Fear Of Falling In Love Is Called- Philophobia– This is perhaps one of the saddest phobias of all. The fear of falling in love would make it impossible to experience the joy of having a life companion or to raise a family with someone.
But with the necessary counseling, anything is possible. But by the way, it’s pretty common for the average person to have some fear when it comes to falling in love. Barring a serious phobia, here’s how to overcome the fear of falling in love.
Philophobia.
The word originates from Greek “filos” which means ‘loving or beloved’. Individuals who suffer from this phobia fear romantic love or forming emotional attachments of any sort.
Research shows that this phobia is more common in women than in men.
The condition can greatly affect one’s life to an extent that it becomes difficult to commit or form healthy relationships. Such people tend to live their lives in solitude.
Symptoms of philophobia
Philophobia is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of falling in love, beyond just a typical apprehensiveness about it. The phobia is so intense that it interferes with your life.
Symptoms can vary from person to person. They can include both emotional and physical reactions when even thinking about falling in love:
- feelings of intense fear or panic
- avoidance
- sweating
- rapid heartbeat
- difficulty breathing
- difficulty functioning
- nausea
You may be aware that the fear is irrational but still feel unable to control it.
What Can Cause Philophobia?
Philophobia is an unwarranted and an irrational fear of falling in love. Sometimes, the sufferer does fall in love but it causes an intense emotional turmoil in his/her mind. There are many theories why this could happen:
- Some therapists believe that an intensely negative experience in the sufferer’s past might have triggered the reaction. Parent’s divorce, watching them fight or separate or witnessing domestic violence in one’s childhood might be responsible for this phobia.
- As stated before, many cultures and religions prohibit romantic love or term relationships between man and women as illicit under certain circumstances. This can cause intense panic in the mind of the sufferer since s/he firmly believes incurring the wrath of elders/society or God if s/he has feeling or thoughts about love.
- Fear of commitment due to a few failed relationships, constant negative thoughts, anxiety and panic disorders are also linked to this phobia. People who are overly anxious or high strung might be more prone to it.
