Androphobia: causes, symptoms and treatment

Men make a woman’s life more eventful, interesting. They give a woman the opportunity to feel loved, desired, to experience the joy of natural conception and motherhood. But sometimes the image of a man causes pathological fear, which is called androphobia. Not only women are subject to fear of men, but also men themselves.

Androphobia is the pathological fear of men. The name comes from the ancient Greek words? Ν? Ρ - "man" and φ? Βος - "fear." Androphobia refers to phobic disorders, and the ICD-10 does not provide a separate code for it. The ailment is listed under code 40.2.

Often, the panic fear of men is a manifestation of persistent sociophobia, an anxiety disorder. But there is also an isolated, independent androphobia, in which a person cannot build close relationships with representatives of the stronger sex, cannot trust them, make friends with them, and build a life together.

Androphobia, experts consider one of the most complex phobias, because it is multifaceted, multifactorial, and difficult to treat. A person of any age, social status, level of income and education can face it. Most often, a mental disorder is diagnosed in young women, girls. Cases of clinical androphobia in men are a rather rare phenomenon, and usually almost always closely associated with other mental problems (sociophobia, schizophrenia, etc.).At the same time, male phobia is usually manifested by anxiety and fear of a large congestion of other men (a typical male company), and in women, the disorder often spreads to the stronger sex themselves.

Androphobia is not necessarily afraid of all men without exception. Fear can be selective. Some are only afraid of the bearded, while others are ready to faint at the sight of the bald. If a woman is afraid of only older men, then in the company of young women she will be quite comfortable, and if only brunettes cause fear, then blond and brown-haired women will not be painful.

Do not confuse a shy modest girl with androphobic. If a lady is constrained in communication, not sure of her attractiveness, shy before men who are trying to get to know her, this does not mean the presence of a mental disorder. Perhaps the point is in the upbringing, traditions of the family, the people among whom the woman grew up, her personal beliefs.

Androphobic from shy people is distinguished by the pathological nature of mental processes: fear arises spontaneously in any situation that a person perceives as dangerous, fear immediately finds manifestation at a vegetative level and cannot be controlled by a phoba. With all the desire to hide his panic, the androphobic does not succeed, although at the logical level he maintains self-criticism, understands that his horror has no adequate rational reason, it is illogical, inappropriate, implausible. Despite all attempts to pull himself together, the phoba does not succeed. Shy people can control their emotions.

A woman remains lonely, sometimes she can’t even normally go to work, shops, ride in vehicles, because the type of men frightening her (bald, brunette, bearded man) or men as a whole can very well meet in the most unexpected place at any time. Sometimes a phobia causes a woman to become a voluntary recluse in her own home. She does not get acquainted with men, does not enter into close relations with them. Personal life becomes inaccessible, it is not possible to create a normal family, and all the advice on the psychology of relations in this situation is powerless.

Such fear can appear at any age, not necessarily at a young age, but more often than not, prerequisites are still found precisely in childhood. The basis of fear can be any situation in which a person has been subjected to traumatic effects from men.

In childhood, fear of men can begin to form as a result of a difficult relationship with his father, physical punishment. Sometimes the experience of the mother affects the girl: the father or stepfather mistreats her or the mother constantly avoids men, is afraid of them, hates them. All this is perceived by the girl as a true and only true model of behavior, which she takes into account and for herself.

In an adult woman, phobia is sometimes formed due to prolonged traumatic exposure., in which she is forced to be (tyrant husband, sadist), while the phobia is laid in marriage and begins to manifest itself brightly after a divorce. New acquaintances and relationships become impossible due to the fact that in every man a woman sees a tormentor.

In many ways, the manifestations of this phobia depend on how severe the psychological trauma was, how old and severe the mental disorder itself is. Male and female symptoms in relation to groups of men, if it is the groups that cause fear, are quite characteristic. Behavior becomes illogical, inadequate. Androfob at the sight of a calmly standing group of 2-3 men just turn around and run in a panic, or lose consciousness, falling into a stupor.

If the meeting cannot be avoided, and she is supposed to be in front of her, the androphobic is in great agitation, cannot fall asleep, he has tachycardia (heart palpitations), lack of appetite. At the last moment, androphobic can do something unexpected to still try to avoid an unpleasant meeting - for example, not to attend an important exam just because the commission of examiners is men.

