Erotophobia is a complex issue where you fear intimacy. The person will avoid developing any emotional connection towards their partner or loved ones. The erotophobic person can feel discomfort and get panic attacks when it comes to intimacy. This can affect a person’s mental health, relationships and lifestyle.
The Many Faces Of Fear: Types Of Erotophobia
Everyone has a unique fear they dislike. However, you can explore the following types to discover different stages and types of fear.
Genophobia:
The person is afraid of intercourse.
Haphephobia:
The person is afraid of touch or physical affection.
Gynophobia:
The person is afraid of nudity.
Philematophobia:
The person is afraid of kissing.
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How Does Erotophobia Feels? Recognizing The Symptoms
You might be wondering what are the symptoms of erotophobia? It shows up in different situations. It’s a deep rooted fear of sexual intimacy. However, you can recognize it with the following symptoms.
- Avoiding romantic gestures and moments with your loved ones also indicates the erotophobia symptoms in a person.
- You may feel discomfort listening and talking about sex as it may cause Anxiety and Depression in you. This is a type of geniophobia where a person is having a fear of sexual performance. This creates thoughts of disappointment and worriness.
- You have negative thoughts about sex. This showcases the specific phobia related to sex.
- The person may have excessive mood swings for intimacy. The person feels disconnected and dislikes it. This way the people with Bipolar diseases reduce their sexual desires. They avoid the feelings of intimacy towards their partner.
Read More: How to Help Someone With Bipolar Disorder?
Digging Deeper: What Causes Erotophobia?
We can have details on the reasons that generate this fear among people. So, the following are some key points to discuss.
Cultural Taboo Or Religious Beliefs
Sex has become a taboo in extreme religious beliefs. This creates a fear or anxiety among children from a young age. They surfer from a fear of taking it as an essential need.
Lack Of Sex Education:
The improper information about a sex topic can mislead people. People may fear the pain and discomfort of sex.
Bad Experiences:
It can come from your own personal experiences. The general term is being asked by people what causes erotophobia? It can happen due to negative experiences that can be harmful for your mental well being. For instance, if someone has broken your trust, this also depicts that you may have fear from attachments.
Read More: Understanding The Different Types Of Trauma
Past Trauma:
It can happen due to past trauma. The person may get triggered from a childhood incident. It happens with rape victims or sex abusers. This victim abuser started to have suicidal thoughts. They can suffer from severe depression. Beside this, you should be able to take Telepsychiatry sessions in this condition. So, you can recover from trauma for your mental well being.
How Erotophobia Affects Your Life:
Erotophobia can affect you in various aspects of your life. It can affect your personal relationships. It can disturb social interactions. Due to constant deep hidden fear of sex, people reduce the desire to get married. You can further explore what are the long term effects of erotophobia. They don’t get involved in attachments and intimacy towards their partner. They suffer from vulnerability and emotional closeness in all their relationships.
How Erotophobia Can Be Diagnosed:
Erotophobia can be diagnosed by talking about it. We should feel shy to address it. It is a serious mental health concern. We really need to create awareness about this. Beside this, this can be treated with Psychiatric Medication Management. This will help you get through with it. This will help you in cleaning out your doubts and fears. Also, it will help you channelize your irrational thoughts about sex.
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Breaking The Cycle: Treatment That Works
Every treatment doesn’t fit well for all people. Therefore, there are different treatments that can suit people based on their condition. Also, if you want to know how to deal with erotophobia. You can take the following treatments for your mental health protection and betterment.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy:
In this psychotherapy, they will address your concern points that triggered you. They will help you challenalize your negative thoughts. So they can turn your thought process.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing:
This is an effective therapy approach for erotophobia. It will help you cope up with your traumatic childhood incidents.
Exposure Therapy:
The person is being provoked to expose his mental condition and trigger points. This will help your therapists to examine you properly.
Medication:
The antidepressants medications can be used to cure erotophobia treatment. This will give you big relief from severe Mood disorders and stress.
Read More: The Hidden Mental Scars of Childhood Trauma in Adults
Healing Takes Time: Find Comfort & Control
Erotophobia is not something you need to be ashamed about. Also, it doesn’t mean that you are not curable. You should not live under this fear for your whole life. You should embrace acceptance, helathing and growth. You should get comfort and confidence in your own skin. Also, you can run to a therapist incase of any symptoms. It would be better to address the problem at the right time with the right support.
