What is the fear of women called, and how to get rid of the phobia?

What is gynophobia

Gynophobia (gynecophobia) is an irrational, panicky fear of women. And if someone is scared by all representatives of the fair sex, then other gynophobes are afraid of representatives of a specific type. Differentiation can be based on any sign, but most often they talk about the following subtypes of gynecophobia:

1. Fear of pregnant women (gravidophobia). Probable causes: miscarriage, death of a spouse, stillbirth, conflicts with the mother.
2. Fear of virgins (parthenophobia). Probable reasons: fear of disappointment, fear of blood and pain, fear of ruining oneself or another person's life, lack of experience in communicating with girls.
3. Fear of beautiful women (venustraphobia). Probable reasons: lack of self-confidence, inferiority complex.

Behind gynophobia are different types of men’s fears: fear of intimacy, fear of intimacy, fear of business relationships with a girl, fear of any interaction and communication with representatives of the fair sex.

Sometimes gynophobia is understood as a fear of men or relationships in women. However, this fear has its own name - androphobia.

Main types of gynophobia

Each individual may experience the disease differently. There are several most common forms:

• fear of relationships with girls.
• fear of pregnant women.
• sexual fears.

Fear of building a relationship with a girl is one of the simplest phobias. It's easiest to get rid of. To do this, you need to contact a psychologist. Such men feel fear when they see a woman, they cannot find the right words to start a dialogue, they do not know how to properly care for a girl. With severe excitement and anxiety, a male representative may experience a panic attack.

Fear of pregnant women begins in adolescence. Men often have unpleasant memories; they cannot fully understand female physiology.

Sexual fears mean that a man is afraid to become intimate with a woman. He avoids kissing at all costs. Such a phobia can develop into impotence, an inferiority complex, and fear of failure.

You can recognize a gynophobe as follows:

• when he sees a woman, he is overcome by a feeling of fear; anxiety may have no basis;
• a man cannot strike up a conversation with a lady, even if the girl is the first to offer to start a conversation;
• Males begin to have panic attacks as soon as they see pregnant girls.

Also, a gynophobe is characterized by pallor, tachycardia, nausea and sweating in a stressful situation. With severe attacks of phobia, involuntary urination and ejaculation are possible. It happens that men lose consciousness and faint. It depends on how strong the fear of girls is.

Gynophobes can be identified by the following characteristics:

1. Such people are very quiet; boys, as a rule, grow up obedient. They are often pampered by their parents and constantly taken care of. They often visit their relatives, who show boundless care and love. At the same time, young men are afraid of their own mother.
2. In early childhood, boys develop friendships with girls. They don't conflict with other guys, they don't fight.
3. Such boys try to behave quietly in class, staying in the shadows if possible. When they see girls, they usually blush, withdraw into themselves, and feel insecure. They may have difficulty with a simple request from the teacher to voice their first and last name.
4. Most guys who have a fear of girls tend to spend time alone. They like to read books, sit at the computer, spending time in the campaign is boring for them.
5. If boys grow up in a single-parent family, then they have no example of how a man should behave. This is how anxiety and suspiciousness appear, and habits characteristic of women are developed. Men become neat and perfectionists; they love shopping and cooking.
6. In high school and university, such guys consider themselves unworthy of female attention and try to avoid contact with the opposite sex.

Please note that such men may have a high level of intelligence, since they spend a lot of time reading books and computers, developing themselves. Boys tend to achieve excellent grades in school, despite this they often have low self-esteem.

Reasons for fear of women

Reasons for the development of fear in women:

1. Authoritarian, abusive mother or lack thereof. Dislike for the mother, fear of getting another spanking or being rejected is transferred to all women.
2. Childhood trauma associated with violence from a teacher, nanny, or bullying from girls.
3. Painful breakup with a girl as an adult, toxic relationship.
4. Betrayal by a friend, any negative situation related to the girl.
5. Denial of femininity, fear of growing up and pregnancy, sexuality (female cause).
6. Traumatic sexual experience.

In women, gynophobia may be associated with a fear of competition. Perhaps the girl is afraid of being less attractive, successful, and in demand than other girls.

