Venustraphobia: can attractive women provoke fear?

The world of phobias is immensely varied and fascinating. Phobias of all kinds are known, from the classic phobia of spiders to the very complex one (due to its pronunciation). hippotomonstroesquipedaliophobia, fear of long words. Among rare or uncommon phobias is Venustraphobia, the fear of attractive women.

People who suffer from venustraphobia or caliginephobia They have a phobia of women they find very attractive. Furthermore, the simple presence of the attractive woman is enough to produce fear and anxiety, not even her interaction with her being necessary. Nor is it necessary that there be a special emotional or sexual interest in the feared figure.

The term comes from the union of the word Venus (in Roman mythology, goddess of love, beauty and fertility) and the word phobia.

As we know, a phobia consists of a very intense and irrational fear that causes the person to make great efforts to avoid the feared stimulus; If he cannot avoid it, he endures it with great anxiety.

It usually occurs more frequently in heterosexual men, although cases have also been described in homosexual and heterosexual women. In turn, this type of phobia can be suffered by both adults and children.

How does Venustraphobia manifest?

As already mentioned, the main symptoms of phobias in general, and Venustraphobia specifically, consist of irrational and excessive fear when presented with the phobic stimulus (woman considered attractive, in this case).

The fear It is usually accompanied by avoidance behaviors and great anxiety and discomfort.. It may also be accompanied by the following physiological symptoms:

Tachycardia. Chills. Trembling in the legs. Cold sweating. Stuttering. Irrational thoughts regarding the danger of the proximity of an attractive woman. Dizziness, nausea and vomiting in the most serious cases of the phobia.

Like all phobias, it has a great impact on the lives of those who suffer from it and can limit their functioning in certain areas.

Furthermore, having suffered An episode of Venustraphobia can occasionally cause the development of anticipatory anxietywhich can lead the person to avoid any situation in which they could meet an attractive woman, and even to social isolation.

What are the causes?

Although the origin is not entirely clear and a multi-causal origin is suggested, it is believed that Venustraphobia may be caused by traumatic experiences in childhood.

These can range from one’s own or one’s parents’ divorce, or a love failure, to having lived with a negligent, indifferent or abusive mother. In this case, Through a conditioning process, beautiful women would end up being associated with pain, suffering and discomfort..

In the case of heterosexual men and homosexual women, the phobia It could be more common among those people with shyness and low self-esteem and, possibly, with feelings of inferiority.

For these people it can be very embarrassing to interact with more attractive women for fear that they may ridicule them or expose them. In heterosexual women, Venustraphobia can be triggered by a context of competition.

Venustraphobia treatment

The treatment of choice for phobias, that is, the most effective, is progressive exposure to the feared stimulus. This consists of making a hierarchical list of feared situations to begin exposing yourself to them.

With exposure, what we want to achieve is for the person to get used to the anxiety that the situation generates and see that it decreases as it is verified that the feared consequences do not occur.

If during the exposure the person became overwhelmed with anxiety or even suffered a panic attack, abandoning the situation could be allowed. This abandonment should be momentary and the exhibition should be resumed as soon as possible..

It is preferable to teach relaxation and breathing techniques that can be performed in moments of maximum anxiety, in order to avoid escape. It is important that these techniques do not become a form of covert avoidance.

Should be also identify possible irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions that are leading to an overestimation of the danger. These thoughts must be worked on using cognitive techniques, by searching for more rational alternative thoughts or searching for evidence for and against their veracity.

Furthermore, if Venustraphobia has limited the person’s life so much that it has ended up becoming a social anxiety disorder, we cannot limit ourselves to addressing the simple phobia.

The same occurs if the disorder presents with depression. In case of comorbidity, the only way to improve the problem will be to intervene, in an integrated manner, on the symptoms of the different disorders.

Reflection

We live in a society where Great worship is paid to the body and in which the canons of beauty can be unattainable. Sometimes physical attractiveness is considered the only sign of success in life. This causes the appearance of certain beliefs, such as, for example, that an attractive woman can only have a partner who is at least equally attractive.

Comparison with a certain ideal of beauty only leaves a few as privileged, and can seriously affect the self-esteem of many people. We should begin to value our qualities, and even our defects, more positively. (which for others may be considered virtues).

Above all, we must remember that physical beauty is a finite thing and that, When everything wrinkles and changes shape, what will remain of us is our essence. Let us remember that…

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