Androphobia: causes, symptoms and treatment

Men make a woman's life richer and more interesting. They give a woman 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 the fair sex, but also men themselves are subject to fear of men.

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

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

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

Androphobe is not necessarily afraid of all men without exception. Fear can be selective. Some are afraid only of the bearded, while others are ready to faint at the sight of bald ones. If a woman is afraid only 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 women will not be perceived painfully.

Do not confuse a shy, modest girl with an androphobe. If a lady is constrained in communication, not sure of her attractiveness, shy in front of men who are trying to get to know her, this does not mean that she has a mental disorder. Perhaps the matter is in the upbringing, the traditions of the family, the people among whom the woman grew up, her personal convictions.

Androphobe is distinguished from shy people by the pathology of mental processes: fear arises spontaneously in any situation that a person perceives as dangerous, fear immediately finds its manifestation at the vegetative level and cannot be controlled by the phobia. With all the desire to hide his panic, the androphobe does not succeed, although at the logical level he retains self-criticism, understands that his horror does not have an adequate rational reason, it is illogical, inappropriate, and implausible. Despite all attempts to pull himself together, the fob does not succeed. Shy people can control their emotions.

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

Such fear can appear at any age, not necessarily at a young age, but most often the prerequisites are nevertheless found in childhood. The basis of fear can be any situation in which a person has been traumatized by men.

In childhood, fear of men can begin to form as a result of difficult relationships with the father, physical punishment. Sometimes a girl is influenced by her mother's experience: the father or stepfather treats her badly, or the mother constantly avoids men, fears them, hates them. All this is perceived by the girl as a truthful and the only correct model of behavior that she adopts for herself.

In an adult woman, a 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 even in marriage and begins to manifest itself clearly after a divorce. New acquaintances and relationships become impossible due to the fact that a woman sees a tormentor in every man.

In many ways, the manifestations of this phobia depend on how severe the psychological trauma was, how long-standing and severe the mental disorder itself 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. Androphobe can, at the sight of a calmly standing group of 2-3 men, simply turn around and run in a panic, or he loses consciousness, falling into a stupor.

If the meeting cannot be avoided, and she is supposed, in front of her the androphobe experiences the greatest excitement., cannot sleep, he has tachycardia (heart palpitations), lack of appetite. At the last moment, the androphobe can do something unexpected in order to still try to avoid an unpleasant meeting - for example, not to appear for an important exam just because the examiners' commission is men.

If in society, in the company there is a man of a certain type, appearance, profession (depending on what the phobia sufferer is actually afraid of), the patient changes in behavior, begins to fuss, get nervous, he comes up with a variety of reasons to leave as soon as possible this company. If such a man enters a subway car or a bus, the androphobe may jump out at the nearest stop, despite the fact that he himself is late somewhere.

Panic symptoms appear at the physiological level: the person turns pale, he has tremors in his hands, tremors of the lips and chin, the pupils dilate quickly, a feeling of dryness in the mouth, he cannot make swallowing movements - the spasm of the larynx does not allow. From this moment, the phob is unable to make decisions, he does not control the external environment, attacks of suffocation, loss of consciousness may appear. 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 when in contact with a frightening male type in reality, but also when only thinking about a possible meeting. Androphobic women often avoid public transport during rush hour, unwilling to be touched by strangers in the crowd. They are afraid to live next to men, communicate with them, and do not even think about any personal life in this case.

Diagnostics is not difficult. Usually androphobes themselves are quite willing to explain the essence of their pathological fear. At the disposal of psychiatrists and psychotherapists, there are also special tests, which determine the level of anxiety in connection with certain circumstances, objects. Androphobe is well aware of his problem, does not deny, many themselves ask for help, and therefore everything is quite simple with the establishment of an accurate diagnosis.

The main thing is to convince the patient to see a specialist. Psychologists are not involved in the diagnosis and determination of the degree of disorder. This is a job for a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. It is important that these doctors are not men, and this issue must be clarified in advance, otherwise the treatment may fail due to the patient's inadequate response to the doctor.

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

In practice, however, men usually do not seek help, and they are diagnosed with this disorder when diagnosing other, more serious mental problems, such as persecution mania or schizophrenia.And women come to a specialist when they have already lost hope of self-correction of the problem, when there is no longer a chance to establish their personal life on their own, and the biological clock is “ticking” inexorably. This means that the phobia by this point becomes quite advanced, and its treatment will require more time and effort.

The psychotherapist helps the androphobe to relieve the nervous tension in which he lived for years, and this alone brings noticeable relief. After identifying the reasons for the fear (events of the past), the doctor helps the androphobe to reconsider his attitude towards the object of the nightmare. And then a smooth rapprochement begins, under the supervision of a specialist, with what not long ago inspired horror: the androphobe begins to communicate with men, together with them, perform simple work entrusted by a specialist. It is a cognitive behavioral therapy that is considered the most effective way to overcome phobias today.

The more severe the pretreatment phobia symptoms, the higher the likelihood that drug treatment will be required along with psychotherapy and hypnotherapy. With a severe course of the phobia, inpatient treatment with tranquilizers in short courses may be required, which will not cause drug addiction. With relatively low degrees of disorder and signs of concomitant depression, antidepressants are indicated for courses from 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 androphobe begins to tolerate the representatives of the stronger sex, ceases to perceive them as a threat to his life and health. But even after that, not everyone is ready to start establishing contacts with men. Therefore, the help of a psychologist, classes in groups, art therapy are recommended. Not immediately, but the problem is surmountable, you just need to be patient. During 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-medication in the case of androphobia is impossible and ineffective.

You will learn more about androphobia in the following video.