multiple phobias to their fears.
This mode of treatment is adopted by many mental disorder professionals to help treat phobias and anxiety.
In the case of Walloonphobia, the patient might be shown some pictures of French or Belgium territory; after a period of time, the specialist might introduce them to videos that show not only French or Belgium region, but might also entail someone who speaks French.
This method is introduced to help disordered patients get over their fear for a particular thing, as the more they get exposed to what they are afraid of, the less scared they would be.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT
Like exposure therapy, CBT is also a conventional treatment for various disorders, which most times works for generalized anxiety disorder (GED) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Aside from these disorders, CBT is also said to be an excellent treatment for Walloonphobia.
Usually, the therapist takes sessions to interact with the patient, while interacting; the therapist would try to enquire from the patient suffering from this illness, why he or she always feels that particular anxiety for that particular thing or people. It would, in turn, give the patient take a more pragmatic approach while thinking about their fear.
If for a reason, you are experiencing some of the symptoms above, we would advise you to see a specialist.
