Are these five common phobias affecting your relationships?

Phobias can cause a range of issues for those who experience them.

According to Harley Street hypnotherapist, Adam Cox, phobias can affect our relationships all year-round.

“Phobias are an unconscious reaction to a stimulus, not a choice. People don’t choose to be frightened of love, intimacy, rejection or germs. The impact of these fears and phobias can mean people avoid flirting, dating, kissing and even sex and relationships.

The good news is that no matter how severe the phobia is, psychological tools such as hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) can reverse a phobia in just one or two sessions.”

We asked Adam which relationship-related phobias he most commonly encounters.

• Aphenphosmphobia – The fear of intimacy. Fear of being touched and love.
• Mysophobia – The fear of germs. It is also rightly termed as Germophobia or Bacteriophobia.
• Androphobia and Gynophobia – The fear of men and women. Usually seen in younger females, but it can also affect adults. This may occur if you have unresolved mother issues.
• Philophobia – The fear of love, which causes sufferers to be frightened of falling in love or developing emotional attachments.
• Monophobia– The fear of being alone

There are many different phobias, some you may know, others may be more obscure. Regardless, phobias exist and can affect a person’s life massively. As Adam says, the good news is that a phobia doesn’t need to control your life. Hypnotherapy aims to identify the root cause of the phobia, help you understand potential triggers, and know how to control the anxiety and fear often associated with the phobia.

Learn more about the different types of phobias.

For more information on hypnotherapy for anxiety, fear of flying or other phobias, visit our fact-sheets or contact a hypnotherapist near you, using our search tool.