If in society, in the company there is a man of a certain type, appearance, profession (depending on what the phobia sufferer is really afraid of), the patient changes his behavior, begins to fuss, get nervous, he comes up with a variety of reasons to leave as soon as possible this company. If such a man enters a subway car or a bus, the androphobic may jump out at the nearest stop, despite the fact that he himself is late somewhere.

Signs of panic appear at the physiological level: a person turns pale, tremors in his hands appear, tremors of his lips and chin, pupils dilate quickly, a dry sensation arises in his mouth, he cannot swallow movements - he does not allow a spasm of the larynx. From this moment, the phobia is unable to make decisions, it does not control the external environment, asthma attacks, loss of consciousness may appear. All this happens due to a sharp release of adrenaline into the blood - an indispensable companion of fear.

If androphobia has a fairly pronounced stage, fear can appear not only in contact with a frightening male character in reality, but also with only thoughts of a possible meeting. Androphobic women often avoid public transport during rush hour, not wanting to be touched by outside men in the crowd. They are afraid to live next to men, to communicate with them, and in this case they don’t even think about any personal life.

Diagnosis is not difficult. Usually, androphobes themselves quite willingly explain the essence of their pathological fear. At the disposal of psychiatrists and psychotherapists there are special tests that determine the level of anxiety in connection with certain circumstances, objects. Androphobic is well aware of his problem, does not deny it, many ask for help themselves, and therefore everything is quite simple with the establishment of an accurate diagnosis.

The main thing is to convince the patient to consult a specialist. Psychologists do not deal with the diagnosis and determination of the degree of disorder. This is a job for a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. It is important that these doctors are not men, and this issue needs to be clarified in advance, otherwise the treatment may fail due to the patient’s inadequate response to the doctor.

If a phobia is detected at the initial stage, when a mental disorder has not yet had time to "grow up" and be burdened by concomitant fears, manic moods, depression and obsessive thoughts, then it can be overcome much easier. For such androphobes, group psychotherapy is recommended, it helps a person, looking at others, to understand the causes of fear, to reconsider them, to cope with fear.

However, in practice, men usually do not seek help, and they have this disorder detected in the diagnosis of other, more serious mental problems, such as persecution mania or schizophrenia.And women come to the specialist when they have already lost hope for an independent correction of the problem, when there is no longer a chance to independently establish their personal lives, and the biological clock is ticking inexorably. This means that the phobia at this point is becoming quite neglected, and its treatment will require more time and effort.

The psychotherapist helps androphobic relieve the tension he has lived in for years., and this alone brings noticeable relief. After identifying the causes of fear (past events), the doctor helps the androphobic to reconsider his attitude to the object of the nightmare. And then a smooth rapprochement begins under the supervision of a specialist with what has recently been terrifying: the androphobic begins to communicate with men, and with them perform simple work entrusted to the specialist. This is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which today is considered the most effective way to overcome phobias.

The more severe the symptoms of the phobia at the pre-treatment stage, the higher the likelihood that drug treatment will be required at the same time as psychotherapy and hypnotherapy. In case of severe phobia, inpatient treatment with tranquilizers may be required in short courses that will not cause drug addiction. With relatively low degrees of disorder and signs of concomitant depression, antidepressant medications are indicated for courses from one and a half to three months.

After a course of treatment, in about 80% of cases it is possible to achieve a clear positive result. - Yesterday, androphobic begins to be tolerant of the stronger sex, ceases to perceive them as a threat to his life and health. But even after this, not everyone is ready to begin to establish contacts with men. Therefore, it is recommended that the help of a psychologist, classes in groups, art therapy. Not immediately, but the problem is surmountable, you just need to be patient. At the time of treatment, it is recommended to avoid stress, do not take alcohol, drugs. Women should do yoga, master the basic techniques of breathing exercises.

Many are interested in whether it is possible to cope with this form of fear on their own, on their own. Given the high level of anxiety that accompanies the disorder, self-medication in the case of androphobia is impossible and ineffective.

You will learn more about androphobia in the next video.