What is Caligynephobia?

Caligynephobia, otherwise known as Venustraphobia or simply Gynephobia, is the abnormal fear of beautiful women. Sure, many men can become intimidated by gorgeous girls, and men are not the only ones who suffer from this phobia, but this condition takes intimidation to the extreme.

Phobias are often described as an extreme and/or irrational fear to any one stimulus. Again, there is a major difference between the intimidation that many people feel around beautiful women and a legitimate phobia. The phobia of beautiful women is extreme, and can often lead to other problems, which will be detailed further on.

What are the symptoms of Caligynephobia?

Symptoms of Caligynephobia can vary from person to person, depending on the extent of the fear, the individual’s characteristics, and mental status at the time of the stimulus (ex. an attractive woman walking past).

However, Caligynephobia, as a whole, does have symptoms to look out for. To begin, individuals may suffer social problems in relation to Caligynephobia. For instance, people with this phobia may have a tough time being around (i.e. feeling uncomfortable, nervous, etc.) or even speaking to a beautiful woman.

Other symptoms include general anxiety or nervous, or even panic attacks. Panic attacks are a sudden burst of extreme and irrational fear, during which the sufferer can feel greatly overwhelmed and emotionally low. These have both mental and physical symptoms. Mental symptoms of panic attacks, again, include anxiety, nervousness, fear, loss of control, and even a sense of doom or death. On the other hand, physical symptoms include a rapid heart beat, weakness, fainting, dizziness, tingling or numbness in the extremities, excessive sweating, chills, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. Some or all of these symptoms may also appear without the onset of a full blown panic attack, just by being in the presence of a beautiful woman.

What causes Caligynephobia?

Just as is the case with symptoms, Caligynephobia can be caused by a wide variety of things. Most often trauma is the cause of any phobia. Caligynephobia can come about from, for example, failed relationships. These can cause a mistrust in beautiful women, which could then develop into a fear of or phobia of them. Gynephobia (fear of women), less specifically, can be caused by failed relationships, romantic or friendship, childhood abuse by an older female, etc.

Furthermore, issues with confidence and self-esteem may also result in a fear of beautiful women. People who do not view themselves as attractive, well off, etc. will often see beautiful women as being above them. They expect rejection and avoid its source; beautiful women, which causes an extreme fear.

Of course, these are not the only causes of Caligynephobia. Phobias can be just freak conditions that happen for no reason. Again, they are called irrational for a reason. Often times, there is no real purpose , cause, or justification for them.

How does one treat Caligynephobia?

Treatments for phobias can also vary from one person to the next. It cannot be stressed enough that phobias are a psychologically-based condition. Therefore, since not everyone’s psyche is exactly the same, not every treatment will work all of the time. However, there are some common treatment options that people can choose.

General treatment options for phobias include shock or exposure therapy (a gradual exposure and desensitization to the stimulus), medications (ex. anti-anxiety, anti-depressants, sedatives, beta blockers, etc.), and cognitive behavioral therapy (learning to cope with fear or the stimulus).

Other treatment options, more specifically for Caligynephobia, include group therapy, social outings (which also goes along the line of exposure therapy), increased activity in dating life, self-esteem boosting activities, practicing social interactions, etc.

Medications and relaxation techniques can also be helpful for the treatment of panic attacks and symptoms.

So again, Caligynephobia, stemmed from many different situations, is the irrational fear of beautiful women.