Gynophobia: what is this problem and how to deal with it?

Social fears are diverse. Someone is afraid to speak in public, someone is afraid of being caught in a dense crowd at rush hour in the subway or at a rally, but there are so-called gender fears, the main object of which is characterized by gender. These include gynophobia - a panic fear of women.

Gynophobia or gynecophobia - irrational, pathological fear of women. Most often, a mental disorder occurs in men, less common in women who are afraid of their own kind. Despite the apparent oddity and even absurdity of this phobic disorder, fear of a woman or girl among modern men is quite common. This phobia is called social for the reason that in one way or another, it restricts a person in his contacts and interaction with society. The nature of this phobia can be very destructive, because somehow it determines the behavior of a person.

Do not confuse gynophobes and men who are just wary of women. If something happened in a person’s life that formed an unkind, deprived attitude to the fair sex, this does not mean that he has a mental disorder. True gynophobia consists in attacks of uncontrollable fear at the sight of women or of a certain type of women (only red, only pregnant, only elderly, only beauties of model appearance, etc.). In a mild form, phobia can manifest itself in a squeamish and dismissive attitude. Serious gynophobia is the occurrence of panic attacks, inappropriate behavior of a person when meeting with the object of his fear.

In severe cases, the gynophobe refuses to contact women at all, closes at home, does not go outside, so as not to meet women there by chance, he condemns himself to loneliness, never deciding to start a family.

Gynophobia is a fairly broad and broad concept in which psychiatrists usually include several specific forms that a mental disorder can take. Pure gynecophobia is not so common, usually the area of ​​fear does not apply to all women, without exception, but only to certain women.

• Gravidophobia - Irrational fear of women “in position”. Pregnant women can inspire terror not only in men, but also in women. Typically, such fear is of a traumatic nature, for example, a woman has a dead child, after which, against the background of a strong shock, gravidophobia can develop. In men from the category of "old bachelor", gravidophobia is particularly difficult. One kind of expectant mother can cause a severe panic attack. Other women do not cause a negative reaction in gravidophobia.
• Venustrafobia - panic fear of beautiful women. It occurs more often in men, but can also develop in women. Usually, the reasons lie in the negative experience of communicating with a beauty in adolescence. Inherent in men and women with low self-esteem phobia. The former are sure that they are not worthy to be loved by beautiful ladies, the latter believe that they look ugly against the backdrop of beautiful women.
• Parthenophobia - pathological fear of virgins. Mainly peculiar to men. It appears as a variant of a disorder of sexual behavior. Correction is difficult.
• Kakomorphobia - fear of fat, fat, obese women. It can equally develop in both women and men. The reasons most often lie in the negative experience of interacting with such ladies. But women have a specific reason - the fear of recovering, becoming the fattest, and then such women will cause great anxiety at a subconscious level.

Quite often, cases of gynophobia are outside the classification. Many gynophobic men suffer from the fear of strong and independent women, and enterprising business women inspire real horror in them. Sometimes fear is formed at once according to several signs, for example, a person is afraid of fat red women or only fat brunettes, the rest of the chubby person does not cause a negative reaction in him.

Male fear always has more serious consequences and brighter symptoms. Female often proceeds secretly. But anyway building relationships with women and both can be difficult.

Very often, the reason for the fear of women in a man or woman lies in the distant past, so far away that at a conscious level he himself does not remember what childhood events influenced him so much. This is a deep subconscious fear, which can only be brought out if you turn to a psychotherapist-hypnologist.

Often, even in adolescence, guys experience pronounced gynophobia due to the fact that in childhood, his own mother was tyrannical, authoritarian, beaten, humiliated, punished the child. Moreover, the image is usually fixed in the subconscious either it's a fat woman or a brunette. Key characteristics turn into a characteristic of fear. Too strong-willed mother, who always and everything decided for her son, suppressed his undertakings, imposed his vision of life on him, can also cause the development of pathological fear of women, especially strong, independent.

Boys may be impressed by the behavior of the mother towards her father. If a woman humiliated, beat, mocked her husband in front of a child’s eyes, then fear involuntarily settles in the soul and eventually only progresses. The hostile attitude towards women, which eventually turns into a phobic disorder, can develop in a child when watching pornography in childhood, observing how parents have sex, with acts of depravity by adult women in relation to a teenager or boy who has not reached puberty.

Parents should be more careful when choosing a nanny for the child, a kindergarten teacher, or the first teacher. Early age is the most “impressionable”, and a complete groomed woman who smells bad, who offends the baby, shouts at him, raises her hand, may well become his nightmare in childhood, and then a phobia against women of a certain type or all women without exception.

The first sexual experience is another reason why gynophobia develops. Not always he is successful, often the image of a woman is closely associated with humiliation, a feeling of burning shame, mockery of a partner. Education also decides a lot (including nationality, religion, folk traditions). If it is customary for representatives of a particular people not to respect, not to value women, to show cruelty, then it is more likely that squeamish gynophobia will form.

Sex during pregnancy is not supported by all religions, and that is why many men consider it unnatural. In the case of gynophobia, fear arises from the same beliefs, but it is surrounded by additional strong emotions that make such a person move to the other side of the street, if the expectant mother is moving towards him.

Signs of a mental disorder are quite characteristic, and with close observation it will not be difficult to find out the true gynophobe. Men with such fear, depending on its type and degree, can be single and misogynistic. In a light form, this is a squeamish attitude, a sense of anxiety at the sight of a woman unpleasant for a gynophobe. If a red-haired woman comes in to the store, which he is afraid of, then the man immediately leaves the shopping center, without making the necessary purchase for which he came.

Gynophobic man does not go closer to the fair sex. Moreover, he often suffers from an intimate life, he prefers self-satisfaction. In severe cases, changes sexual orientation, being convinced that he was born gay. And only a deep psychological analysis shows that in fact the man is heterosexual, just suffers from gynophobia.

Severe cases of gynophobia are manifested by inappropriate behavior, obsessive thoughts, compulsive disorder. For example, a man immediately leaves the room if a woman appears in it, or is in a hurry to wash his hands urgently if he touched the handrail, which the lady of the frightening type had held onto before.

Fear causes an attack of nausea, disgust, a feeling of constriction in the heart. Gynophobe loses control of himself. He can run, or, on the contrary, become numb and stand like an idol, unable to move.

After the attack there is a feeling of inferiority, emptiness, disappointment. Gynophobia is ashamed, but he cannot by force of will avoid a second attack, and therefore he tries to completely avoid frightening situations.So people refuse to marry, have sex with women, give birth to children, and in severe cases, from work (there are women in the team!), From studies, from going outside.

The danger of male gynophobia lies in the fact that with the progression of the disorder, it can be weighed down by additional mental disorders. If a manic violation joins, it is possible that one day a man decides to fulfill the “mission of his whole life - to rid the world of red or beautiful women” (depending on whom he is afraid of). So sometimes cruel serial killers are formed.

Women with gynophobia do not have girlfriends, at least girlfriends of frightening type. They usually choose men's professions, work in a men's team, make friends with men, and very soon they themselves begin to resemble men. Subconsciously, the woman begins to deny the female and in herself, which is fraught with infertility, loneliness, schizophrenia.

Gynophobia is not a psychological problem, but a mental disorder, and therefore attempts to self-medicate or attend coach trainings in order to quickly quickly overcome fear of fear will not bring results. Treatment is carried out by psychotherapists or psychiatrists. In each case it is necessary to identify the causes of fear, after which a person will have a long course of psychotherapy.