Philophobia: Fear Of Falling In Love

Although many people are happy to seek love and live it to the fullest, others experience philophobia or the fear of falling in love. They feel fear, stress and anxiety about falling in love. Do you know about the existence of this condition?

Philophobia: What is the fear of falling in love?

As the name suggests, philophobia is a fear that manifests in people who are extremely afraid to start a relationship. In fact, just the idea of ​​creating a connection causes fear, stress, anxiety and worry.

However, we should make it clear that we are talking about a type of phobia that is different from normal fears and insecurities when you first fall in love or start a relationship. In fact, a philophobic person not only experiences insecurity, but rather extreme fear.

Philophobia is considered to be an anxiety disorder that can have serious consequences. In severe cases, out of fear, philophobic people may begin to avoid any kind of interaction with other people. She prefers not to be around people anymore to avoid any situation that could provoke a relationship or an emotional connection.

In extreme cases, the fear of romantic relationships can extend to other types of relationships, such as relationships with family members.

Relationships cause high levels of stress and anxiety to the philophobic person, affecting their well-being and social interactions. In addition, as I mentioned, total social isolation can even be achieved.

In general, philophobia is more common in people who have previously suffered trauma. We are talking about cases of abuse, traumatic separations, abuse, etc. In addition, this phobia can be caused by the fear of being rejected.

In any case, the fear of relationships is a defense mechanism in order to avoid suffering or rejection or to prevent the repetition of a certain unpleasant experience.

Behavior patterns in philophobic people

How to overcome philophobia?

The first step is to acknowledge that there is a problem. Then it is important to ask for help.

Philophobia is a misperceived defense mechanism. Maintaining a healthy relationship is not something you should avoid. For this reason, what you should do is start a type of therapy that helps you identify and change those defensive habits that you have acquired and, of course, analyze the reasons why this happened.

In this sense, cognitive behavioral therapy is very effective. In addition, desensitization therapy can also have very good results. This therapy consists of confronting and exposing yourself to whatever is causing the phobia, so that, little by little, you can overcome your fears.

Some tips

Love and relationships can be painful, it’s true. However, this does not have to be the case. A relationship, whether it is love or friendship, can be beautiful, satisfying and happy.

For this reason, you should understand that avoiding a couple’s life and feelings is no better than living them. In fact, if you act like this, you will never have a fulfilled life, you will never really live.