Anxiety disorders: Social anxiety disorders or a social phobia can lead to a fear of intimacy in an adult relationship. Sometimes, when someone is deeply afraid of feeling judged or rejected, they deal with it by avoiding intimate connections with others.
People who are afraid of others' judgment, evaluation, or rejection are naturally more likely to shy away from making intimate, personal connections. In addition, some specific phobias, such as the fear of touch, may occur as part of the fear of intimacy.
People say they feel too different, shy, depressed, anxious, or insecure to connect meaningfully. Others find it difficult to trust people, or their lives are just too busy to make enough time for their friendships. Even physical ailments make some people reluctant to open themselves up to others.
Fear of intimacy is ingrained from childhood, and is normally a biological response to the way in which someone was parented. Perhaps the best way to understand fear of intimacy is through attachment theory. Attachment theory is the psychological model of how we form emotional bonds.
You might feel uncomfortable around someone because you have feelings for them, or because it's a toxic or intimidating person. Discomfort can also be a sign of underlying social anxiety or lack of social skills. For example, not knowing what to say can make you worry about awkward silence.
Very often the anxiety we feel around other people is a reflection of the way we perceive ourselves. Projection is a common defence mechanism which causes us to take aspects of ourselves (which we find uncomfortable and unsettling) and ascribe them to other people.
'Sarmassophobia is a fear of dating and relationships,' explains Krystal Woodbridge, Psychosexual Therapist and Relationship Counsellor. 'It very often comes from childhood experiences. That can happen when, as a child, you have been neglected a lot.
Anhedonia is a mental health condition characterized by the inability to find pleasure in activities that are normally found to be enjoyable. Social anhedonia is present in an individual who shows disinterest in and has a relatively low drive for social interactions. People with social anhedonia prefer solitude.
Emotional detachment is a psychological condition in which a person is not able to fully engage with their feelings or the feelings of others. It can be ongoing, as it is in people with attachment disorders, or it can be a temporary response to an extreme situation.
While there is no one explanation for emotional unavailability, it can be caused by a number (or combination) of factors. These include attachment styles developed in childhood, history in relationships, trauma, mental health conditions, and one's circumstances and priorities.
If you have social anxiety disorder, which is also known as social phobia, the stress of these situations is too much to handle. You might, for example, avoid all social contact because things that other people consider “normal” -- like making small talk and eye contact -- make you so uncomfortable.
A person with social anxiety disorder feels symptoms of anxiety or fear in situations where they may be scrutinized, evaluated, or judged by others, such as speaking in public, meeting new people, dating, being on a job interview, answering a question in class, or having to talk to a cashier in a store.
In many cases, social awkwardness comes from extreme anxiety. Social anxiety is more than just feeling shy. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that 12.1% of U.S. adults experience a social anxiety disorder at some time in their lives.
Haphephobia is an intense, irrational fear of being touched. It is different from hypersensitivity, which is physical pain associated with being touched. People with haphephobia feel extreme distress over the thought of being touched. This anxiety can lead to physical symptoms like nausea, vomiting or panic attacks.
The lack of physical touch, emotional connection, and sexual intimacy can lead to feelings of loneliness, depression, and low self-esteem. It can also cause physical symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, and decreased libido.
The fear of getting close to someone, often referred to as a fear of intimacy, is medically known as “philophobia.” Signs that you might have philophobia or a fear of intimacy include: Perfectionism or being overly critical of yourself and others. A history of sabotaging relationships that were otherwise going well.
Philophobia — a fear of love — can negatively affect your ability to have meaningful relationships. A painful breakup, divorce, abandonment or rejection during childhood or adulthood may make you afraid to fall in love. Psychotherapy (talk therapy) can help you overcome this specific phobic disorder.
Closed-off qualities can be down to certain character traits, like being shy. Or something may have happened to make a person more cautious, like certain experiences or even traumas. For example, when someone has experienced heartbreak they might find it harder to let another person in again.