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Does this phobia exist?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
As in aracnophobia(sp) is the fear of spiders.
Is there a phobia for fear of being around lots of people?
.:Crispy:.
Is there a phobia for fear of being around lots of people?
.:Crispy:.
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you can have a phobia of anything...
in that case, it sounds like it could be social phobia, where you are afraid of social situations, an aspect of claustrophobia, where you get panicky in crowds cause you see it as a confined space, or agoraphobia, where you're just afraid to be too far from home, or out in public.
Here's a little situation to explain further:
I can't go to a shop on my own because i'm just too scared to.
But if i'm with someone else then I can go to the shop & everything is fine.
But then after going to the shop inside my head it says 'wow I actually did that & it wasn't that scary' but then cause whoever i'm with doesn't know how scary it is for me then they just think it's totally normal because they can go to the shop on their own with no trouble it's just an everyday occurrence for them.
But for me it is a real major achievement for myself but i get no praise from the person i'm with so I never get over the fear because it's always just myself trying to convince myself & the self which is scared wins & stomps on the other self which knows it is a trivial & very simple thing to do just going to the shops on my own.
Bit more info that may help find a conclusion.
.:Crispy:.
if you don't want to say that here, you can PM me. i have phobias of things you wouldn't even believe, so i won't think you're daft or anything.
Just being afraid of people is called anthropophobia.
Being afraid of people in general or society is called sociophobia.
It sounds like you're scared of what other people may do or that you dont trust them from what you say.
I'm not being terribly helpful, but there is a known phobia of being alone. This is called 'monophobia', which is essentially the opposite of what you are describing. Surely, there will be a phobia describing the presence of lots of people.
My main fear is of the dark with various conditions. If I'm alone, then my fear of darkness kicks in, giving the 'monophobia' element. I hope no-one laughs at this, but another condition for my fear of darkness is when the dark side is on the right-hand side of me. I find it hard to believe if there really is a phobia for things/events on the right-hand side of you.
Me again, just found the above page which defines agoraphobia. I think that sounds a bit like what you described.
Phobias of the outdoors, of people and of social situations are quite common, and I would suggest you had a gander around the MIND website, because it is full of useful information. If you want to PM me feel free, even if its just to get more help at finding things out:)
We have some info on phobias here
The phobic's society have a stack of advice and info on their website especially relationg to social anxieties.
Hope that helps
Susie
My friend's afraid of the darkness, must be the boiler suits and the high-pitched wailing that does it...
Sorry!
You have such interesting medical conditions about your person. I hope that didn't sound weird...
All this applies to me
Any ideas how to get rid of this demon then?
.:Crispy:.
go see a doctor. they can refer to to all kinds of therapist for help, and it'll all be free on the NHS.
trouble is, the waiting lists for phobia treatment can be really long, depending on your area.
you can go private, but it'll cost big time.
Go to the doctors, and take it from there. Normally its a therapy job, as far as I am aware, but the doctors will know more.
If its NHS be aware that there might be a long wait for therapy, until I was queue-jumped I was told 18 months for therapy for BPD. You could always go private, but that does cost.
To add insult to an already distressing condition, most anthropophobia therapies take months or years and sometimes even require the patient to be exposed repeatedly to their fear. We believe that not only is this totally unnecessary, it will often make the condition worse. And it is particularly cruel as anthropophobia can be eliminated with the right methods and just 24 hours of commitment by the phobic individual.
Known by a number of names Anthropophobia, Fear of People, and Fear of Society being the most common, the problem often significantly impacts the quality of life. It can cause panic attacks and keep people apart from loved ones and business associates. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread, although everyone experiences anthropophobia in their own way and may have different symptoms.
that's standard for most phobias.
the person is gradually introduced to situations that make them panic, and they stay in the situations until their anxiety resides (which it always will, be it 5 minutes or 5 hours) as their anxiety lessens, they are introduced to more 'difficult' situations, and so, the theory goes, after a while they will not feel anxiety when confronted with the thing they formerly feared.
with a simple phobia - such as a fear of spiders, or flying, it can take a few months or more.
with a more complex phobia, such as agoraphobia, or social phobia, it can take years.