It is not at all unusual that a man can find himself blocked when it comes to talking and interacting with a beautiful woman, since nerves can always play tricks at the least appropriate moments.
However, there is a type of men who live with a constant, abnormal and unjustified fear of beautiful women. This phobia is known as venustraphobia or caliginephobia.
At Psychology-Online, we intend to explain to you What is Venustraphobia, what it may be due to and how to overcome it this phobia.
Venustraphobia is the fear of women
The term Venustraphobia comes from the union of the words Venus (referred to by the goddess, which was synonymous with love and beauty) and phobia (a concept that means intense and irrational fear of a person, thing or situation).
After a detailed search, it has been seen that this phobia is not one of the most studied in psychology. However, we do find a comment about her made by the psychologist Carlos Quintero, who stated that: «The venustraphobia it’s a irrational fear that many men have when they see a beautiful woman, and automatically generate a rejection. This phobia is an insecurity created in men since they were children, since they are educated in society that only successful men “can” approach beautiful women.
As we will explain later, the positive relationship between the development of this phobia and having participated in a bad experience which ended up becoming a traumatic event for man has also been seen.
In these articles you can see others and the .
Venustraphobia: symptoms
As we have found in the dictionary of phobias, this is suffered mostly by men, although cases are not ruled out in which women suffer from this phobia.
It is characterized by a specific symptomatology, where men usually suffer from:
- Shaking chills
- Momentary tachycardia
- Tremor in the legs
- Sweating in the hands
- Stammering
In some more extreme cases of Venustraphobia, the man may feel dizziness and vomiting. Like the rest of phobias, this has a great impact on the individual’s life, which gives rise to an emotional impact on their health.
Why am I afraid of women?
What are the causes of Venustraphobia? From the point of view of psychology, it is believed that this phobia is determined by the presence of a traumatic event in the life of the person who suffers from it, such as having been rejected in the past or having been attacked by beautiful women, causing a fear of them to develop.
Many times one is not aware of said memory and the man only feels a Feeling unwell caused by the fact of being in front of a beautiful woman, which makes me not understand exactly the reason for said fear.
Men usually know that the fear they feel is irrational and unfounded because of their own feelings and thoughts, however, they are not able to cope with them by interacting with the woman who creates such symptoms for them.
How to overcome Venustraphobia
Like the rest of the phobias we know, To overcome it, exposure is recommended progressive to him. This in psychology is known as a hierarchical exposition.
To carry out this presentation, the affected person is asked to make a list of 10 situations related to women that would create anxiety and in which the previously described symptoms would appear. In some more serious cases, some type of medication can also be used, such as an antidepressant (always under medical prescription, of course), to treat the patient’s anxiety.
Once the list of situations that trigger anxiety has been made, they must be scored from 0 to 10 (0-it causes almost no anxiety; 10-maximum anxiety). In all cases it must be start with the situation that corresponds to an anxiety score of 5. Next, the situation will be explained; it can be done alone or with a companion if you feel safer.
You should never abandon the exposure as this would be counterproductive to eliminating the phobia. However, if the level of anxiety is very high, you can stop for a few minutes and resume the exposure after a short period of time.
Little by little they have to go overcoming situations until carrying out in a calm manner and without symptoms the one that created an anxiety level of 10 in the subject.
Although it is true that the fear of beautiful women will be reduced, it must be taken into account that phobias usually persist in the mind of the person who suffers from them, so they are not completely eliminated. That is why they are also recommended so that if at any time you feel anxious you can use them to reduce it quickly.
Guided relaxation for anxiety
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 Venustraphobia: what it is, symptoms, causes and treatmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- KienyKe. (2017). ‘Venustraphobia’: Panic of pretty women. Recovered from: https://www.kienyke.com/tendencias/sexualidad/venustraphobia-panico-las-mujeres-bonitas
- Venustraphobia – Fear of beautiful women Retrieved from http://www.phobias.net/Venustraphobia.html