The main reasons for the development of phobias

The most common causes of gynophobia include psychological trauma, which is hidden. To recover in this case, you will need hypnosis. Thanks to him, a person’s attention is directed inward. Memories become clearer and more vivid. Hypnotic methods help in finding ourselves, our problems, their acceptance and awareness. This way, patients can get rid of their fears and anxieties. During hypnosis, the human psyche opens, the individual feels more calm. There is no need to be afraid of this method of getting rid of women’s fear.

The despotic severity of the mother is the most common cause of gynophobia. In childhood, a child’s will could be suppressed and harsh measures used in upbringing.

What is the fear of women called, and what does it mean? First of all, it was about the fact that the male representatives of the family had no authority. This is most often the root cause of the phobia. Often fathers are soft and silent, they do not take part in the symbolic punishment of the child. Often men take on female roles in the family. They always appear before children in a friendly and festive mood. Such fathers constantly show tenderness and love. At the level of instinct, the wives of such men begin to replenish the mental elements of the family that have been missed.

Women can teach male representatives, take responsibility for making decisions, punish children, teach their husbands. All this is not natural. The resulting destructive images are transferred to all women. To get rid of a phobia, it is important to record the example of a father whom everyone respects.

Conflicting sexual attitudes can also lead to the development of gynophobia. On the one hand, men have an interest in communicating with the opposite sex, a desire to communicate with women. On the other hand, they may have bad experience building relationships. Often the memory of unpleasant situations in which the female gender was involved is retained.

The fear of women is most clearly manifested in relation to pregnant women. Such a man considers a relationship with a girl who is carrying an unborn child to be an unnatural process. A person may develop an aversion to women, disgust towards them.

Signs and symptoms of gynophobia

With gynophobia, two patterns of behavior are noticeable:

1. A gynecophobe despises and hates women, treats them with disdain, and tries to destroy them morally and (or) physically.
2. A gynecophobe is shy about women, avoids contact with them, and is afraid to meet women.

Sometimes gynophobia is associated with a specific area or a specific type of woman, for example, a gynophobe is afraid of women in leadership positions or afraid of tall women. It all depends on the root cause of the fear, the type of injury. For example, if the phobia is associated with the cruelty of the mother, then a man may be afraid of those women who are in some way (externally or internally) similar to their mother.

At the sight of a representative of the fair sex or when trying to talk to her, the gynophobe falls into panic. This is accompanied by a number of somatic reactions:

• nausea,
• vomit,
• headache,
• dizziness,
• chills,
• tremor,
• tachycardia,
• arrhythmia,
• fainting.

In advanced stages, gynophobia turns into xenophobia and misogyny.

Other reasons

It happens that gynecophobia is characteristic of a female representative. Such girls hate other women, the wives of other people's husbands. What is the fear of women called and why does it manifest itself not only in men? One of the main reasons is homosexuality or fear of one’s own mother.

Often young people are simply afraid to meet girls. They experience severe anxiety and panic attacks. The man is unable to speak to the lady. With sufficient determination and will, a male representative will be able to overcome his fear of women.

It is important not to give up, but to try to make acquaintances again and again. Most often, the role of a gynophobe goes to a man. Panic attacks at the sight of a man are also observed in gay men.

If you do not fight such a phobia as the fear of women, then over time it will develop into a serious illness, which will harm a person’s physical and mental health. Such an individual will not be able to have a full life in society; anchoretism gradually manifests itself. A person becomes a hermit, isolates himself from the world around him, and withdraws into himself. Someone with a phobia tends to move closer to places where there are no people. He is constantly experiencing depression.

Treatment of fear in women

Psychologists recommend using the technique of gradual rapprochement. In addition, it is important to deal with psychological trauma. For this it is better to use psychoanalysis. Therapy is aimed at working through trauma, increasing self-esteem, getting rid of complexes, and developing communication skills. Group psychotherapy has a good effect.

Don't take a pickup course. They don’t teach adequate interaction and don’t deal with trauma. They make money there on weak, traumatized people.

