How to Live with Caligynephobia, A Fear of Beautiful Women

According to the American Psychological Association, phobias are one of the most common mental disorders, affecting over 11 percent of men and women. As opposed to general fears, phobias are persistent fear that becomes excessive or unreasonable. To be diagnosed with Caligynephobia, the patient's fear of beautiful women must cause some level of impairment, either physical or mental. Here's how people are treated for fear of beautiful women.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• An understanding of the impairment and how it affects your life
• Professional help, psychiatrists, psychologists or other health care professionals
• Multi-media equipment
• A beautiful woman

1. Since only 6 percent of people affected with phobias admit to having a problem, the first step for the patient is to recognize that they need help.
2. One approach to treating Caligynephobia is through SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION. As a treatment modality used in many mental diseases, the patient is gradually exposed to a beautiful woman, either in person or through photos or videos. When the patient reaches their maximum tolerance, the stimulus (e.g., the beautiful woman) is removed and the patient is allowed to relax.
3. During on-going sessions, the patient's exposure to a beautiful woman is increased, allowing the patient to break through a threshold. During each succeeding session, the patient's exposure is lengthened.
4. Another approach entails using "cognitive-behavioral treatment" whereby the patient learns to manage their thoughts and attitudes toward a woman that influences their motivations and behaviors. In essence, the patient learns to invite the feelings that make them feel fearful and anxious and then learn how to tolerate them.
5. Recently, the use of virtual reality in conjunction with real life situations has been applied to treating patients with Caligynephobia by allowing patients to safely explore the physical aspect of the disease without actually experiencing it.

Tips & Warnings

• Caligynephobia should be approached as a real physical and emotional impairment.
• All phobias should be treated by licensed professionals.
• The treating professional should be in touch with the patient's thresholds and levels of tolerance.
• Care should be taken not to exceed the patient's comfort level.