Woman has such a severe phobia of water that she goes into shock if she drinks or touches it. What could cause such an extreme phobia?

[Cla234]

There is this woman who appears in the news every once in a while, named Heidi Falconer. She has such a severe case of hydrophobia (fear of water) that she goes into shock if she drinks a sip of water. When water touches her skin, it burns her. She survives by drinking four small glasses of milk each day and she said that if she receives intravenous saline she goes into shock because the saline is water based. She's had hydrophobia since she was a little girl. Heidi is in her thirties now. What could cause such an extreme phobia?

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[EvilCat Breath]

It's not a phobia. She has no baseless fear of water. She has a rare allergy to water.

 

[marvin martian]

There is this woman who appears in the news every once in a while, named Heidi Falconer. She has such a severe case of hydrophobia (fear of water) that she goes into shock if she drinks a sip of water. When water touches her skin, it burns her. She survives by drinking four small glasses of milk each day and she said that if she receives intravenous saline she goes into shock because the saline is water based. She's had hydrophobia since she was a little girl. Heidi is in her thirties now. What could cause such an extreme phobia?

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Rabies does this.

 

[Cla234]

It's not a phobia. She has no baseless fear of water. She has a rare allergy to water.

Allergies are psychological. The brain and the immune system both talk to eachother, this is proven via Pavlovian Conditioned immune responses. When a person develops a fear of a substance, the brain will actually tell the immune system to produce IgE antibodies against it - causing an allergy.

 

[Cla234]

Rabies does this.

Heidi lives in the UK, where rabies does not exist.

 

[toobfreak]

a very rare condition in which her immune system thinks that H2O molecules are foreign and attacks them.

I don't buy it. The body is like 95% water. There is water in the air, water in food, water throughout the body. There is water in milk and orange juice. This is a psychological condition. If her body was actually allergic to water, she would be dead long ago as her immune system would have attacked itself at birth.

Throw this woman in a swimming pool. She will either get over her fear or die. Problem solved.

 

[two_iron]

That's weird. AOC has a similar issue - when she breathes air she becomes stupid, like a frozen fence post.

If I'm Teledoc, I'm suggesting a plastic bag.

 

[Cla234]

I don't buy it. The body is like 95% water. There is water in the air, water in food, water throughout the body. There is water in milk and orange juice. This is a psychological condition. If her body was actually allergic to water, she would be dead long ago as her immune system would have attacked itself at birth.

Throw this woman in a swimming pool. She will either get over her fear or die. Problem solved.

She claims she's made peace with her condition. I don't see how she could, why not get psychotherapy when it is free in the UK? Especially if the phobia is so severe she can go into shock just from drinking a sip of water. She reportedly was in critical condition in the hospital for this, and needed adrenaline. She mistook her bottle for someone else's and it was water. This happened when she was little.

 

[1srelluc]

Toss her in on the deep end of the pool and see what happens.

 

[Cla234]

Toss her in on the deep end of the pool and see what happens.

Sink or swim.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

There is this woman who appears in the news every once in a while, named Heidi Falconer. She has such a severe case of hydrophobia (fear of water) that she goes into shock if she drinks a sip of water. When water touches her skin, it burns her. She survives by drinking four small glasses of milk each day and she said that if she receives intravenous saline she goes into shock because the saline is water based. She's had hydrophobia since she was a little girl. Heidi is in her thirties now. What could cause such an extreme phobia?

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A strong desire for attention.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

She claims she's made peace with her condition. I don't see how she could, why not get psychotherapy when it is free in the UK? Especially if the phobia is so severe she can go into shock just from drinking a sip of water. She reportedly was in critical condition in the hospital for this, and needed adrenaline. She mistook her bottle for someone else's and it was water. This happened when she was little.

"Reportedly".

 

[Cla234]

A strong desire for attention.

I have a friend who remembers seeing Heidi on some sort of talk show, way back in the day (late 1990s). Heidi had recently contracted appendicitis and required surgery to remove it. According to my friend, the interview included Heidi, her parents, and doctors who did her surgery. They said they couldn't perform a normal surgery, and it was the first time in history they removed a patient's appendix using virtually no water-based solutions.

According to Heidi's parents, Heidi suffered a whole-body reaction to a water-based drip, after the surgery.

I've also contacted someone who used to go to school with Heidi. She had to remain in class whenever it snowed or rained and she went into 'shock' after she mistook her bottle for someone else's, and it was water, so her throat started to swell. She had to be taken to hospital and be injected with adrenaline.

 

[Cla234]

Here's some more articles on Heidi

Water allergy girl reaches 21st birthday (from 2008)

JUST ONE CUP OF WATER COULD KILL LITTLE HEIDI; Girl's deadly allergy means she cannot weep, wash, drink, play or even stand in the rain. - Free Online Library (from 1996)

 

[Cla234]

Girl allergic to water she got into news quite a few times.