The problem of fear of children

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Modern medicine has more than a dozen phobias to which humans are susceptible. Most fears are understandable from a logical point of view. Some people are afraid of spiders, snakes, or closed spaces because they fear for their health. But there are also common fears that are very difficult to explain. For example, fear of children. Today, this phobia is often found in society, and both women and men suffer from this fear equally.

Fear of children - paedophobia

Concept of fear

The name of the fear of children is Pedophobia. A person suffering from this fear is not only afraid to have their own children, but also refuses to communicate, talk and play with other people's children. Sometimes the phobia is so advanced and uncontrollable that even a doll can cause fear and panic. On the one hand, a phobia of children has practically no effect on a person’s life; on the other hand, it deprives the person of the opportunity to create strong and happy family relationships and puts an end to the birth and upbringing of their own children.

In most cases, the phobia occurs completely unnoticed by prying eyes. The person controls himself and tries not to show negative emotions, excluding any interaction with children. It may also happen that his psycho-emotional state sharply deteriorates, and then he is completely under the influence of fear and a stressful situation. Trying to control myself, I become:

• closed;
• angry;
• overly aggressive;
• tearful and depressed.

At the physical level, this phobia also manifests itself and makes itself felt by a deterioration in well-being: a sudden headache, weakness, dizziness occurs, pulse and breathing increase, sweating and blood pressure increase. All this, of course, has the most negative effect on his nervous system, affecting his health in general.

What is a phobia of children called?

Many people are interested in what the fear of children is called. This phobia has a special name - pedophobia. People who are afraid of young children do not want to care for, raise, interact with, or play with children. Sometimes a person susceptible to this phobia is even afraid of a doll.

Pedophobia has a negative impact on a person’s life. People cannot create a happy, full-fledged family, they are not able to give birth and raise a child. They cannot understand the reason for their fears. They simply feel bad in the presence of a child, even a stranger, and communication with children makes them angry or causes an anxiety attack or a panic attack.

People suffering from pedophobia experience severe stress when talking with children. As a result of a nervous disorder, their mood deteriorates, they become irritable, whiny, and sometimes very aggressive. Contact with a child can cause depression and withdrawal.

A person suffering from a fear of children, at the sight of the object of his fear, begins to tremble in the body, dizziness, pulse quickens, and blood pressure rises. People break into a sweat, lose composure, lose their sense of reality, and may faint.

Causes

According to psychologists, there are several main reasons why pedophobia develops. Let's look at them in more detail.

1. Childhood. The origins of this fear are hidden in childhood. The child is used to being the only one in the family, basking in the love and attention of adults, but his life changes dramatically after the birth of a brother or sister. Now parents divide their attention between two children, they are busy with new worries and sometimes do not find time for their elders. He develops jealousy, anger, hostility and aggression towards the younger one. These negative feelings are consolidated in his subconscious, transforming and manifesting themselves in adulthood.
2. A manifestation of the disease is also excessive guardianship, manifested in the increased attention of parents who strive to please at any cost and give expensive things.
3. Tendency to pedophilia. Scientists studying this disease believe that one of the main reasons for its development may be a shocking fact: adults isolate themselves from communication with children because they are afraid that they may become prone to sexual violence. Adult men are susceptible to this mental disorder.
4. Misanthrope. Some do not believe that a child is an individual with his own opinion, so they do not see the point in communicating and interacting with him. In Western countries, the childfree movement is becoming more and more active, when adults claim that children are an obstacle to their free, full and interesting life. In this case, there can be no talk of love, tenderness and care for children.

Fear of children is common among men

The fear of young children can develop already in adulthood. This is due to the fact that the birth of a baby completely changes the parents’ lifestyle and makes them responsible for another. The most common social reasons leading to the emergence of paedophobia are related to the fact that the family does not have a strong enough financial situation and does not have its own home where they could raise children.

Women's fear of children has its own characteristics. Often the cause of phobia in women is the thought that pregnancy can ruin their figure. The expectant mother is afraid of the responsibility, worries and hassle that will arise after the birth of the baby.

Sometimes the cause of a phobia is childhood memories. Fear may be caused by stories about painful and difficult childbirth.

Manifestation of phobia

Phobia of children manifests itself almost equally in both women and men, but there are some differences. A woman, having succumbed to stress, having thrown out all her negativity, calms down. A man endures and remains silent for a long time, but if he breaks down, he can cause physical harm to children. The consequences can be very serious, especially if he is intoxicated.

How else does pedophobia manifest itself? There are several basic life scenarios for the development of events.

1. A woman leaves her children in the maternity hospital. The reasons for such an act can be different (husband left, poor financial situation, no housing).
2. Parents are afraid to engage in the educational process because they may receive strong rebuff and a violent negative reaction from their children. They do not make comments or try to influence antisocial behavior. The result of such upbringing is that they grow up to be narcissistic egoists.
3. Fear of childhood aggression. This affects older people who strive to lead a quiet life, having a hard time enduring noise and youth parties. Children's fear can be expressed in aggressive behavior on the part of an elderly person who, in such stressful moments, has very little control over himself. This was confirmed by sociological research, which showed that only 34% of adults are ready to intervene in a conflict situation with the participation of young people.
4. Discomfort from communication. In this case, the phobia will manifest itself in an adult in an attempt to protect himself from communication with children.

