Trying something new is scary. There’s a lot that can go right, but there’s also a lot that can go wrong. Knowing this, you might try to prepare before trying something new, psyche yourself up, or ask for advice. But if the fear of failure prevents you from trying anything new, or holds you back from living your life, you might not just be uncomfortable with new experiences. You may be experiencing atychiphobia.

Yes, atychiphobia is a real thing. If you have the fear of failure, you do not have to live life without taking risks or trying new things. You can receive treatment for atychiphobia and live a productive, successful life.

What Is Atychiphobia?Where Does the Word “Atychiphobia” Come From?How Common Is Atychiphobia?Symptoms of AtychiphobiaHow Is Atychiphobia Diagnosed?Causes of AtychiphobiaHow to Treat AtychiphobiaSimilar Fears

What Is Atychiphobia?

Where Does the Word “Atychiphobia” Come From?

How Common Is Atychiphobia?

Symptoms of Atychiphobia

How Is Atychiphobia Diagnosed?

Causes of Atychiphobia

How to Treat Atychiphobia

Similar Fears

Atychiphobia is the fear of failure. Although this is an experience that many people can relate to, it is not considered a diagnosis in and of itself. Someone with atychiphobia may be diagnosed with having a “specific phobia.” Treatment is available for atychiphobia.

We can break up the word “atychiphobia” into three different parts: a-, tychi-, and -phobia. All of these parts can be traced back to Greek. “Tychi” comes from the Greek word “tuchè,” which means “fortune.” The “a” prefix negates what comes after it. Fortune becomes misfortune. Finally, “phobia” comes from the Greek word phóbos, which translates to “fear.”

The fear of failure is certainly relatable. Westerners grow up in a culture where failure is perceived as a bad thing andperfectionis a worthy goal. But atychiphobia, which is much more crippling than generalized anxiety or distaste surrounding failure, is less common.

Psychologists and healthcare professionals don’t have exact numbers on how many people around the world experience atychiphobia. It does have its own specific diagnosis that can be tracked. We do know that 19 million Americans experience specific phobias, but this is a large umbrella that covers many fears. Phasmophobia (the fear of ghosts), globophobia (the fear of balloons), and trypophobia (the fear of holes packed closely together) are all considered specific phobias. (Even irrational phobias are considered specific phobias.)

It is also hard to pull data on atychiphobia because understanding when the fear of failure crosses the line to becoming a phobia is unknown. People may be ashamed to talk about the anxiety they feel when thinking about failure. They may not seek helpdue totheir fear of failure. For that reason, atychiphobia may be more common than you think. And if you believe you have a fear of failure, consider getting treatment.

Being afraid of something is different than receiving a diagnosis for a specific phobia. The idea of failure may make you uncomfortable, but that is not atychiphobia. Atychiphobia is a more debilitating, intense fear of failure that holds someone back from living a productive life.

When faced with the idea of failure, a person with atychiphobia may experience a physical reaction:

The emotional response to the idea of failure may also be intense. A person may feel completely out of control or powerless. The thought of failure may prevent them from moving, literally. They feel an overwhelming desire to leave the situation or self-sabotage their efforts.

These reactions may seem extreme. We are faced with the potential to fail every day, but rarely does this send a person into a panic attack. This doesn’t mean that a person with atychiphobia is being “dramatic.” The fear they are experiencing is real. It’s important for them to recieve a proper diagnosis from a medical professional and undergo treatment.

If left untreated, a fear of failure can prevent a person from getting a job, recieving an education, starting a family, or reaching other critical milestones in their life.

The criteria for a “specific phobia” are outlined in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th edition(DSM-5). Even if a fear is totally irrational or “out there,” it still counts as a phobia if it meets these requirements:

To receive a diagnosis for the fear of failure or any other specific phobia, you will need to reach out to a professional mental health practitioner.

Traumatic or Impactful Events

The fear of failure may be tied back to events or experiences that taught a person that failure is to be feared. These specific moments may be a traumatic event that you can pinpoint in time. Maybe you stuttered as you read aloud in class and were bullied afterward. Maybe a parent physically punished you after you failed a test.

Or, maybe the moments that led to atychiphobia were much smaller and more numerous. It’s not hard to imagine that, in a school system filled with pass/fail grading systems or rewarding perfect scores, you may come to fear failure.

Observational Learning

Although the likelihood to develop phobias may be passed down, experts are more likely to attribute atychiphobia to theobservationof someone with atychiphobia. Maybe you had a parent or a caregiver who feared failure themselves. They made certain choices out of a fear of failure. Children learn through observation. If a child is constantly observing someone who fears failure, they will learn to fear failure, too.

Learned Helplessness

Positive psychologist Martin Seligman conducted a fascinating experiment with dogs that shows just how the events in our lives can cause us to fear failure or shut down in the face of it. The dogs were taught “learned helplessness.” In one part of the experiment, the dogs were given a shock collar that they were not able to turn off themselves. The shocks were out of their control. Later in the experiment, the dogs were placed in a room with a line across the middle. The dogs still wore shock collars, butall they had to dowas cross the line to turn the shock collar off. But they were not likely to do so, because they had learned that success or failure was outside of their control. Out of the fear of failure, the dogs stayed put.

This is a powerful experiment, and it applies to humans, too. If we are taught that success or failure is completely outside of our control, we are less likely to potentially face failure. We may not try to achieve anything at all, believing that the outcome cannot be predicted with hard work, skills, or determination.

Understanding atychiphobia is a great step toward overcoming atychiphobia or discomfort with failure. Failure is inevitable, and that’s not a bad thing! To familiarize yourself with failure, it may be useful to have vulnerable conversations or consume information that has to do with failure.

Talk Therapy

As an individual, you have the power to assess your relationship with failure and take small steps toward overcoming your fears. But there is no shame in reaching out to a mental health professional. There are many approaches to treating atychiphobia and other specific phobias. One of the most common is talk therapy.

In cases of severe anxiety surrounding failure, a mental health professional may prescribe medication. This is not necessary in all cases. Be sure to have a consultation with your potential therapist before you begin treatment to explore your options and talk about your therapist’s personal approach to atychiphobia.

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Reference this article:Practical Psychology. (2022, May).Fear of Failure - Atychiphobia.Retrieved from https://practicalpie.com/fear-of-failure-atychiphobia/.Practical Psychology. (2022, May). Fear of Failure - Atychiphobia. Retrieved from https://practicalpie.com/fear-of-failure-atychiphobia/.Copy

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Practical Psychology. (2022, May).Fear of Failure - Atychiphobia.Retrieved from https://practicalpie.com/fear-of-failure-atychiphobia/.Practical Psychology. (2022, May). Fear of Failure - Atychiphobia. Retrieved from https://practicalpie.com/fear-of-failure-atychiphobia/.Copy

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