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Sexual Phobias

Fear of Prostitutes

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Fear of Prostitutes: The Worlds Oldest Profession and Phobia

Do you experience a high level of anxiety at the thought of prostitutes? Do you fear you’ll contract a sexually transmitted disease? Do you always switch channels if you see a prostitute in a film or TV show?

If yes, you may be suffering from cypridophobia, or the fear of prostitutes. This fear has other names, too, including:  cypriphobia, cyprianophobia and cyprinophobia.

People experiencing cypridophobia go to great lengths to avoid being anywhere near prostitutes, which can lead to mental anguish. Sharing their fears with loved ones can not only be difficult but also embarrassing.

While this phobia is uncommon, you should know that you’re not alone. If you go through the vast list of fears and phobias, you’ll come across some rather unusual ones, including cypridophobia.

It’s important to remind yourself that this phobia is just an irrational fear. And you don’t have to let it continue to affect your life. With proper diagnosis, care, and treatment, you can learn to manage the fear or even overcome it.

 

What Is the Fear of Prostitutes?

The fear of prostitutes, or cypridophobia, refers to the avoidance of prostitutes, sexual activity, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). A person suffering from this phobia fears that coming in contact with a prostitute may lead to them contracting STDs. The fear typically arises from a prejudiced notion that prostitutes spread diseases.

The word cypridophobia comes rom the Greek word kypris meaning “Aphrodite/Venus” and phobos meaning fear. The word cyprus is used for Venus as she was believed to be born on the island of Cyprus.

Given the social taboo surrounding prostitutes, many with this phobia will avoid seeking medical help or even discussing the extreme fear they experience even at the mention of the word “prostitute.” Others think they can simply avoid the subject of their fear, so they don’t seek medical intervention.

However, if left untreated, this phobia can worsen to the point where they may even avoid sexual contact with their significant others or spouses, leading to conflict in marriage and possibly even divorce. And while anyone, regardless of age or sex, can be affected by this phobia, it is more common in middle-to-older age group men.

Causes of Cypridophobia

Like all other phobias, it’s difficult to determine the exact cause or onset of the fear of prostitutes. However, environmental or genetic factors or a combination of the two are commonly responsible for a person developing cypridophobia.

Typically, young people do not have knowledge of sex or prostitutes, so the phobia develops later in life. As a person grows up and learns about sex and prostitution, the way in which they are introduced to such sensitive topics makes a difference.

Unfortunately, teenagers are often cautioned against sexual activity through stories of contracting diseases such as HIV. This can create a fear of not only prostitutes but also of sex itself.

Knowing someone who suffers from HIV or other STDs can also lead to a person fearing unprotected sex or having sex with sex workers.

Additionally, a person’s overall well-being and mental state are also contributing factors in the development of the phobia. A person who is genetically predisposed to having mental health issues or is suffering from anxiety or depression is at a greater risk of developing phobias, including cypridophobia.

 

Symptoms of Cyprinophobia

Let’s take a look at some of the most common physical and mental/emotional symptoms of cyprinophobia.

Physical Symptoms

  • Trembling
  • Muscle tension
  • Increased heart rate
  • Palpitations
  • High blood pressure
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Profuse sweating
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Cold flashes

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Anxiety
  • Panic attack
  • Fear of getting sick
  • Fear of acquiring an STD/HIV
  • Confusion
  • Irritability
  • Mood swings
  • Feeling of dread
  • Feeling of dying

 

Treatment for Fear of Prostitutes

There is no well-defined treatment for any phobia. Usually, a therapist will employ various therapies or even medications, either by themselves or in combination, to treat phobia. Treatment plans used for treating other anxiety disorders work well for treating cypridophobia.

Self-Help

Self-help gives you the freedom to work on your mental health at your own pace. You can learn more about your triggers and symptoms and how to deal with them through simple practices. You also get the option of taking a break if things get too overwhelming. Self-help can be effective at leading you to recovery if you follow it diligently and with a positive mindset.

Some of the most common methods/techniques used for overcoming your phobia of prostitutes are:

  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Exercise
  • Counting numbers
  • Deep breathing
  • Rhythmic breathing
  • Journalling

The aim of self-help techniques is not to reset your brain or trick it into thinking nothing will happen if you have unprotected sex with a prostitute. But it will help reduce the extreme levels of anxiety or panic that one may experience when suffering from cypridophobia. It will help you re-establish the logical thinking that STDs are real and careless behavior or not practicing safe sex can be dangerous.

