Kissing phobia (filemaphobia): causes, symptoms and treatment

This anxiety disorder is related to the fear of kissing (including cheek kissing).

Filematophobia, also known as filematophobiais the phobia of kissing. Phobias are anxiety disorders in which sufferers feel a great fear when coming into contact with the phobic stimulus, which causes great anxiety and, as a consequence, the attempt to avoid such stimulus.

Kissing is a great sign of love, but people with this type of phobia feel a rejection to these acts full of love. In this article we will talk about filemaphobia and we will review its causes, symptoms and consequences.

What is the phobia to the kisses

Philemaphobia or extreme fear of kissing can develop in those people who think they do not kiss well (for example, because of some bad experience) and are afraid to do so because of what others may think of them. This causes them anxiety and discomfort and that is why they avoid this type of situations.

Kissing phobia can cause serious problems in interpersonal relationships, since it in interpersonal relationships, as it can make the person not want to have intimate or romantic relationships with other people and hinders their social interaction. This phobic disorder can be part of erotophobia or sex phobia.

Other related phobias

However, philmaphobia can also be related to other phobias, which would cause the person suffering from this disorder to refuses to kiss others to avoid some phobic stimuli, such as bad breath or physical such as bad breath or physical contact.

1. Misophobia

Sometimes, philemaphobia can be related to the fear of germs, which makes the person think that by kissing he/she can catch a disease. Logically, this refers to "kissing in the mouth", since the individual thinks that in the saliva there may be germs or bacteria that are harmful to his/her organism.

2. Halitophobia

The fear of kissing can also be related to halitophobia, that is, to the smell that the person gives off from his mouth. Not only the odor and bad breath of other individuals, but your own as well. This condition can be related to bromidrosiphobiai.e., the fear of body odors.

3. Hafephobia

Haphephobia is the fear of touching or the fear of touching and negatively affects the person who suffers from it. These individuals may feel a great anxiety before any kiss, even those on the cheek.. This makes interpersonal relationships very difficult.

4. Fear of intimacy and vulnerability.

Kissing is an intimate act in which love is shown towards a person. But some individuals may feel great fear in these situations. Fear of intimacy may be associated with low self-esteem and a negative self-image. and a negative self-image.

On the other hand, fear of vulnerability is often related to fear of abandonment or fear of not being liked by others.

Causes of philmaphobia

As it is a specific phobia its development usually has its origin in associative learning.There are many studies that have proved that most phobias are learned by classical conditioning.

This is so because a traumatic experience in the past that causes a strong emotional reaction a strong emotional reaction and which is originally unrelated to the phobic stimulus, i.e. kissing (or intimacy, physical contact, etc.), causes a connection between the two.

If originally that stimulus was neutral, after the strong emotional reaction, it becomes a stimulus conditioned by the phobic stimulus, it becomes a stimulus conditioned by fear.It causes great anxiety and a strong desire of avoidance when the person thinks or lives this phobic situation.

But in addition to this learning as a cause, other authors affirm that there are also Biological origins.and that human beings, due to genetics and the necessity of the evolution of the species, are prone to suffer this conditioning in front of certain stimuli, because fear helps us to be alert and to survive (or at least it helped us in the past).

Symptoms of kissing phobia.

The phobia to the kisses The symptoms are the same as other phobias, the only change is the stimulus that provokes the reaction.The only thing that changes is the stimulus that provokes the reaction. That is to say, what causes discomfort and anxiety are kisses.

Anxiety, therefore, is the characteristic symptom, and that is why it belongs to the group of anxiety disorders. However, the symptomatology also includes:

• Physical symptoms: sweating, hyperventilation and shortness of breath.Physical symptoms: sweating, hyperventilation and shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, tremors, shivering, tightness in the chest, dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, headaches ....
• Psychological symptoms: thoughts that the person can spread deadly diseases, ie, distorted thoughts.
• Behavioral symptoms: avoidance of the feared situation or stimulus, i.e. kissing.

How to overcome the fear of kissing

Filemaphobia negatively affects the sufferer's life, especially interpersonal relationships. Fortunately, it is possible to overcome this disorder thanks to psychological therapy..

Like any phobia, the form of psychotherapy that has proven to be most effective for this pathology is cognitive behavioral therapy, which aims at intervention focused on changes in mental processes (thoughts, beliefs, emotions ...) and behaviors and behaviors that the person performs and that may be maladaptive and dysfunctional.

Cognitive behavioral therapy includes techniques from cognitive therapy and behavioral therapies, and may include, among many others, cognitive restructuring techniques, social skills training, problem-solving training, problem-solving training, social skills training, social skills training, problem-solving training, social skills trainingproblem-solving training, relaxation techniques and exposure techniques, among many others. The latter two are very frequently used for the treatment of phobias.

As for exposure techniquesSystematic desensitization has proven to be very effective, and consists of gradually exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus. This technique also promotes coping skills that are more useful for the patient when he/she is in the situation that causes anxiety or discomfort.

But cognitive behavioral therapy is not the only form of treatment; Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) also seems to work very well for this and other anxiety disorders.

In extreme cases, the administration of anxiolytic drugs is also a therapeutic option; however, it should always be combined with psychotherapy.