A pregnant woman looks mysterious and touching, usually her image causes people only pleasant emotions. Many women dream about pregnancy, they admit the idea that one day they will become mothers.
But all this is not about gravidophobes. That is what they call people who are panicky afraid of pregnant women or have a fear of becoming pregnant.
Description
Fear of pregnancy is called gravidophobia (from the Latin gravida, which means "pregnant"). This is a strong, obsessive fear of expectant mothers, as well as a fear of their own pregnancy.
This phobia affects both women and men.
But in representatives of the stronger sex, phobia usually manifests itself fear of the pregnant woman met, hostility to women in an “interesting position”, and in women, gravidophobia is more diverse - it can be expressed both in fear of other pregnant women, and in fear that their own unwanted pregnancy will occur.
The most difficult phobia occurs in men who are single, have no children.
Without appropriate professional help, they can turn into misogynists, forever remain single and die alone with a host of concomitant mental disorders, because, like any other phobia, gravidophobia tends to progress.
Most often, gravidophobia affects the fair sex.
Fear of unwanted pregnancy in girls and women is more common than fear of meeting pregnant women on the street or elsewhere.
Causes
A variety of factors and events can lead to the development of gravidophobia, due to which a person has a negative relationship between pregnancy and a sense of danger.
A strong obsessive fear when meeting with pregnant women usually arises in the case when in the distant past (usually in childhood) a person had a traumatic situation related to the image of a future mother. For example, her own mother became pregnant and little attention was paid to the first child.
He perceived the connection between his mother’s growing stomach and a decrease in his own sense of security and well-being. In adulthood, such a person can have extremely unpleasant emotional associations when meeting with women “in position”.
Traumatic situations also include situations when a child suffered humiliation, punishment from a pregnant woman, in this case, every time he meets women in an “interesting position”, a hypertrophic manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation will occur.
The reason for the development of gravidophobia can be tragic events that happened already in adulthood - a person knocked down a pregnant woman while driving, he himself had a dead baby, the first sexual contact in life ended with the onset of pregnancy, and so on.
Anyway factors must be associated - it is more likely that a phobia will develop in people who are impressionable, suspicious, who are in a state of chronic stress, in depression.
In women, gravidophobia usually develops against the backdrop of a difficult relationship with parents, especially with mothers.
In addition, films and books can play a role in which pregnancy is presented as a difficult test, and childbirth is a painful and terrible experience.
In this case, not only the fear of becoming pregnant develops, but also the fear of labor pain, up to a complete refusal to have children.
The basis of gravidophobia in women may be the fear of giving birth to a sick baby.
Particularly likely is precisely this reason if there were cases of congenital abnormalities in the family, if a woman has bad habits (she is afraid to give birth due to the systematic use of alcohol and drugs). But this option is rather rare. Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, fears are dulled, and the woman loses control of herself. That is why women from lower social strata with a lot of bad habits so easily and often become pregnant without much effort.
Men and women can suffer from gravidophobia due to insecurity in their own abilities, that they can raise, feed a child.
Excessively strict education is another common cause of fear of pregnancy and pregnant women. If the parents constantly made it clear that the girl-daughter should in no case become pregnant “don’t understand from anyone”, and the boy was constantly warned and urged to be careful, otherwise the “especially prone” would be wary of especially impressionable natures to pregnancy, and then fear.
Fear in any case arises as a basic reaction to a situation that seems dangerous to a person.
And it doesn’t matter if there is a real threat to life and health or not, the fear mechanism triggers a cascade of different reactions from excitement and anxiety to panic and inappropriate actions.
Symptoms
To learn gravidophobe is quite simple. If he suddenly meets a pregnant woman on the street, in transport, in a store, then he hurries to the other side, leaves the bus or shop, without having made the purchase he needs. Images of pregnant women (photos, videos) cause them to feel anxious. Gravidophobic men treat women “in a position” with disgust, cannot communicate with them, have sex, even if we are talking about their own wife.
Gravidophobic men often prefer to be lonely, do not start a family, and with random sexual acts take all possible contraception measures at once.
If the partner becomes pregnant, it is possible that gravidophobe and will not think about marrying, he will simply disappear from her life, stop communicating, answer calls, and can change her job and place of residence.
Gravidophobic women are very anxious when talking about pregnancy, thinking that this is possible.
They are intensely concerned about contraception. In case of an accidental pregnancy, they will most likely have an abortion, no matter how their partner begs them to leave the child. If a woman has experienced a negative experience, for example, giving birth to a dead baby, she may painfully, with fear, start treating pregnant women around. She will try to avoid communicating with pregnant friends, relatives, bypassing women “in position”.
If the disorder is pronounced, the occurrence of panic attacks is not excluded, which when meeting with pregnant women or with the prospect of getting pregnant are manifested by trembling in the arms and legs, dilated pupils, increased heart rate, irregular blood pressure.
There may be a feeling of severe nausea, vomiting.
The skin becomes pale, sweat appears on the palms and back.
Treatment
There is no way to overcome this phobia on your own, given that in a fit of fear, a person ceases to control his thoughts, emotions, behavior. WITHSpecialists in the field of psychology are not assistants in this matter either.
You need to contact a therapist or psychiatrist.
These specialists will help you quickly and effectively get rid of fear.
The most effective today is the cognitive-behavioral method of psychotherapy, within the framework of which the specialist establishes the causes and makes a soft psychocorrection of their consequences. Pregnancy is no longer perceived as something dangerous, unpleasant, threatening, the attitude towards it and to expectant mothers becomes more tolerant, calm.
Additionally, sedatives and antidepressants can be used, but the need for them arises only if the patient has signs of anxiety disorder, depression.
Hypnosis can be used for treatment - its capabilities give the doctor a chance to simulate situations for the patient in which he can communicate with pregnant women, or the girl herself is pregnant.
Applicable methods of auto-training, deep muscle relaxation, respiratory gymnastics - as auxiliary. At the stage of recovery, a person is recommended to communicate with pregnant women, watch films in which the heroines are expecting a baby. It is important that these films are positive, life-affirming.
Women usually manage to overcome fear faster.