Manifestations of paedophobia

How to recognize a pedophobe? You need to take a close look at those around you and at yourself. If an individual's behavior towards a child is not entirely normal, the person may be suffering from a fear of children. Only a psychologist can make a final diagnosis.

Pedophobes ignore and avoid contact with children in every possible way. In the presence of a child, they may behave aggressively or show negativity towards the baby. Fear of children can be expressed in changes in a person's mood and behavior. He can perform the same type of actions in order to somehow overcome the feeling of fear. At the sight of a baby, an adult experiences a nervous disorder, manifested by symptoms of vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Signs of pedophobia:

• increased heart rate;
• difficulty breathing;
• increased sweating;
• increased blood pressure;
• dizziness;
• trembling in the limbs;
• numbness;
• loss of consciousness.

Pedophobia leads to the development of such situations:

• a woman leaves her newborn in the maternity hospital;
• parents condone the child’s whims and are afraid to punish them;
• adults reveal aggression if children do not listen to them, scream or cry;
• people experience an anxiety attack or a panic attack when talking to a child;
• adults experience discomfort when communicating with children, they are irritated by loud children's screams on the street, or the crying of someone else's child.

Pedophobia is an abnormal condition. You need to fight him. At the first sign of a phobia, you need to start doing something. You can't ignore your fears. If left unchecked, a phobia can develop into a serious mental illness.

Ways to fight

You can try to cope with the phobia yourself. For fear to have no power, you need to completely relax. Autogenic training gives good results, during which negative thoughts that give rise to children’s fear are forced out of the subconscious, after which they are replaced by positive judgments. Positive self-hypnosis occurs, which is an excellent way to combat paedophobia.

Meditation is no less effective when a person focuses on his thoughts, accumulating a positive attitude and experiencing positive emotions. Meditative music (recording of wind, waterfall, sounds of wildlife) will help you get into the right mood. The most common meditation techniques include visualization (forming positive mental images of children) and affirmation (constantly repeating positive phrases in your mind).

Peace of mind

Today, there are many different breathing techniques that teach how to calm down, relax and tune in to the positive. Various physical exercises also help well, as they relieve muscle tension and have a beneficial effect on the entire body as a whole. By applying these methods, it will be possible to achieve both physical and mental balance.

Psychotherapeutic methods

If fear of children causes a person to be constantly stressed, preventing him from leading a normal life, there is only one way out - to seek professional help. During an individual consultation, the psychotherapist will select treatment methods that will help improve your social skills and build a normal family life.

Using various techniques, the psychotherapist will establish and help eliminate the cause that led to the emergence and development of paedophobia. The specialist will correct the thought processes, which will then have a positive impact on his behavior and worldview.

During hypnosis, patients are taught that they should not be afraid of children. This psychological attitude is fixed in the subconscious and relieves the patient of fear of children. A psychologist can also use cognitive behavioral therapy, when sessions are structured in such a way that a person suffering from pedophobia understands his negative thoughts and completely gets rid of them. By learning to think differently, his behavior will change, and children will no longer cause uncontrollable attacks of fear. Gestalt therapy will relieve negative emotions and attitudes. Group therapy also gives good results, when patients have the opportunity to discuss their problems and achievements with others suffering from the same fears.

Treatment options

In addition to the fact that pedophobia needs to be treated in a timely manner, it is also important to detect it in a timely manner. To diagnose the problem, you need to honestly answer the following questions:

• Do children cause affection?
• Do you want to have a child in the future?
• is the person ready to engage in education;
• Is it humane to give a child to be raised by his parents?

If a person feels severe psychological discomfort when imagining himself with children, it is recommended to visit a psychotherapist who will help accurately diagnose the problem.

In rare cases, paedophobia takes on an extremely severe form, when a person literally experiences uncontrollable horror at the sight of a baby or preschool child. Sometimes even a realistic baby doll can throw a person into panic. In this case, it is necessary to start therapy as soon as possible, because such panic fear has a negative impact on the psyche.

Psychotherapy

The specialist will be able to convince the patient that all his fears are far-fetched and groundless

The gold standard for treating various phobias is psychotherapy. In the case of pedophobia, the doctor’s task is:

• identifying the causes of fear;
• resolution of internal conflicts;
• changing a person's way of thinking;
• teaching the patient responsibility and the need to make decisions.

It is interesting that quite often pedophobia hides immaturity of personality and egocentrism. This can come from childhood and stem from unresolved jealousy of parents towards a younger brother or sister.

After the patient and the doctor have worked through the reasons for the fear of children and identified the internal conflicts that led to the development of the problem, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy or hypnosis may be chosen. In general, such measures are most often not required, because a person can overcome a mild form of pedophobia on their own, only by identifying the root of the problem and working through the causes with a doctor.

Medicines

Drug therapy is used only when the phobia becomes severe and is accompanied by panic at the sight of a child. In this case, it is necessary to eliminate the alarming symptoms and restore the functioning of the nervous system, for which tranquilizers and sedatives are used.

Self help

Mild forms of the disorder can be cured on your own. Here meditation, breathing exercises, and self-control will come to the rescue. A person is advised to communicate more with the children of close friends, as well as talk with young mothers who will make it clear that there is nothing wrong with giving birth and raising a child.

Such methods are not recommended for patients who experience aggression when they see children. In this case, qualified help from a psychotherapist and psychiatrist is necessary, otherwise the person may harm someone else’s child.