Anthropophobia (fear of people): what does it consist of?

Have you heard of anthropophobia? It is a type of phobia in which the individual feels fear of people.

This fear can significantly interfere in the life of the person, and its main cause is the fact of having suffered bullying and / or prolonged abuse (although there may be other causes).

In this article we tell you all the details about this disorder; what it consists of, how it differs from social phobia, and finally what are its symptoms, causes and treatments.

• Recommended article: "The 16 most common psychological disorders in women"

Anthropophobia: what is it?

Anthropophobia is defined as the fear of people or human beings; It is a type of phobia, classified as such in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders). It differs from social phobia in that, in anthropophobia, people really cause fear; In social phobia, on the other hand, more than people, what causes fear or anxiety is their evaluation of oneself, as well as making a fool of themselves, etc.

Thus, in anthropophobia there is a disproportionate, intense and sometimes irrational fear of people, whether they are strangers or trusted people. Namely,

fear can appear in all kinds of people and relationships.

There is also fear of the link that can be created with them, and the possibility of being judged by them (but there is always a basic fear of people "in themselves").

Sometimes the person with anthropophobia may come to recognize that their fear is irrational, but nevertheless, they are unable to control it.

• It may interest you: "Hypnophobia (fear of sleeping): causes, symptoms and treatment"

Anthropophobia as a specific phobia

Before explaining the symptoms of anthropophobia, let's see in summary what a phobia consists of. A phobia is an exaggerated and intense fear of stimuli that are generally harmless for the person. You can have a phobia of practically anything. Phobias are anxiety disorders.

However, For a phobia to be diagnosed, the symptoms of fear or anxiety must last for a minimum of 6 months; These symptoms are compounded by an interference in the day-to-day caused by this phobia, an intense discomfort, an avoidance of the phobic stimulus (or resistance with high anxiety), as well as physiological symptoms and cognitive symptoms (for example, dysfunctional thoughts in relation to the stimulus phobic).

Phobias can be of different types; Specifically, in DSM-5 we find three large groups of phobias. We have social phobia (anxiety about social situations or relationships with people, especially strangers), the specific phobia (such as anthropophobia; fear of a concrete and specific stimulus) and the agoraphobia (fear of being in public places or where it is difficult or embarrassing to escape).

As we can see, anthropophobia is about a specific phobia; in turn, within the specific phobias, we find 5 subtypes of them:

• Animal type
• Natural / environmental environment type
• Blood-injections-wound type
• Situational type
• Other types

Specifically, anthropophobia is included in the group "other types of phobias", since it cannot be included in any of the previous groups.

The 2 differences with social phobia

Before explaining the symptoms of anthropophobia, we will emphasize its two main differences with social phobia, since they are disorders that are often confused.

The first difference is found in the fact that in anthropophobia, there is a fear of people, added to a fear of being judged (which may or may not be present); In social phobia, on the other hand, it is not that people are afraid, but that they feel high anxiety at the possibility of making a fool of themselves in front of them.

The second difference is that in anthropophobia, you can fear all kinds of people (known, unknown, family ...); On the other hand, in social phobia, anxiety is generally felt in front of strangers.

Symptoms

The symptoms of anthropophobia correspond to the symptoms of a specific phobia. Specific, a person with anthropophobia will present mainly three.

1. Intense fear of people

The main symptom of anthropophobia is an intense fear of people. This fear is extrapolated to people from the closest circle, to strangers, to friends, etc. In each case of anthropophobia it can vary.

Fear can sometimes lead to other psychophysiological symptoms, as we will see later.

2. Avoidance of contact with people

There is also an avoidance of contact with people, these people being known, unknown, friends, family, etc. That is, it can be extrapolated to all kinds of people.

Let us remember at this point that the essential difference between anthropophobia and social phobia lies in the fact that people who fear anthropophobia They can be all, while in social phobia they are usually strangers (and more than fear, what you feel is anxiety about the possibility of being courts).

3. Psychophysiological symptoms

Psychophysiological symptoms are practically always linked to phobias. This is also the case in the case of anthropophobia, with symptoms such as: palpitations, dizziness, vomiting, nausea, hyperarousal, overexcitement, tension, etc.

These symptoms appear before the possibility of being in contact with people (although depending on the case the degree of intensity and the provoking situation of the same can vary).

Causes

The causes of anthropophobia can be multiple, although the most likely is the fact of having suffered a traumatic situation.

Examples of traumatic situations related to people can be: having suffered bullying (bullying), having suffered mobbing (harassment at work), having suffered physical, sexual and / or psychological abuse, having witnessed these types of abuse in other people, etc.

In other words, these are situations where people caused harm, either to oneself or to others. Another possible cause of anthropophobia is a large deficit in social skills (usually in addition to another cause).

Treatments

What treatment / s exist / n for anthropophobia? As in all specific phobia, at the level of psychotherapy we find two treatments of choice: exposure techniques and cognitive therapy (cognitive restructuring).

1. Exposition

In the case of exposure therapy, the techniques consist of exposing the subject with anthropophobia to the phobic stimulus (in in this case, people), gradually and through a hierarchy of items (elaborated by the patient together with the therapist).

The objective is that the fear, anxiety and psychophysiological symptoms that are triggered in the presence of people, they end up disappearing (that the subject verifies how he is not in danger, gets used to these sensations and they end up extinguishing).

Sometimes temporary escape from the anxiety situation is allowed (when anxiety reaches levels too high), as long as you return to the initial situation before the stimulus phobic.

There are different versions of the exposure techniques (live, virtual reality, symbolic, etc.), although the one that has shown the greatest effectiveness is live exposure.

2. Cognitive therapy

As for cognitive therapy, its basis is cognitive restructuring; This technique allows working with the irrational beliefs of the patient in relation to the phobic stimulus. That is, the objective is to combat those thoughts and beliefs that have originated and / or maintained fear before people.

3. Other treatments: EHS

On the other hand, although it is not the treatment of choice, social skills training (EHS) is also very positive, since in Sometimes patients with anthropophobia present a deficit in this type of skills, which may be the origin and / or factor that maintains the disorder.

Bibliographic references

• American Psychiatric Association -APA- (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Madrid: Panamericana.

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

• Castillero, O. (2018). Anthropophobia (fear of humans): symptoms, causes and treatment. Psychology and Mind.