Most men are attracted to beautiful women, but in some cases, just seeing a lovely woman and the thought of talking to her on a first date can be the trigger for a panic attack. Learn all about fear of beautiful women, venustraphobia.
We are not talking about just agitation. We are talking about a feeling that goes beyond the simple dread of talking to someone. A sort of phobia that only appears when you are in front of a lovely woman. Whose immense beauty makes you shake and takes your breath away.
The world of phobias is fascinating and diverse. There are all types of phobias. Ffrom the classic phobia to spiders to the very complex fear of long words called hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. Within the very rare or not very frequent phobias that exist, there’s venustraphobia or the fear of attractive women.
What does venustraphobia mean
The word Venustraphobia comes from the word Venus, in reference to the Roman mythological goddess of love and beauty, and the word phobia which is an intense and irrational fear towards a situation or object. In this case, the fear of beautiful women.
It is also known as caligynephobia, from three Greek words: kalos which means beautiful or nice, gyne which means woman and phobos which means fear; hence, the fear of beautiful women.
Venustraphobia symptoms are triggered by the mere presence of an attractive woman, which is enough to produce anxiety and fear. This fear of women does not need an interaction with such women to happen. Nor an affective or sexual interest towards her.
Venustraphobia causes
There is no known origin to explain this fear of women, it is believed to have a multicausal origin. From a psychology point of view, it is thought to originate after a past traumatic incident that occurs in the person who suffers it.
Psychological causes
Having been rejected by beautiful women or attacked or abused by one can cause this fear to develop.
Within the most common causes you can find are: a parents’ divorce, a teen love failure or cohabiting with an abusive, negligent or indifferent mother. In these cases, and throughout a conditioning response mechanism, the person ends up associating beautiful women to pain, suffering and discomfort.
If we talk about heterosexual males, and homosexual females, this fear of beautiful women tends to be more common between those who are shy and have a low self-esteem. And, very possibly, with an inferiority complex who believe they will never get past the friendzone.
There are other times when this phobia is generated through observation and modeling. Cases have been studied in which a child sees an older brother or a friend or a father exhibiting this fear of beautiful women. Without realizing it, the child learns to copy this behaviour.
Being exposed to a lot of information can make certain phobias develop
Exposure during early years to communication media and information contributes to the development of extreme fears. They can appear in men who have never had a direct relationship with a lovely woman yet still. They develop that fear to beautiful women.
Sometimes, people around you (parents, friends, teachers, anyone close…) offers advice on something, exaggerating a bit of the information or not really putting the whole truth in the advice. These not overly realistic pieces of advice can seem very important to someone who is very impressionable and has low self-esteem. Creating intense emotions that can end up in, for example, a fear for pretty women.
Stress as a trigger for Venustraphobia
Another factor we can add as a trigger of venustraphobia is stress. A bit of stress might be O.K., it can actually help us move forward, work harder or be more productive. But too much stress can affect all areas of your life. An individual under too much stress can feel too overwhelmed and lack the energy to manage his life. Which can, in turn, be the cause to trigger phobias like feeling afraid to talk to a lovely woman.
How to overcome Venustraphobia
The best treatment indicated for this disorder is progressive exposure to the feared stimuli, in this case, the fear to talk to beautiful women. This consists of making a list of all the things that can be unnerving or frightening to someone. And little by little confronting them.
What this progressive exposure seeks to achieve is to get the individual with venustraphobia to get used to the anxiety that the situation produces in him. And make it decrease as he sees that the terrible consequences he imagines are really not there.
If, during the exposure, the person’s agitation is too big or might even turn into a panic attack. The best thing to do is abandon the situation. This should only be temporary, though, and exposure should be retaken as soon as possible.
Increase your self-esteem
The best way to overcome-shyness to being in front of beautiful women is through building a person’s self-esteem. There are several ways to do this:
- Take care of yourself
- Create your own support group
- Challenging yourself to personal goals and achieving them.
It is important to have in mind that to overcome this type of fear to beautiful women, the man has to build up self-confidence and believe in what he is and has. When seeking professional help, he should be willing to compromise and comply with the treatment being offered. A therapy that will improve his life quality, and which can make him conquer the woman of his dreams, that woman who, up to now, only scared him away.
Exercising to overcome Venustraphobia
Physical exercise is beneficial for any person who suffers any type of anxiety disorder, including venustraphobia, or fear of beautiful women. Cardiovascular exercises especially, help alleviate stress. It has been widely proven that aerobic exercise aids in the liberation of positive-feeling chemicals in the brain such as endorphins.
Physical exercise also helps prepare the mind to confront stressful situations better. This makes sense if you keep in mind the great levels of stress the body goes through while practising intense exercising. So if you have been diagnosed with venustraphobia, and your life is very much sedentary. You should think of practising some type of aerobic exercise to help reduce your venustraphobia symptoms. It will help deal with the stress and anxiety associated with this condition.
There are many types of physical aerobic exercises you can practice to help reduce your venustraphobia symptoms. These can include swimming, cycling, walking, jogging or skiing. You can also get the benefits of practicing sports like soccer, tennis, basketball or raquetball. If these are within your preferences. Practicing some type of exercise regularly will help alleviate part of the mental pain associated with venustraphobia.
Conclusions
It’s not wrong to recognize that all people have certain fears. What is wrong is when these fears interfere with someone’s daily life. Because at this point it turns into a severe problem. But facing the problem and dealing with the fact that you are afraid of beautiful women is the first step you need to take. Because venustraphobia, with professional help, is very easy to treat.
Phobias don’t generally disappear with a couple of sessions with a therapist. But if you put some effort and dedication and regular time to your recovery. Be sure you will get over your fear of beautiful women easily.
Specialists widely recommend confronting that which you most fear. This method is called desensitization and it works by normalizing stress as you are exposed gradually to diverse situations that prompt your fear.
What better way to practice than subscribing to a dating website like Friends with Benefits, where you have the advantage of being behind a computer while meeting beautiful women of all ages. You can meet older woman in search of adventures or younger women looking for a first experience.
Also, you will have the opportunity to talk to women without face to face interaction. You can talk to many girls at the same time, which can help you forget your fears and confront your personal relations from a new and different perspective.
These exposures might help you see your fears are not as real as you think and you will relax as you get used to the situation. Sending dating messages will not be a problem again.Try it now, you have nothing to lose, subscribe to Friends with Benefits, it’s free.
