Gamophobia, Fear of Marriage What is Gamophobia?

Gamophobia (from the Greek word gamos wedding and phobos fear) is a phobic fear of entering into marriage and weddings. Some people have a fear of the wedding ceremony, while others have a fear of marriage or of both. Men, more often than women, are unaware of the fear of intimacy, which is an obstacle to marriage. This fear arises in early childhood, as a consequence of unresolved conflicts (similar to pedophobia, obsessive compulsive personality disorder and avoidant personality disorder Avoidant Personality Disorder Test we wrote about before). Intimate attachment to another person is perceived as dangerous, because it marks the separation from the mother. In another case, intimacy is equated with the desire to achieve a close relationship with the oedipal object, which also scares. There are opinions that the fear of intimacy is a form of developmental delay that occurs in people who have not built a basic trust in their parents, the first closest beings, and remain unable to trust others. In such situations, partners can be successful in unobligated sexual relationship, until the intimacy comes near the border that they can bear. Thinking of a marriage or a discussion about it leads to unsuccessful sexual behavior. Gamophobia may be also conscious state that arises as a consequence of adverse emotional experiences in the primary family where the parents because of their disagreements created an aversion to marriage in child. Then people consciously avoid situations in which they find a possible marriage.

Gamophobia Treatment, Fear of Marriage

Fear of marriage in the last fifteen years, according to psychologists, has reached a very high yield in the world and especially among men. According to international experts, today more and more young men are declared as gamophobic. Psychologists believe that the fear of marriage is a real phobia, much more serious than just fear, while the opinions of sociologists is that the low rate of marriage among young people is the result of entering into community life before the fateful legal saying Yes. However, regardless of gamophobia, marriage much more benefits to men. One study discovered that married men, compared with single people or unmarried, are 135 times more likely to say they are very satisfied with their lives. When the percentage of married women is half the size. Gamophobia treatment, like other phobias, can be overcome with psychotherapeutic techniques.

The most efficient method proved are cognitive-behavioral psychotherapeutic methods, such as REBT, transactional, and gestalt psychotherapy, which is working to change the beliefs and meanings that bind people to the situation of marriage. However to understand gamophobia, we must understand the true causes and they are sometimes well hidden in childhood. The child may also develop a fear. Therefore, gamophobia is also known as a fear of marriage. We recommend an amazing article from our doctor Jonathan Samson on this subject how to help a child. There a many family psychotherapists in United States and around the world, which can help people overcome gamophobia.