Sexual Phobias : Understand And Overcome

A phobia is an intense fear of a specific object or situation that a person would avoid which many people would not even get bothered about.

Some people have phobias that deal with heights, insects or spiders, high places, lightening, enclosed spaces etc. Living with any kind of phobias is quite difficult but if one suffers from sexual phobia (phobia related to sex) then it will affect both his social and sexual life altogether.

Could a simple kiss, hug or touch give an individual a panic attack? Yes, people suffering from sexual phobia can have severe anxiety or panic attacks when exposed to such situations or at the mere thought of being in such a situation. For such people having sex or even touching genitals can be filled with feelings of revulsion or anxiety.

The symptoms consist of breathlessness, nausea, sweating, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat and overall feelings of dread. However, everyone experiences sexual phobia in their own way and may have different symptoms.

Coitophobia or Genophobia is the fear of sex or sexual conjunction which can cause panic attacks in some people taking them away from their loved ones.

Erotophobia is derived from Greek words – ‘Eros’ name of the Greek God of love and ‘phobia’ for fear. It is the common form of sexual phobia and people in this category do not like talking about sex, will react in negative manner to sexually explicit material and have sex in lesser frequency. Such individuals will not adopt any birth control methods due to less awareness and rare knowledge about human sexuality.

Erotophilia, people having this form of sexual phobia don’t have much of a guilt feeling about having sex and are a bit more open than erotophobes when it comes to talking openly about sex. They don’t have negative attitude towards sexually explicit materials. Well, we can say they are much better off than erotophobes.

Eurotophobia or Kolopophobia is an abnormal fear of female sexual organs or genitals which is quite common among people causing them needless worry. Many individuals with this phobia experience the fear all the time while others just in response to direct stimuli. Everyone reacts differently and have their unique formula for, when and how to feel bad.

The scientists are not able to cite the cause for such fears but, they say that it’s linked to the past experiences where emotional trauma must have been linked to genitals or sexual organs and because of that experience the subconscious mind creates a protective shield in the form of phobias. The emotion can be triggered by either sexual harassment in the childhood or being exposed to myriad, benign events like movies, TV, or perhaps seeing someone else experience trauma.

Parthenophobia – An individual with such phobia has abnormal and persistent fear of virgins/young girls. People with such phobia know very well that it is a baseless phobia and many times they do think about facing the situation but have panic attack when exposed to such situations. Such people lead a life full of loneliness and anxiety. They feel hardened to attend social functions or gathering as the thought of being close to virgins, fills them with severe anxiety.

Gymnophobia -- The word is derived from the Greek words gymnos (naked) and phobos (fear). Such individuals fear and have anxiety about being seen naked or seeing others naked even in socially acceptable situations. Gymnophobes know that their fear are irrational but still experience their fear of nudity either in front of all people, or only certain people. The fear comes out from the feeling of inferiority as they consider their bodies physically inferior when compared to the idealized images or some ideal figure portrayed by the media.

Tocophobia, derived from Greek words "tocos" means childbirth and phobos means fear. It is an abnormal and persistent fear of becoming pregnant or fear of childbirth. The symptoms consist of nightmares, difficulty in concentrating on work or on family activities, panic attacks and psychosomatic complaints.

This type of phobia arises from history of difficult childbirth previously, fear of pain in general or inadequate pain relief. Some times in developing countries women are forced to become a mother several times until she gives birth to a baby boy. Women become weak and fragile due to multiple pregnancies and thus they don't have the energy and the interest to become a mother once more.

Molysmophobia and Molysomophobia is an abnormal fear of infection or contamination.

Oneirogmophobia is an abnormal fear of wet dreams. Just like other sexual phobias it hinders with an individuals social life and can trigger panic attacks and severe anxiety.

Do not think you are the only one suffering from sexual phobia as it is the most common unspoken problem among many people. Make an appointment with a psychologist immediately if you feel your fear has reached phobic proportions and lead a contended sexual life.