Professional Help

Seeking help from medical practitioners is the best way to deal with any phobia. Your therapist will first try to understand the severity of your phobia and your specific triggers. They will also try to understand why this fear has developed or if there is a specific cause.

When helping a patient with cyrpidophobia, the therapist may use methods such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help a person overcome anxiety disorders. They may also suggest dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) or exposure therapy.

In rare cases, when the therapy needs support, the doctor may prescribe anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications to help with severe symptoms such as panic attacks or extreme anxiety.

 

Learning to Cope with the Fear of Prostitutes

Fear of contracting STDs is not an entirely irrational fear. However, associating it with only prostitutes and going out of your way to avoid them can be damaging to your mental health. It can also lead you to develop negative views about sex workers.

A person suffering from cypridophobia is not only afraid of prostitutes, they are afraid of speaking about their fear of prostitutes. So, they will avoid sex workers and avoid talking about them at all costs. However, this is not a solution.

Speaking about your fears and getting the necessary treatment is crucial for you to overcome your phobia and live a happy life. Talk to your friends and family or join support groups where you can share your thoughts, feelings, and fears without judgment. It will not only help you find support but also go a long way in helping you progress with your recovery.

 

Conclusion

The fear of prostitutes can have a significantly negative impact on one’s social life as well as personal relationships. It’s important to seek help so you can regain your mental health. With time and consistency, you can soon overcome your fears and live a fulfilling life!

FearAZ.com is looking for personal stories of any 'fear of' or phobia. If you have an interesting story you'd like to share, we welcome your submission. If the story fits with our content and guidelines, we'll add it to our site.
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Your Fear Goes Up and Down

Are you someone who would rather climb the stairs than take the elevator? You call it squeezing in a workout after being sedentary the whole morning. Or perhaps you claim it's a faster route. These are both typical, normal, and acceptable reasons. But what if you need to be in the conference room on the eleventh floor in five minutes, and you're wearing your business suit and wingtips? Would you still prefer to take the stairs? If your answer is yes, then maybe it's time to take a closer look at your reasons for avoiding elevators. Elevators stir all sorts of emotions in passengers. From the discomfort of closeness to strangers to the sensations in our gut, elevators can be a source of the heebie-jeebies for many, but for some, they can also be a source of terror. Let's dig a little deeper into the latter, and see what this terror is all about and what can be done to manage it. To begin with, does being inside an elevator give you chills or the sweats? Or does it trigger an unpleasant memory? Perhaps you remember movies you've watched where something terrible happens inside an elevator. From Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, Final Destination 2, or the king of all elevator horror films, 2010’s Devil, the elevator becomes witness to something sinister and horrible. And you want nothing to do with any of it. You know that you're not claustrophobic. You can deal with heights just fine, too. And you know that you're not going to be trapped inside. All of these contribute to a fear of elevators—but they don't apply to you. Yet being inside one does something to you. It's hard to explain.

What is the Fear of Elevators Called?

What you have is a fear of elevators, which is called elevatophobia. It is most commonly triggered by an experience of getting stuck inside either due to a power outage or technical maintenance. Hearing about other people's experiences or watching a movie about similar circumstances can prompt a fear of elevators getting stuck with you inside. Usually, claustrophobics and agoraphobics may also develop elevatophobia because the triggers and objects of these fears are related. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed and cramped spaces, while agoraphobia is the fear of being trapped without any means of escape. Put the two together, and the elevator becomes the perfect combination of both phobias. The space is limited and closed, with only one means of entry and exit. You can add another point of access if you consider climbing the cables like they do in the movies, but that certainly isn't ideal.

Symptoms of Elevatophobia

If for some reason an elevator stops due to an outage or some technical difficulty, passengers with elevatophobia may go into full panic mode. Even if the maintenance team advises that it will just be a matter of minutes, by then, the person's mind has become irrational with the fear of the elevator falling, being stuck for hours, or other unpleasant thoughts. You would expect a person to exhibit the following physical symptoms: Additionally, you would be filled with that overwhelming anxiety where you feel that you have zero control over the situation. You start fearing the unknown and are filled with negative thoughts about death and imminent doom. You become irrational and unresponsive.

