Androphobia: causes, symptoms and treatment

Men make a woman's life more intense, interesting. They give women the opportunity to feel loved, desired, to experience the joy of natural conception and motherhood. But sometimes the image of a man causes a pathological fear, which is called androphobia. Not only women, but men themselves are subject to fear of men.

Androphobia is the pathological fear of men. The name comes from the ancient Greek words? Ν? Ρ - "man" and φ? Βος - "fear." Androphobia refers to phobic disorders, and in ICD-10 there is no separate code for it. The disease is listed under the code 40.2.

Often, panic fear of men is a manifestation of persistent social phobia, anxiety disorders. But sometimes there is an isolated, independent androphobia, in which a person cannot build close relationships with representatives of the stronger sex, cannot trust them, be friends with them, build a life together.

Androphobia experts consider one of the most difficult phobias, because it is multifaceted, multifactorial, and difficult to treat. A person of any age, social status, level of wealth and education can face it. Most often, a mental disorder is diagnosed in young women, girls. Cases of clinical androphobia in men are a rather rare phenomenon, and are usually almost always closely associated with other mental problems (social phobia, schizophrenia, etc.). At the same time, male phobia is usually manifested by anxiety and fear of a large accumulation of other men (a typical male company), and in women, the disorder often spreads to the representatives of the stronger sex themselves.

Not necessarily androphobe afraid of all, without exception, men. Fear can be selective. Only the bearded are afraid of one, while others are ready to faint at the sight of bald men. If a woman is only afraid of older men, then in the company of young people she will be quite comfortable, and if only brunettes cause fear, then blondes and brown-haired people will not be perceived painfully.

Do not confuse shy modest girl with androphobe. If a woman is constrained in communication, is not sure of her attractiveness, feels shy in front of men who are trying to get to know her, this still does not indicate the presence of a mental disorder. Perhaps it is upbringing, the traditions of the family, the people among whom the woman has grown, her personal convictions.

Androphoba differs from shy people in the pathological nature of mental processes: fear arises spontaneously in any situation that a person perceives as dangerous, fear immediately finds manifestation at a vegetative level and cannot be controlled by a fob. With all the desire to hide his panic, it does not work for the androphobe, although at the logical level he retains self-criticism, realizes that his horror does not have an adequate rational reason, it is illogical, inappropriate, implausible. Despite all the attempts to control oneself, it does not work for the fob. Shy people can control their emotions.

A woman remains lonely, sometimes she cannot even normally attend work, shops, ride in transport, because the type of men that frighten her (bald, black-haired, bearded) or in general men may well meet in the most unexpected place at any moment. Sometimes a phobia causes a woman to become a volunteer hermit in her own home. She does not meet with men, does not enter into a close relationship with them. Personal life becomes inaccessible, it’s impossible to create a normal family, and all the advice on the psychology of relationships is powerless in this situation.

Such a fear can appear at any age, not necessarily at a young age, but more often the prerequisites are still found in childhood. The basis of fear can be any situation in which a person has been subjected to the traumatic effects of men.

In childhood, the fear of men may begin to take shape as a result of a difficult relationship with the father, physical punishment. Sometimes the experience of the mother affects the girl: the father or stepfather mistreats her, or the mother constantly avoids men, fears them, hates them. All this is perceived by the girl as a true and the only correct model of behavior that she adopts for herself and for herself.

In an adult woman, phobia is sometimes formed due to prolonged traumatic exposure.in which she is forced to be (a tyrant husband, a sadist), while the phobia is laid back in marriage and begins to manifest itself after a divorce. New acquaintances and relationships become impossible due to the fact that in every man a woman sees a tormentor.

In many ways, the manifestations of this phobia depend on how severe the psychological trauma was, how old and severe the mental disorder is. Male and female symptoms in relation to groups of men, if it is the groups that cause fear, are quite characteristic. Behavior becomes illogical, inadequate. At the sight of a calmly standing group of 2-3 men, Androphob can simply turn around and run in a panic, or lose consciousness, falling into a stupor.

