Gelotophobia: symptoms, differential diagnosis, causes and treatment

Gelotophobia is the fear of being made fun of, laughed at, or made a fool of.. It usually appears in social situations, in front of more people; It arises especially in childhood and adolescence.

We should not confuse gelotophobia (a specific phobia) with other types of disorders, such as social phobia, the avoidant personality wave schizoid personality. In this article we will make its differential diagnosis and learn what it is, its symptoms, as well as its causes and possible treatments.

Gelotophobia: what is it?

Phobias are intense fears of certain stimuli, objects or situations. It can be said that there is a phobia for everything, and that is why you can fear practically any stimulus. Generally, the fear that appears in phobias is irrational and disproportionate to the possible damage that such a stimulus or situation may cause. Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder.

The DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders) classifies specific phobias into 5 groups, depending on the phobic stimulus: phobia of animals (for example, snakes), phobia of blood/injection/injury (e.g. needles), natural situations or environments (e.g. storms), situational phobia (e.g. driving) and other types of phobia (e.g. choke on).

Gelotophobia is a type of phobia associated with the possibility of being mocked.; That is, the person who suffers from it feels an irrational and intense fear of being laughed at or made fun of. That is why a person with gelotophobia may adopt paranoid or distrustful behavior towards others, constantly fearing that they are speaking badly of them or that they may make a fool of them.

Thus, following the classification proposed by the DSM-5 for specific phobias, gelotophobia could be classified as “another type of phobia”, since it does not correspond to any of the previous 4.

Symptoms

The symptoms of gelotophobia correspond to the typical symptoms of specific phobias, and which constitute diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5. These symptoms are:

1. Intense fear of ridicule

Gelotophobia mainly translates into an intense fear of being made fun of by others.. Instead of fear, intense anxiety may also appear when experiencing such situations. This implies that the body becomes overactive at a psychophysiological level (with typical symptoms of anxiety).

The situations we fear are those that can cause others to laugh or make fun of us. This is also extrapolated to people who can do it, or who have already done it before.

2. Avoidance

The person with gelotophobia also wants to avoid this fear caused by the fact that they may be made fun of.. That is why you also avoid people or situations that could trigger it. On the other hand, it may happen that instead of avoidance, there is resistance to such situations but with associated high anxiety.

3. Persistence of fear

The fear or anxiety that appears in gelotophobia, as in other types of phobias, is persistent. That is, it appears very constantly and lengthens over time. In fact, it is necessary for the symptoms of gelotophobia to persist for a minimum of 6 months to be able to diagnose such a phobia.

4. Altered operation

The daily functioning of the person with gelotophobia is altered; That is, the person shows difficulties in carrying out their daily activities normally, even in starting or finishing tasks that they would normally solve.

These alterations cover the different spheres of the individual's life, including the social, work, academic and personal spheres.

Differential diagnosis

It is important to distinguish gelotophobia from other types of mental disorders. The disorders that could most closely resemble gelotophobia and that, therefore, should be ruled out in advance, making a correct differential diagnosis, are the following.

1. Avoidant personality disorder

Avoidant personality disorder (APD) is characterized because the person presents a marked pattern of social inhibition, coupled with feelings of hypersensitivity to negative evaluation and rejection and feelings of incompetence.

It is precisely this hypersensitivity to negative evaluation that can confuse us with gelotophobia. However, SPD is a personality disorder, this means that the individual's functioning will be much more altered than in gelotophobia (a type of anxiety disorder). Furthermore, in TPE the fear is of mockery but also of criticism, rejection, isolation... that is, the fear is more generic than in gelotophobia (where the fear is limited to mockery).

Additionally, SPD includes other symptoms that gelotophobia does not, such as the fear of assuming personal risks or to engage in new activities (i.e., the person avoids many types of situations; In gelotophobia, however, the situations are limited to those that may cause a situation of ridicule).

2. Schizoid personality disorder

Schizoid personality disorder is another disorder that can cause us to be confused with gelotophobia. In the schizoid personality, a pattern characterized by social isolation appears.. However, this does not appear due to the fear of being made fun of, as occurs in gelotophobia; In reality, people with schizoid personality isolate themselves socially because they have no interest in others.

3. Social phobia

Finally, A third disorder that we must differentiate from gelotophobia is social phobia.. Social phobia, like gelotophobia, is also an anxiety disorder. The difference is, however, that the fear of gelotophobia is linked to a specific stimulating situation; On the other hand, in social phobia, it is one or more social situations (or public performances) that produce fear.

That is to say, in social phobia we fear more situations, and because they are social situations (for fear of shame, of going blank, of not knowing what to say, of being judged...); In gelotophobia, one fears only the fact that oneself may be made fun of.

Furthermore, for all these reasons, social phobia implies a broader pattern of avoidance than gelotophobia.

Causes

The causes of gelotophobia They are usually related to traumatic experiences where one or more situations of ridicule have been experienced.. This can make us think about situations such as bullying (harassment at school) or mobbing (harassment at work).

The etiology of this phobia is also related to a low self-esteem, with insecurities, with fear of other social situations, etc. It can also appear as a consequence of a depressive disorder, where the person experiences a feeling of deep sadness, guilt and insecurity, among others, and where this fear of being laughed at can also appear one

Treatment

The psychological treatment of gelotophobia will include cognitive restructuring techniques to help the person understand that they are not always laughing at themselves, and that sometimes they may have dysfunctional and erroneous thoughts that are making them believe precisely this.

That is, we will ensure that the person does not feel threatened by situations that in reality are not threatening to them. her, trying to reduce and eliminate the paranoid thoughts that make the patient feel observed and criticized.

On the other hand, psychological therapy will try to ensure that the patient has (or learns) coping mechanisms. appropriate that allow you to cope with social situations and/or where others are really making fun of you he she.

Importance of prevention

Childhood and adolescence are typical ages where gelotophobia appears; That is why prevention will be important, promoting respectful behavior among children in the classroom and at home to prevent bullying or mocking behavior towards others.

Furthermore, it is advisable to avoid overprotecting the little ones, as this can make their socialization difficult and they may not know how to properly relate to others.

Finally, we should focus on techniques that teach children to tolerate feelings of frustration or fear of ridicule when these appear, so that they can properly manage their emotions. This will increase their personal security and prevent them from feeling so bad when they “make a fool of themselves” or when they are “made fun of.”

You must always fight against harassment and bullying, but we must also offer children and adolescents tools to manage such situations if they happen, seeking help when necessary.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. Washington DC: Author.

• Belloch, A.; Sandín, B. and Ramos, F. (2010). Manual of Psychopathology. Volume I and II. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.