Possible Complications of Elevatophobia

When the panic sets in, the possibility of emergencies related to pre-existing conditions may make themselves known. This might include serious health crises like heart attacks or asthma attacks. When this happens, fear becomes a medical emergency. Elevator rides do not last long; it's just a matter of minutes or even less. But the fact that a person can escalate from panic to a near fatal medical situation classifies the fear of elevators as a 'hard phobia.'

Trying Some Self-Help Methods

Your fear of elevators can likely interfere with your social and work life and relationships. Not everyone understands that elevatophobia, like most phobias, can be crippling. But don't be disheartened. Depending on the level of your fear and level of control, you can gradually face and manage your phobia. Here are some recommendations you can try:
  1. Make a List of Everything that Entails Riding in an Elevator This is a systematic approach to getting over your anxiety. By following a step-by-step process, you can identify where the fear kicks in at its strongest. You can write a list of steps like pressing the topmost button and waiting to arrive on that floor, watching as the door closes and opens, being alone inside the elevator, or having delays with the doors opening. Now try doing the opposite. For example, face away from the door or occupy yourself with your phone so that you are distracted.
  2. Create Your Fear Ladder Although the name says fear of elevators, it is not the whole process that scares you. There are just phases and parts of the elevator riding experience that cause you to panic. So go back to the list you initially created and label the fear level you feel. You can do it numerically, too, like ten being 'really scary,' six, 'manageable scary,' and one, 'not scary at all.' You can put the corresponding fear levels so you can focus more time and effort into activities that are more scary to you.
  3. Face Your Fear By now, you have identified what scares you the most. You can try repetitive action to minimize your fear and increase your sense of ‘normalcy’. Remember that the longer you expose yourself to your fear, the better you get at handling your emotions. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stop. Pushing yourself too fast and too soon can backfire. Modify your pace and go slower instead.
  4. Talk About Your Fear People by nature, unfortunately, are not quick to offer understanding and support. You need to tell them what's wrong before they can empathize. Talk to someone who you trust and ask for their support, especially in the initial phase of overcoming your fear. If you are too afraid to ride the elevator alone, you can ask them to go with you, and before you realize it, you are on your floor, and there was no indication of panic.
  5. Learn To Be Patient Be patient with yourself and your predicament. This is, after all, your fight against fear. It might take hundreds of elevator ride practices before the fear gets under control. Even then, there might be some hesitations and episodes of nervousness. These are acceptable and expected, so cut yourself some slack and congratulate yourself for every progress.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with self-help, you can always enlist a medical professional's aid to support you with your elevatophobia. Talking to someone who has experience with similar cases can be comforting, because you know that you are not alone, and this situation can get better. Talk to your doctor about the severity of your fears and the symptoms that you experience. Explain how you deal with it in an attempt to control it. An exam and a health history are made to ensure that there are no unrelated or underlying problems that your symptoms might mask. Usually, phobias like this are approached with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Your doctor will talk about these options with you, and it's entirely up to you, with your doctor's recommendation, what you want to pursue. For psychotherapy, the most common type is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to help you find different ways of behaving, thinking, and reacting when about to step inside an elevator or when already inside it. With medications, there are beta blockers and benzodiazepines, but note that these can have side effects. Whatever these side effects are, you should promptly share it with your doctor.

Simple Tips to Overcome Elevatophobia

Elevators are not perfect, but their likelihood to malfunction, fall, or get stuck is very low. If you are not fully confident with this information, you can help overcome your elevatophobia by learning common elevator safety tips and basic elevator operations. These should help curb your mild fear until you become more self-assured. In addition to that, here are some of the things that you can do to gradually overcome your fear of elevators—both in getting on and riding one.

Conclusion

Yes, elevatophobia can be a challenge in today's world, but don't allow the elevator to win. Don't let it stop you from taking a job on the top floor or attending a social gathering on the rooftop. Sure, you can take the stairs if you insist and arrive winded and sweaty, with the party about to wrap up. But is this the quality of life you seek? Elevators are designed to make life easier. There are guaranteed ways to help you overcome elevatophobia. Take the first step and seek help. Soon, you’ll see yourself breezing through the floors with those arduous stair climbs little more than a memory.
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