Cocytophobia (genophobia): the fear of sexual intercourse

Some people are unable to have intimate relations, why do they have this problem?

Coitophobia is an irrational fear of sexual relations, which is part of the wide variety of sexual phobias or erotophobias. Individuals with this disorder may initiate romantic relationships, kiss or hug others, but have a great fear of sexual intercourse and penetration.

Having sex, especially with the person we love, is one of life's greatest pleasures, and is essential to a healthy life, both as individuals and as a couple. But when fear takes hold of a person, the psychological and social consequences can be very serious.

In this article we will talk about coitophobia (also known as genophobia) and we will delve into the causes, symptoms and consequences of this irrational fear.

What sexual phobias exist

Sexual phobias or erotophobias are a variety of disorders related to sex.. Some people have a phobia of penetration (as in the case of coitus phobia), others have a fear of penises and others a fear of intimacy.

Phobias, in general, are irrational fears that generate great anxiety, discomfort and stress peaks and cause the phobic person to avoid the feared stimulus or situation. There are different types of sexual phobias in addition to coitus phobia, which are the following:

1. knotophobia

This phobia is also known as gymnophobia, and it is the fear of nudity. Therefore, these people are afraid of being naked or of others seeing them naked.

2. Fear of intimacy

Knotophobia can be confused with fear of intimacy, but they are not the same. Fear of intimacy refers not so much to the fact of being naked, but to feeling close to the other person both physically and emotionally.

3. Haphephobia

An irrational fear of intimacy is also not the same as fearing physical contact with another person, which is known as hafefobia. This fear is characterized by the individual's fear of being touched for various reasons (e.g., fear of contracting diseases).

Although haphephobia is not only related to sex, this disorder also affects sexual relations.

4. Phallophobia

It is the irrational fear of both flaccid and erect penises (medortophobia), which seriously hinders sexual intercourse.

5. Paraphobia

It is a phobic disorder characterized by a fear of sexual perversion. It is a complex phobia in which some people fear perverting themselves, while others fear the perversions of others.

6. Vulnerability phobia

Vulnerability phobia is the fear of abandonment, of being left alone if someone rejects them. It also affects intimacy, since some individuals do not believe that they can be liked by others.

This phobia has negative consequences in different types of interpersonal relationships, including those with a partner and, therefore, sex with a partner is affected.

7. Philemaphobia

Also known as filematophobia, it is the phobia of kissing, that is, the irrational fear of these acts of love. It is usually associated with different causes, such as worries about bad breath or fear of catching diseases.

Causes (and classical conditioning)

Coitophobia, like any phobia, usually develops as a consequence of a traumatic experience. This occurs through a type of associative learning called classical conditioning, in which the person suffers a traumatic experience from the past that provokes a strong emotional reaction.

John B. Watson was the first scientist to experiment this type of learning with humans, and he succeeded in making a small boy named Albert learn an irrational fear, i.e., a phobia. This controversial experiment could not be carried out today because it is considered unethical. You can learn more about the experiment with little Albert in the following video:

Other causes of this phobia

The bad experiences that can provoke this phobia can be different from one person to another: sexual abuse, manipulative sexual behavior or Pain suffered during penetration. Phobias can have their origin in childhood, although in this case it is very normal that it starts in adulthood, when sexual behavior is more pronounced.when sexual behavior is more pronounced.

Many times they can develop as a consequence of other problems of a sexual nature, such as erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation or dyspareunia, a medical condition that makes sex painful for some women.

Religious beliefs or irrational beliefs about sex (often the result of misinformation or television) can lead a person to suffer from this phobia.

Symptoms of genophobia

Coitophobia presents the same symptomatology as other phobias, whether specific (as in the case of this phobia) or complex (as in the case of social phobia or agoraphobia). Anxiety and discomfort are the characteristic symptoms, and the person usually avoids any situation related to having sex with another person. with another person.

The symptoms of coitophobia can be classified into three groups:

• Cognitive symptoms.irrational thoughts, anguish, fear...
• Behavioral symptomsAvoidance of the feared situation or stimulus, i.e., sexual intercourse.
• Physical symptomstightness in the chest, dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, headaches, hyperventilation and shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, tremors, shivering...

Treatment of this phobia

According to research, phobias can be overcome by psychotherapy.. And data from these studies show that cognitive behavioral therapy is really effective. Some of the techniques most commonly used in this type of therapy to overcome phobias are relaxation techniques or exposure techniques.

Regarding the latter, automatic desensitization is usually used, which consists of exposing the patient little by little to the phobic stimulus while he/she learns more adaptive tools to cope with the situation. Logically, it is not possible for the patient to have sex in the consultation room, but other strategies can be used to help expose the patient to this type of situation so that he/she can verify that his/her hypotheses are wrong. Some cognitive techniques can also be used to modify some irrational beliefs.

Also, acceptance is often the key to reducing anxiety, so new forms of therapy such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) have been used recently.

In extreme cases, pharmacological treatment has proven to be useful, but always in combination with psychological therapy.