Fear of penises (phallophobia): causes, symptoms and treatment

A specific phobia that is uncommon but can be effectively treated.

Phobias are one of the most frequent reasons why patients visit a psychologist.

There are different types of phobias, and within the specific phobic disorders we can find hydrophobia (fear of water), aerophobia (fear of flying) or arachnophobia (fear of spiders), among others. One of the specific phobias that is not so common but which is very curious is phallophobia, the irrational fear of men.the irrational fear of penises.

In this article we will talk about this phobia and we will delve into its symptoms, causes and treatment.

What is phallophobia

Phallophobia is usually included within the different sexual phobias or erotophobias, among which coitophobia (fear of sexual intercourse), gymnophobia (fear of nudity) or hafefophobia (fear of contact or being touched), among others, also stand out. It is usually considered a sexual phobia because many people who suffer from it, especially in the case of women, avoid sexual contact so as not to have to face the phobic stimulus. However, both men and women can suffer from this type of phobia.

The irrational fear is of both erect and flaccid penises (medortophobia). The penis, whether erect or not, is something natural and most people understand this. However, there are men and women who fear seeing, thinking about, or having an erect penis. For many phobic personalities, this can cause a lot of anxiety and discomfort.For many phobic personalities, this can cause a great deal of anxiety and discomfort, causing them to avoid these uncomfortable situations..

Causes: traumatic situations

It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external events (i.e., traumatic events) and internal predispositions (i.e., heredity or genetics), although the first option carries much more weight. That is, many phobias have their origin in a past triggering event, usually a traumatic experience occurring at an early age. For example, photophobia may have its origin in a bad sexual relationship in the past, which has caused great pain to the sufferer.

The learning of phobias occurs through classical conditioning, a type of associative learning.

• If you want to know more about classical conditioning, you can read our article: "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments".

The Biological origin of phobias

While this is true in almost all cases of specific phobia, social phobias and agoraphobia may have more complex causes.

As for biological causes it appears that the body is designed to fear certain stimuli as a means of survival.. Something that may have been very useful in the past, but not so much in our days. Therefore, phobias would occur by primitive and non-cognitive associations, and logical arguments would be ineffective in modifying these associations.

Symptoms

The symptoms of phobias are common to all types of phobias, since these pathologies belong to the group of anxiety disorders. That is why the main symptom is anxiety and discomfort, and the main characteristic presented by patients with phobia is the avoidance of the feared stimulus.

The phobic stimulus produces great fear and anxiety, and therefore the person tries to stay away from any situation in which he/she might feel this way. If sexual relations include the possibility of seeing the phobic stimulus, patients with phallophobia avoid having sexual relations and, therefore, present serious difficulties in their love lives.

In summary, phallophobia presents the following symptoms:

• Physical symptoms.Hyperventilation and shortness of breath, hypersweating, tachycardia, tremors, shivering, tightness in the chest, dry mouth, stomach pain, dizziness, headaches ....
• Psychological symptomsDistorted and catastrophic thoughts and great anxiety, discomfort and fear.
• Behavioral symptomsAvoidant behaviors in the presence of the phobic stimulus: penises.

Treatment

Like any phobia, psychological treatment can be very effective.. Psychotherapy, therefore, is the best option, although in extreme cases drugs may also be used.

Psychologists usually use different techniques for the treatment of this disorder, and cognitive behavioral therapy, which aims to correct those beliefs or behaviors that interfere with the patient's well-being, usually works very well. The most commonly used techniques are relaxation and exposure techniques. As for the latter, systematic desensitization systematic desensitization, which consists of gradually exposing the patient to the feared situations while learning adaptive tools.. In addition, the therapist can help the patient understand the natural function of the human body and why erections occur, what they mean and what they do not mean.

In recent times, contextual therapies such as Mindfulness or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are proving to be very effective for the treatment of any type of anxiety disorder, as they help the patient to accept the anxious experience and thus decrease the intensity of the symptoms. Hypnotherapy can also work very well for some patients.

In severe cases, in addition, drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist can be administered, but this therapeutic option must always be accompanied by psychotherapy, as studies show that it is not effective in the long term if it is carried out as the only form of treatment.

New technologies and the treatment of phobias

In recent decades, new technologies have burst into our lives in different ways. It is now possible to buy furniture online, read the daily newspaper from the computer, study for a master's degree without having to go to university, or get psychological counseling online.

It is also possible to treat phobias from your mobile phone, it is possible to treat phobias from one's cell phoneIn recent years, applications have appeared that use virtual reality and augmented reality to expose the patient to phobic stimuli.

• You can learn about the best applications on the market in our article: "8 apps to treat phobias and fears from your smartphone".