If the meeting is unavoidable, and she is supposed to, an androphob in front of her is experiencing great excitement, can not sleep, he has tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), lack of appetite. At the last moment, an androphobe can do something unexpected in order to still try to avoid an unpleasant meeting — for example, not to attend an important exam just because the commission of examiners is a man.

If a certain type of character, appearance, profession is present in the company, in a company (depending on what the phobic is actually afraid of), the patient changes in behavior, starts to fuss, get nervous, he comes up with various reasons to leave as soon as possible. this company. If such a man enters a subway car or bus, an androphob can jump out at the nearest bus stop, despite the fact that he is late somewhere.

Signs of panic occur at the physiological level: the person turns pale, he has a tremor in his hands, a tremor of the lips and chin, the pupils dilate rapidly, a dry feeling arises in his mouth, he cannot make swallowing movements - he does not allow spasm of the larynx. From this point on, the FOB is unable to make decisions, it does not control the external environment, it may cause asthma attacks, loss of consciousness. All this is due to a sharp release of adrenaline into the blood - an obligatory companion of fear.

If androphobia has a sufficiently pronounced stage, fear can appear not only through contact with a frightening male type in reality, but also with only one thought about a possible meeting. Androphobic women often avoid public transport during rush hours, not wanting to be touched by other men in the crowd. They are afraid to live with men, to communicate with them, and in this case they don’t think about any personal life.

Diagnosis is not a big deal. Usually, the androphobes themselves are quite willing to explain the essence of their pathological fear. At the disposal of psychiatrists and psychotherapists, there are special tests that determine the level of anxiety in connection with certain circumstances, objects. He is well aware of his problem androphobic, does not deny, many people ask for help themselves, and therefore everything is quite simple with the installation of an accurate diagnosis.

The main thing is to convince the patient to consult a specialist. Psychologists do not diagnose and determine the degree of disorder. This is a job for a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. It is important that these doctors are not men, and this question needs to be clarified in advance, otherwise the treatment may fail due to inadequate patient response to the doctor.

If a phobia is detected at the initial stage, when the mental disorder has not yet managed to “overgrow” and concomitant fears, manic moods, depression and obsessive thoughts, then it can be overcome much easier. For such androphobes, group psychotherapy is recommended, it helps a person, looking at others, to understand the causes of fear, to reconsider them, to cope with fear.

However, in practice, men usually do not seek help, and this disorder is revealed in the diagnosis of other, more serious mental problems, such as persecution or schizophrenia. And women come to a specialist when they have already lost hope for an independent correction of the problem, when there is no chance of self-regulation of their personal lives, and the biological clock is “ticking” inexorably. This means that the phobia is now quite neglected, and its treatment will require more time and effort.

The psychotherapist helps the androphobe to relieve the nervous tension in which he lived before that for years, and this alone brings noticeable relief. After identifying the causes of fear (past events), the doctor helps the androphobe to reconsider his attitude towards the object of the nightmare. And then begins a smooth convergence under the control of a specialist with what has terrified terror more recently: the androphob begins to communicate with men, together with them to do the uncomplicated work assigned by a specialist. This is cognitive behavioral therapy, which today is considered the most effective way to overcome phobias.

The harder the symptoms of the phobia are at the pre-treatment stage, the higher the likelihood that, along with psychotherapy and hypnotherapy, drug treatment is required. With a severe phobia, you may need inpatient treatment with tranquilizers taking short courses that will not cause drug addiction. With relatively low degrees of frustration and signs of concomitant depression, antidepressant therapy is indicated in courses of one and a half to three months.

After a course of treatment, in about 80% of cases it is possible to achieve a distinct positive result. - yesterday's androphob begins to tolerate the representatives of the stronger sex, ceases to perceive them as a threat to their life and health. But even after that, not everyone is ready to start making contacts with men. Therefore, it is recommended the help of a psychologist, group classes, art therapy. Not immediately, but the problem is surmountable, you just need patience.At the time of treatment, it is recommended to avoid stress, do not take alcohol, drugs. Women should do yoga, master the basic techniques of breathing exercises.

Many are interested in whether it is possible to cope with this form of fear on their own, on their own. Given the high level of anxiety that accompanies the disorder, self-treatment in the case of androphobia is impossible and ineffective.

You will learn more about androphobia from the following video.