The Nature and Treatment of Akyró̱no̱phobia (Fear of Cancellation): A socially embedded anxiety problem Self-Study

Watch a recording of Dr. McKay, Ph.D. ABPP, to explore the social and political contexts that may lead to fear of cancellation, how this manifests with anxiety conditions and how to treat it.  Anxiety disorder specialists have increasingly reported on cases of fear and avoidance of numerous social and political situations out of a fear of cancellation. The problem has become sufficiently widespread that the presenter of this workshop has coined a new term for it - Akyró̱no̱phobia - derived from the Greek for nullify. Although there are no systematic investigations into the problem, discussions with anxiety experts report symptoms that resemble obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), notably scrupulosity; generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), particularly worry over past social offenses; and social anxiety disorder (SAD), particularly avoidance of situations that may run the risk of violating known or assumed social and political norms. The presenter has begun systematic research on this topic, and has accumulated case data from his practice and from clinical descriptions provided by other practitioners. Potential treatment methods will be covered, and will include illustrations that cover symptom expression across the three disorders described. Future research directions will be discussed, including boundaries for how to differentially identify Akyró̱no̱phobia from other symptom manifestations.