Venustraphobia (phobia Of Beautiful Women): Symptoms And Treatment

Although it doesn’t happen to everyone, it is not uncommon that when we feel strongly attracted to someone things happen such as our hands sweating, we turn red if they look at us or that at a specific moment we don’t know what to say or what to talk about. It is about a certain shyness in front of a person who attracts us, but who does not cause us any major impediment.

Now, let’s imagine that this happens to all the people we find very attractive. And now let’s imagine that we are not only talking about discomfort, but also about intense panic that leads us to an anxiety crisis and causes us to flee from the situations in which these types of people may be. We are talking about a phobia, which in the case of referring to women who are considered attractive or beautiful It is called Venustraphobia

    What is Venustraphobia?

    We call venustraphobia or caliginephobia the phobia of women considered very attractive by the person who suffers from it

    Thus, the phobic stimulus or situation is the presence of physically very attractive women or considered as such by the person suffering from the phobia. There is no need for interaction, but the simple presence of the stimulus could be enough to arouse great anxiety. But they will also generate some anxiety and situations and places where they may appear will be avoided.

    It is important to keep in mind that we are dealing with a phobia and not a simple fear or shyness, which is logical to a certain extent when faced with situations in which we expose ourselves to someone we are attracted to. It is a very rare phobia but of which there are various cases.

    Symptoms

    Venustraphobia involves the presence of extreme and irrational panic and anxiety levels towards a stimulus or situation, a fear that usually generates physiological symptoms such as hyperventilation, tachycardia, cold sweats, tremors and that can even generate anxiety crises.

    Likewise, the person feels so much anxiety that, due to the fear of feeling it again, they will tend to avoid, as far as possible, exposing themselves to situations where they have to face the feared stimulus or believe that they may encounter it, or in case of need they can manage to face the situation but at the cost of suffering great anxiety.

    We must appreciate that what generates anxiety is a subjective element: not all of us consider attractiveness in the same way. In general People who conform to current beauty standards tend to generate anxiety although depending on each person the characteristics that cause anxiety will vary.

    Likewise, it is not essential that there be an emotional-sexual interest in the person in question, but simply that it is a woman who is considered highly attractive.

    Although It is more common in heterosexual men Venustraphobia can be suffered by both men and women regardless of their sexual orientation.

    Effects on daily life

    Venustraphobia can have significant repercussions for the person. Feeling anxiety usually generates a high level of suffering and alter normal functioning.

    In this sense, it can affect at various levels. At the work level it can generate complications in terms of making teamwork difficult and reducing the productivity and capacity of the affected person, while at the social level it can restrict social relationships (it becomes difficult to establish or maintain relationships, women who are very attractive are directly avoided. or the groups in which they are included…) and cause them to avoid situations, places or areas where it is considered that women considered attractive may appear: sports, cinema, fashion…

    In extreme cases it would be possible to achieve isolation and confinement at home although it is uncommon.

    Possible causes

    Although the exact causes of Venustraphobia are not known, it is considered that, like the rest of them, Venustraphobia may have a multifactorial etiology or origin

    Although an explanation of evolutionary origin could be found (there could be pressure and anxiety in the case of heterosexual men and homosexual women to court a partner considered attractive, while in heterosexual women it could be anxiety linked to competition) , it is generally considered that this phobia has a character more linked to cognitive, psychological factors and learning.

    One of the factors that seems to be most common is the existence of some traumatic event or aversive experience in the past in which either you had to see an attractive woman or the discomfort was associated with said person. It can be a failure in love, a divorce, ridicule and humiliation regarding one’s own physique compared to other people (for example in the case of bullying).

    In this case, it would be a form of conditioning, in which people would have learned to associate women who are considered beautiful with pain, anxiety or suffering.

    Also frequently observed are the existence of cognitive distortions linked to the anticipation that the woman will criticize him/her or find him/her ridiculous, often also magnifying the attractiveness of said person and underestimating one’s own qualities.

    It is not uncommon for there to be great insecurity on the part of those who suffer from this phobia, which can cause them to have a hard time facing the idea of ​​interacting with someone they consider more attractive than themselves, often resulting in a possible feeling of inferiority. They may consider that person or the qualities they represent to the subject as unattainable. A comorbid social skills deficit may also exist, although this is not always the case.

      Treatment of this phobia

      As with the rest of phobias, Venustraphobia can be treated using various psychological techniques, the most common and effective of which is the live exhibition

      The exposure technique is based on making the subject face the feared situation in order to not eliminate, but rather effectively manage, the anxiety they feel and without the need to avoid it. To do this, a hierarchy of exposure will first be created between the professional and the patient, a list of anxiety-generating situations that will be ordered from lowest to highest according to the level of anxiety they cause.

      The subject will gradually face each of them (generally starting with those that generate average anxiety), in such a way that in the presence of the significant stimulus an anxiety will appear that over time will decrease on its own. When two exposures are carried out without anxiety appearing or it has been greatly reduced, you can move on to the next item.

      Also it will be necessary to work on a cognitive level, analyzing first what generates anxiety in the patient (knowing the specific elements and others that can influence are necessary to correctly develop the hierarchy, in addition to having other possible applications), what this anxiety means for him or her, what he or she attributes it to. and how it affects you. Likewise, what beauty implies for the subject and the beliefs he has regarding it or the importance of it will be discussed.

      Last but not least, it is relevant to discuss the patient’s self-esteem and his beliefs about himself, about himself and his abilities, and about how he sees the world (and how the patient sees him). A cognitive restructuring can then be carried out to modify possible biases and dysfunctional beliefs.

      The use of relaxation techniques may also be useful, such as diaphragmatic breathing or Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation therapy, in order to help control and reduce anxiety levels. They can also be used in the form of systematic desensitization, as an incompatible response to anxiety during exposure.