Could It Be Kakorrhaphiophobia?

[Jacaylbaro]

DAILY NATION

 

 

 

As much as many workers are driven by positive forces, there are those who are driven by negative pressure. One such factor is kakorrhaphiophobia.

 

According to www.healthmad.com, ‘kakorrhaphiophobia’ is an intense, irrational fear of failure or defeat.

 

The person coping with this phobia may fear failure in every aspect of their life, and may feel that they must constantly prove themselves better, more able and more competent than others.

 

A kakorrhaphiophobic individual may aggressively compete with peers, family members and co-workers, and may obsessively seek acknowledgment of their achievements.

 

This morbid fear of failure can consume the phobic person’s every thought.

 

The fear of defeat far out-matches the drive for success. In every engagement, a person suffering from this condition exerts pressure on herself in order not to fail.

 

They are always on the lookout for possible sabotage by other workmates.

 

Their fear of failure is so deeply rooted that they read malice in most cases when a co-worker fails to deliver results as expected.

 

This makes them very strict in their management of people and resources since they would rather lose people than lose the project goals.

 

Working with people driven by the fear of failure can be a strenuous task.

 

A kakorrhaphiophobic co-worker exerts undue pressure not only on themselves, but on others.

 

It becomes almost impossible to please them. The achievement of results has to be beyond average.

 

Average performance is categorised as failure; in fact, only meeting targets in full count as success.

 

They work longer hours, not for their love of their job but for fear of not attaining certain marks.

 

To this end, they subconsciously vilify staff who leave the office promptly or early, saying it is a deliberate attempt to sabotage their efforts especially if they are in positions of supervision and management.

 

There is intense competition for recognition and space by such co-workers, which is accelerated by fear of failure.

 

The competition can get so intense that if not well managed, it can generate into a physical fight.

 

They consider the success of other people an indication of their own failure.

 

Therefore, they find it difficult to celebrate the success of others and are quick to find fault with their excellent performance. This makes other staff perceive them as pessimists.

 

On the flip side, persons who harbour such fears could on occasion propagate the failure of other staff so that their star shines.

 

If they are to fail, they reckon, they will not go down alone; they have to drag other people down with them.

 

This leads to strained office relations as blame is passed to people who did not play a role in the failure of a project.