Some people say we live in the era of “posturing” and “Mr. Wonderful. Many times we notice the immense need to find what makes us happy and fills us with pleasure. In the age of social networks, this is aggravated, offering us the wonderful opportunity to share with anyone what we are doing at any given moment.
Now more than ever, we seem to be invaded by the urgent need to share happy moments with others, but what happens if I don’t want to look for activities that make me happy because I don’t want to be happy? What if I prefer to avoid pleasure? Keep reading this Psychology-Online article, in which we will explain what people who run away from happiness are called, what symptoms they suffer from, what their cause could be and their treatment. Known The symptoms, causes and treatment of cherophobia.
What is cherophobia?
What is it called being afraid of happiness? It is known as cherophobia, which means the fear of being happy. Specifically, cherophobia, also called kerophobia, is the aversion to happiness. People with cherophobia reject events and experiences that could make them happy.
Some articles debate the concept of fear of happiness in terms of personal beliefs, that is, there are certain people who think that the relationship with happiness should be abolished. This concept, which to some might seem surreal, is widespread in various cultures universally.
Symptoms of cherophobia
People who report being afraid of happiness present the following symptoms:
- High negative valence in relation to happiness.
- Excessive avoidance and escape of these stimuli that can cause a feeling of well-being.
- Incorrect threat estimatesthat is, the meanings attributed to the happiness stimulus and the evoked fear response.
- Appearance of others disorders derived from this phobia.
- Loss of interest and avoidance of those satisfying activities.
- No search for new sensations.
Causes of cherophobia
There is no single cause that determines the appearance of cherophobia or cherophobia. Even so, everything points to a psychosocial causal relationship, since some cultures say that the search for extreme happiness should be avoided because it is very likely that it will lead to unhappiness. From the previous reflection, let’s see what the main causes of cherophobia are:
- Beliefs: There are people who say they fear happiness because it brings bad things to them, such as unhappiness, suffering, and death, necessary conditions for some to manifest this tendency of cherophobia or cherophobia.
- ReligionOthers say that being happy makes you a worse person, since some religions seem to explicitly criticize laughter, and even go so far as to say that happiness distracts you from God, making those happy people morally and spiritually inferior.
- Envy of others: another of the causes of cherophobia that Joshanloo, M., & Weijers, D. (2013) mention in their article refers to the expression of happiness, alluding to the fact that this causes discomfort and envy in others, which is why which should be avoided. They claim that the pursuit of happiness is also bad for the individual himself, reasoning that this pursuit makes us more selfish, which will make the person’s relationship with his or her peers more difficult. In this article you will see.
- Conditioning: Cherophobia is consolidated by poor learning, where the individual suffers intense anxiety immediately in the face of stimuli that cause happiness.
Cherophobia Treatment
How to overcome cherophobia? As in all phobias, the key to extinguishing fear is always repeated exposure to the feared stimulus specifically, how could the feeling of well-being, happiness or pleasurable activities. The objective is to generate new learning in which the feared stimulus becomes harmless. What to do to not be afraid to be happy? We’ll tell you then.
Acquire skills to control anxiety
It is important to start treatment by acquiring anxiety management and relaxation skills, as well as creating a safe environment within the framework of an appropriate therapeutic alliance to continue moving forward. In this article you will find how to achieve it.
Systematic desensitization therapy
What to do to not be afraid to be happy? Apply systematic desensitization therapy that works by counterconditioning, that is, by associate or generate an opposite response (relaxation) to the one that would be generated initially (fear, anxiety…) for happiness.
A hierarchy is necessary to be able to carry out this technique. In this article, we tell you in more detail what the .
Exposure therapy
The most current and used exposure therapy is based on Maurer’s two-factor theory and habituation/extinction models. The effectiveness of this treatment for cherophobia lies in prevent avoidance from becoming a safety signal. This therapy can be carried out in several ways:
- Live (gradual or inversive): exposing yourself directly to the situation that generates irrational fear with happiness
- symbolic: through associated visual or auditory stimuli or through virtual reality.
- In a group: thus increasing social support and motivation and adherence to therapy.
- Interoceptive: causing bodily sensations typical of the moment fear appears, such as hyperventilation.
Finally, other techniques are also known that work with some phobias such as narrative therapy and the eye movement processing and desensitization (EMDR).
All of these therapies mentioned are included in the current of psychology, for which we have more scientific evidence of its effectiveness. As always, choosing the most appropriate treatment will depend on many personal, social and environmental factors that will make one type or another work better.
Whatever the type of treatment chosen, the key to success in overcoming cherophobia is that the therapist has knowledge of the conceptual model he or she applies, a good therapeutic relationship has been established, a consistent treatment logic is transmitted and the different exhibition modalities are effectively implemented.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Cherophobia (fear of being happy): symptoms, causes and treatmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- Joshanloo, M., & Weijers, D. (2013). Fear of happiness across cultures: A review of where and why people are afraid of happiness. Victoria University of Wellington: Kelburn, Wellington.
Bibliography
- Echeburúa, E., de Corral, P., and Ortiz, C. (2008). Systematic desensitization. To FJ Labrador, Behavior Modification Techniques (Chap. 10, p. 261-286). Madrid. Pyramid.
- Labrador, F. J: and Crespo, M. (2008). Systematic desensitization. To FJ Labrador, Behavior Modification Techniques (Chap. 9, p. 243-260). Madrid. Pyramid.