How many people do we come across every day? We go out on the street and meet hundreds, maybe thousands, of people walking around us. Among them we find men and women of very different ages, races, conditions, preferences and tastes.

For most people this is not a problem, but there are people who experience feelings of intense panic when they see someone with certain characteristics appear. Some people have such feelings when confronted with a man, for example. And not with a specific man, but with anyone. This is what happens to people with arrhenophobia , a very limiting phobia that we are going to talk about in this article.

What is arrhenophobia?

Arrhenophobia is understood as irrational and extreme fear or panic towards all men . This is a specific phobia in which there appears an uncontrolled and disproportionate aversion, fear and panic towards men in general, continuously and persistently for at least six months. In the presence of a man or the possibility or thought that one may appear, the affected person may suffer alterations such as tachycardia, hyperventilation, dizziness, sweating and trembling, nausea and vomiting, and may even suffer an anxiety crisis. Due to this fear, the subject will systematically avoid approaching men and places where they may be especially prevalent.

This phobia is unusual and occurs mainly in women , but it can also occur in men who are afraid of exposure to other men. It is important to keep in mind that we are facing a real and totally involuntary problem, not a chosen contempt for the male figure. In other words, it is not that the person does not like men, but that he feels an atrocious and uncontrollable panic every time he sees one approaching.

Unlike other phobias, which although limiting, do not generally pose a great threat on a daily basis (for example, we do not usually have to take a flight or draw blood every day), the phobia of men or arrenophobia , also known as androphobia , is a severe limitation in all areas of life, and in virtually every activity we carry out we will find both men and women. School, work, leisure… all of this will be experienced with a very high level of anxiety by those affected, who will often have to endure contact with men with great anxiety.

The avoidance that is carried out can lead to strategies such as working from home, going to gyms or women-only environments, isolating oneself and/or avoiding intimate contact and relationships. And this obviously also affects at an affective and couple level, avoiding intimate contact and commitment. Many of these people choose to stay single because of the panic generated by the male figure. This does not mean that they do not want a partner or that they do not appreciate men, but simply that their own reaction of suffering prevents them or makes it very difficult for them to be close to you. And this can lead to deep suffering.

What causes androphobia?

The causes of arrhenophobia are not, as is the case with other phobias, something clear and known. However, in this specific case, a relationship has often been observed between the emergence of fear of men and the suffering of some type of trauma or extremely aversive experience that a male has provoked in the affected person.

Thus it is common (although not necessary) that we are talking, both in women and men who suffer from this phobia, about people who have suffered sexual abuse or abduction, domestic violence (whether such violence is inflicted on the person himself or on another) or parental abandonment. It is also important to distinguish arrenophobia from post-traumatic stress disorder, which can also appear due to the experience of these traumatic events: if post-traumatic stress explained the alterations better, we would not be talking about this phobia.

It is also associated with culture: the traditional figure and gender role of men can generate panic in educated people so that they have to be submissive and obedient. Men who suffer from this phobia may feel it because they consider themselves inferior to what a man should be or what they consider other men to be.

Treatment

Arrhenophobia is a condition that implies a severe limitation for the person who suffers it and that can lead to a lot of suffering. That is why treating this phobia is necessary, and fortunately there are a lot of methods to do so.

As in other phobias, exposure to the feared stimulus without employing avoidance strategies for long enough for the anxiety level to decrease until it becomes imperceptible is something that can be very useful. The use of systematic desensitization is recommended, making a gradual exposure to increasingly phobic stimuli. If the level of anxiety is very high, one can start by making an exposure in imagination, to gradually approach live exposure or as an alternative in itself.

But in this phobia, and especially in those cases that have arisen from the experience of some type of abuse or neglect, it is also essential to work on the dysfunctional beliefs that the person may have about men and about herself. To do so, cognitive restructuring is of great help.

Learning relaxation techniques can also help to relieve the tension you feel when exposed. Hypnotherapy has also been used in some cases.