How to overcome your fear of women yourself - advice from a psychologist:

1. Try, try and try again. Only through practice can you destroy old neural connections and hone new reactions. Ask yourself: is your life in danger? If not, then there is nothing more to be afraid of. Everything else, for example, a woman’s refusal, is stupidity that does not deserve your attention. Imagine that you are going to the store: “Did you bring bread? - No. - Well, okay".
2. Increase your self-esteem, get rid of complexes. It all comes down to your insecurities and doubts. Analyze in detail everything you need to deal with. Do this step by step.
3. Study psychology in general and women's psychology in particular. Pay special attention to the psychology of communication, including non-verbal.

Description of the disease

Gynecophobia is a pathological fear of women of any age. It is characterized by irrationality and lack of control. Often the problem develops gradually and progresses over time. It can appear both in childhood and in adulthood.

Another name for the disorder is gynophobia. Sometimes it is selective in nature, for example, a person is afraid of girls sexually, but he is tolerant of them when communicating. Therefore, sometimes the violation is difficult to detect.

In some situations, gynophobia manifests itself only when in contact with girls or women over 45 years of age. In each person, pathological fear can manifest itself uniquely and with unusual features.

Gynophobia can be called a disease of the 21st century. It's all about the changing model of education. Increasingly, women are becoming authoritarian, domineering and cruel. They do not notice how they intimidate others and cause animal fear.

Fear of women as a phobia can be called an excellent student complex. When a decent guy sees a pretty representative of the fair sex, he experiences embarrassment and fear - this is a normal reaction. In a pathological disorder, this completely paralyzes him and prevents him from behaving adequately.

Gynophobia can seriously complicate life, as a person may encounter people of the opposite sex every day. In some situations, the patient develops disgust and fear that women are carriers of mortal danger.

Treatment of gynophobia

If your fear of a woman is insignificant, and you think that you will be able to cope with it on your own, follow these simple tips:

1. Learn from other people's experiences. Surely there are young people or adult men in your circle who know how to communicate with girls easily and naturally, and you can learn a lot from them.
2. Don't avoid those you fear. On the contrary, try to learn as much as possible about the opposite sex and its gender characteristics. What do they think, what do they want, what do they dream about? Often we are simply afraid of the unknown and incomprehensible to us.
3. “Practice” communicating with the weaker sex as often as possible. After all, for sure, some of its representatives who do not cause panic attacks in you are still nearby.
4. Master relaxation methods - meditation, yoga, auto-training, breathing practices. Constantly search for your own way to overcome anxiety.

However, if your fear is more stubborn than you expected, do not hesitate to seek help from a psychologist. In the case of phobias, the great danger is precisely that people often put off the necessary visit to the doctor for a long time because of a feeling of false shame, considering their anxieties as something childish, unworthy of an adult, and even more so a representative of the stronger sex.

The main thing that a patient must realize when turning to a psychotherapist for help is that phobic disorders do not disappear quickly, as if by magic. In any case, you will need to work diligently and possibly for a long time on yourself. Modern medicine has accumulated quite a lot of effective techniques that will help get rid of anxiety.

1. Individual and group sessions. They help a person to better understand the nature of his fears and the true reasons for their occurrence. Sometimes even this is enough to more successfully manage your condition. In groups of people with similar problems, gynophobes have the opportunity to receive support and participation, as well as exchange constructive experiences in dealing with their illness.
2. Hypnosis. Sometimes the protective mechanisms of our psyche make us outwardly completely “forget” about the events that subsequently became the cause of the development of the disease. Hypnotherapy sessions involve placing the client in a trance, in which he travels into the depths of his memory. Also, under hypnosis, the doctor instills in the patient new constructive attitudes.
3. CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). With this method, the therapist and the patient work together for a long time to change his destructive internal beliefs to adequate ones.
4. Auto-training, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). They refer to effective methods of self-regulation that the patient will master under the guidance of a doctor.

If the symptoms of fear are serious and the panic state is persistent, then drug therapy, a course of antidepressants, is prescribed to reduce the anxiety background. However, it should be remembered that the role of medications in the treatment of phobias is not the main one, but only auxiliary, since the origins of the disease are not of a physiological nature.

According to doctors, fear of women is one of the most common phobias of our time. If left untreated, it will most likely cause serious discomfort in a person's life. If unpleasant symptoms develop, it is better to take care of your well-being in a timely manner and seek help from a psychotherapist.