Erotophobia


 * __ Erotophobia __**

Erotophobia (ero·to·pho·bia) is an exaggerated or irrational fear of love, especially of sexual feelings and activities. The term was coined in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s by researchers to describe a fear of sex or negative attitudes about sex. The opposite of erotophobia is erotophilia which is a positive attitude and love for sex and sexual feelings.

The word erotophobia is derived from the name of Eros, the Greek God of erotic love, and Phobos, which is the Greek word for "fear" (Medical-Dictionary, 2011).

Erotophobia is often characterized by fear about sex and feelings of guilt. Individuals who sufferer from erotophobia do not like to talking about sex or any sex related topic and are less likely to engage in sexual relations. They also have a very negative view of sexually explicit material (Wrong Diagnosis, 2011). There are several fears associated with erotophobia. An individual or entire culture can have one or multiple erotophobic negative attitudes. Some types of erotophobia include fear of sexual images, fear of nudity, homophobia, fear of sex education, fear of sexual discourse, fear of genitalia, fear of love, fear of intimacy, and fear of any sexual activities or behaviors.
 * Types/Symptoms**

As a clinical condition or phobia, erotophobia describes an irrational and potentially incapacitating fear of some object, person or act that is related to sex in any way. This fear can either completely prevents a person from having the ability to have sex, or just impair a person's ability to enjoy sexual relations. This can include flirting and intimate conversations as well. Erotophobia can also in some, but not all individual cases, be connected and a part of larger patterns of any of the following psychological problems: social phobia, avoidant personality disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, or general social anxiety disorders. Some types of erotophobia can also, for other individuals or cultures, be very specific to certain erotic matters and not be related to any of these other social anxiety disorders. If an individual had ertotophobia that was specific to a certain sexual matter, then no other phobias or syndromes would be present and the fear would only arise if that thing or event was present or occurring (Wikipedia, 2011).

A list of symptoms for erotophobia include (Wrong Diagnosis, 2011):


 * · Irrational fear of sexual feelings
 * · Feeling of panic
 * · Feeling of terror
 * · Feeling of dread
 * · Rapid heartbeat
 * · Shortness of breath
 * · Trembling
 * · Nausia
 * · Feelings of anxiety or anxiety attacks
 * · Extreme avoidance measures taken to avoid sex

Symptoms of erotophobia, differ for each individual.

There are several options available to help treat individuals suffering from erotophobia. If an individual feels as if they are hiding from sex activities and topics and feels that they may have some of the symptoms of erotophobia that are listed above, they should talk to a health care provider about their fears, or consult a sex counselor to discuss possible treatment plans.
 * Treatments**

A list of possible treatments include:


 * · Behavior therapy accompanied by anti-anxiety medications
 * · Psychotherapy
 * · Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
 * · Exposure therapy
 * · Behavioral therapy
 * · Hypnosis
 * · Relaxation techniques related to stimuli, such as controlled breathing and visualization
 * · Medications (medications to treat anxiety may be used for treatment of symptoms, however there is no scientific results that show that anxiety medications help treat phobias).

Prescribed drugs cannot cure the erotophobia completely; however it can only suppress the symptoms through chemical interaction for a short period. The most effective treatments are behavioral therapies or meetings with sexual counselors to help treat the emotional side of the phobia. Psychological treatments will help individuals get rid of the condition for their entire lives (Swarag, 2007).

Research on individuals with erotophobia has become more prevalent in the past thirty years. Studies have found that individuals who are suffering from such a phobia have a correlation with less consistent use of contraceptives and a lack of knowledge about human sexuality. Researchers have found that individuals who were not properly introduced to sexual topics in school or at home are more likely to develop symptoms of erotophobia. This phobia is surprisingly common and each year this phobia pushes countless people to needless distress and fear (Swarag, 2007).
 * Psychological Studies/Causes**

Psychological and sex researched have found that the main cause for such a fear is created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism for the individual. There may have been an event that happened to the individual, linking sexual love or sexual questions with emotional trauma, which led the individual to develop and irrational fear. Individuals have reported the start of their irrational fears occurring from a real-life scare or activator of some kind, while sexual health care professionals and psychologists have also concluded in their research that the condition can be triggered by benign events like movies, TV, or perhaps seeing someone else experience trauma. Similar triggers can also result in the opposite of erotophobia, which is erotophilia (Durant, 2002). Psychologists also sometimes attempt to describe sexuality on a personalityscale. For example, erotophobes are less likely to talk about sex and have more negative reactions to sexually explicit material. They also have less sex and with less sexual partners over time. In contrast, erotophiles are compared with individuals with erotophobia and score high on the opposite end of the scale, erotophilia, which is characterized by expressing less guilt about sex, talking about sex more openly, and holding more positive attitudes toward sexually explicit material (Phobia Fear Release, 2011). Using personality tests as measuring tools is used to assess openness to sex and sexuality. It is an important dimension to measure because of the health and safety risks associated with poor sexual education. Because research had shown that individuals with erotophobia have had poor sexual education, they are at more of a risk if they do decide to participate in sexual activities. It is also important because erotophobia has been shown to create relationship and marital difficulties in multiple studies (Wikipedia, 2011).

Durant, L., Carey, M. and Schroder, K. (2002). Effects of Anonymity, Gender, and Erotophilia on the Quality of Data Obtained from Self-Reports of Socially Sensitive Behaviors. [] Swarag. (2007). Sexual Phobias – Part 1. Retrieved from [] Phobia Fear Release. (2011). Retrieved at [] Medical-Dictionary. (2011). Erotophobia. Retrieved from [] Wikipedia. (2011). Erotophobia. Retrieved from [] Wrong Diagnosis. (2011). Erotophobia. Retrieved from []
 * References:**