The fear of nudity or gymnophobia is a highly personalized phobia. Some people with this fear are only afraid of being naked in public, as in common showers or changing rooms. However, some people also fear being naked while with their partner or even when they are alone.
Others also fear being naked and alone. Many people with gymnophobia cannot participate in sexual activities, and may develop a more general fear of sex, that stems from their gymnophobia. In extreme cases, this fear can even lead to a phobia of bathing or showering. Some people are comfortable in their own nudity but fear the nudity of others.
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Causes
Gymnastics can have many different causes. People who have been through sexual trauma are at higher risk for phobia, in part because they feel especially vulnerable when naked or because they experience nudity as a triggering event.
Fear of nudity (or, more commonly, sex) can also be triggered by being raised in a conservative culture or religion that disapproves of nudity and sexual expression.
Children and adolescents can also develop this fear if they are bullied or embarrassed for some reason related to their bodies, such as developing more or less quickly than their peers.
Gymnophobia is sometimes related to other anxieties as well, such as fear of vulnerability or fear of intimacy. It can also be linked to body dysmorphic disorder, social anxiety, and other conditions that make people unusually critical of themselves.
Lastly, having surgical scars or other disfigurements can cause increased body embarrassment that can easily turn into gymnastics.
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Face the fear of being naked
Many people with gymnophobia find that simple adjustments help keep their fears at bay.
For example, they may refuse to shop in stores that have common locker rooms, they may skip the shower after exercising, and they may have sex with the lights off.
For mild to moderate gymnastics, this may be all that is required to prevent the condition from disrupting your life.
Over time, however, the fear can worsen, and gymnophobic people may find themselves changing an ever-growing list of activities to avoid showing off their bodies.
Treatments
When gymnastics has a profoundly disruptive effect on a person’s life – for example, when they stop bathing – that action is necessary.
Gymnastics, like all phobias , responds well to a variety of treatment methods. Depending on your therapist’s school of thought , you may be encouraged to research your past to determine the root cause of your fear.
Or you can simply learn techniques to overcome your current fearful thoughts. Whichever path you take, getting through gymnastics takes time and effort, but the rewards are well worth it.
Hello, how are you? My name is Georgia Tarrant, and I am a clinical psychologist. In everyday life, professional obligations seem to predominate over our personal life. It's as if work takes up more and more of the time we'd love to devote to our love life, our family, or even a moment of leisure.