Vestiphobia and gymnophobia: which are you?

Added: 10/28/2006

So, are you afraid of clothes or being without them? Whether it be in front of many or only certain people, vestiphobia and gymnophobia complement one another. Gymnophobes fear being seen naked and vestiphobes fear clothing. These gymnophobic peoples fear may stem from anxiety about sexuality in general, or from a feeling of vulnerability associated with the thought of being exposed and unprotected while vestiphobes may not want to feel the natural protection felt while clothed.

Although being nude in a public place is an act of civil disobedience in most areas, what is the vestiphobic person to do? Likewise, those who suffer from gymnophobia can not take a shower, go to the bathroom, or change clothes in front of people without fear. Doing day to day normal things become frightening and this irrational fear may prevent the vestiphobe and gymnophobia sufferers from living normal day to day lives with the people whom they call family, friends and coworkers. Can you imagine living life afraid to be dressed? What job could you possibly hold? What is the real cost to your health, your career or school and to your family? Avoiding the issue indefinitely would mean resigning yourself to living in fear, missing out on priceless life experiences big and small, living a life that is just a shadow of what it could actually be if the condition hadn’t attached itself to you.

The cause of gymnophobia , like all fears and phobias is created by the unconscience mind as a protective mechanism. At some point in the person’s past, there was likely an event linking nudity and emotional trauma. While the original catalyst may have been a real-life scare of some kind, the condition can also be triggered by movies, tv or perhaps seeing someone else experience trauma. As long as this association is powerful enough, the unconscious mind thinks “Ah, this whole thing is very dangerous. How do I keep myself safe? I’ll attach terrible feelings to nudity, that way I’ll steer clear and be safe”. Just like that a fear or phobia is born. Sometimes these sufferers and gymnophobia sufferers just get the wiring wrong.

The actual phobia manifests itself in different ways. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea and overall feelings or dread. Some experience the condition almost all the time, others do so just in response to a certain stimuli.

Regaining control of your emotions and conquering your fear takes time. Almost like adding insult to injury, the vestiphobic and gymnophobia must be repeatedly exposed to the very fear to rapidly retrain their unconscious mind to connect different, positive feelings to the stimuli that trigger the phobia. Learning to quickly stop the root cause of the fear, those awful thoughts, images and movies or sounds will cause the vestiphobic and gymnophobia sufferers feel safe and will teach them how to respond appropriately. Hypnosis is used in some instances, but this is rare as hypnosis is not an exact science and any number of things could trigger the hypnotized to become un-hypnotized at a most inopportune moment.

The process usually requires no more than ten hours to treat the condition, no matter what the phobia. A guaranteed outcome is typical in most cases when working with a qualified therapist, and they will work with a sufferer for as long as it takes. Usually as part of the work there is some easy and enjoyable homework to do which will be part of vestiphobic and gymnophobia sufferers’ success. Vanquishing fear and anxiety can siginifcantly impact a sufferer’s quality of life by empathyzing the gymnophobia summary. It can bring people together and increase the likelihood of living a normal life.

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