GYMNOPHOBIA (fear of nudity): what is it, symptoms, causes and treatment

Surely you know someone, or maybe you feel embarrassed to show your naked body, and even someone showing you theirs makes you feel uncomfortable and you want to get out of there. What happens if that feeling gets worse and worse, to the point that it makes it impossible for you to be in situations where someone shows her naked body? Or maybe you can stand them but have a tremendous desire to run out of there?

In this case we could start talking about gymnophobia or fear of nudity. If you know someone to whom this happens, or you are just curious, keep reading! In this Psychology-Online article, we will talk in detail about the Gymnophobia: what is it, symptoms, causes and treatment.

Index

1. What is gymnophobia
2. Symptoms of gymnophobia
3. Causes of gymnophobia
4. Treatment of gymnophobia

Gymnophobia from the Greek gymnos (naked) and phobos (irrational fear or phobia), we could define it as the irrational fear of naked bodies

If you want to know which ones are included in this group, in this article you will find examples of which are the most common phobias.

Diagnostic criteria for gymnophobia according to the DSM-V

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5^[1], the diagnostic criteria for gymnophobia are the following:

• Fear or anxiety of naked bodies almost always triggered immediately.
• actively avoided, or is faced with intense fear or anxiety, exposure to naked bodies.
• The fear or anxiety are exaggerated regarding the real danger it poses to the socio-cultural environment in which the person finds himself.
• Fear, anxiety or avoidant behaviors are persistent and have a minimum duration of 6 months.
• Causes clinically significant discomfort or affects one or more areas of functioning of the person who suffers from it.
• Not better explained by other mental disorders, medical illness, or substance use.

In this case, we would specify the code "others", since it is not a phobia of any animal, situation in the natural environment or blood, injections or damage.

Gymnophobia does not manifest itself in the same way in adults as in children. Next, we will see what the main symptoms of fear of nudity are in each case.

Symptoms of gymnophobia in adults

The clinical picture of gymnophobia in adults presents the following symptoms:

• Avoidance symptoms to situations where there may be naked bodies, such as public showers in gyms, nude beaches and sexual intercourse.
• Presence of high levels of activation.
• Inability to carry out common activities normally. People who suffer from it are unable to achieve their goals or maintain certain health habits.
• alteration and increased heart rate.
• Loss of control over behavior in the presence of the stimulus.

These symptoms are usually frequent and intense and can last after exposure to naked bodies, or can even appear in anticipation.

Symptoms of gymnophobia in children

Fear of nudity in children manifests itself as follows:

• cries.
• tantrums
• behavioral inhibition.
• Search for physical contact with the referring adult.

There are several factors that predispose and precipitate the individual to suffer from fear of nudity. The integrative explanatory model postulates that the appearance of specific phobias, such as gymnophobia, is due to the genetic and environmental transmission. Thus, there is a genetic inheritance and an environmental inheritance modeled by the avoidant and overprotective educational style/model of the parents or caregivers who interact with each other.

Genetic and environmental heredities affect cause anxiety, attentional bias, physiological discomfort and inhibition, avoidance, and flight behaviors. This vulnerability is also involved in a bidirectional relationship with educational contingencies and environmental factors that, along with stressful life events and social learning, promote the development of phobias specific.

From this theoretical point of view, we will now describe what are the most frequent causes of gymnophobia according to whether they predispose or precipitate the appearance of this phobia:

Predisposing factors of gymnophobia

The factors that predispose the fear of nudity are:

• Genetic factors and heritability, currently focusing on epigenetics and the interaction between genes throughout development.
• Temperament and behavioral inhibition: absence of exploratory behavior in children, search for contact and continuous presence of the adult caregiver in less familiar situations, as well as a tendency to cry and fear in new situations and conflict.
• Parental risk behaviors: overprotective style and control. In this article you will see what are the characteristics of overprotective parents.
• anxiety sensitivityPreoccupation with bodily sensations or willingness to believe that anxiety symptoms are harmful.
• negative affect and neuroticism.

Precipitating factors of gymnodobia

The factors that precipitate the appearance of gymnophobia are:

• Classical or Paulovian conditioningas well as operant conditioning. There is a negative reinforcement (flight / avoidance of naked bodies) and also social or vicarious learning on some occasions
• Stressful life events at an early age and unpredictable environments.
• Puberty with its hormonal changes, as well as the sudden fluctuations resulting from these changes and that affect the receptors GABA, thus increasing the excitability of the neural circuitry of fear.

If you are wondering how to treat gymnophobia, the most effective, in the same way as for other simple or specific phobias, are the exposure therapies (live or interoceptive) and systematic desensitization, along with physiological control techniques such as abdominal breathing training, Jacobson's progressive relaxation, or mindfulness.

Currently, it has also been shown that the use and application of new information and communication technologies favor the prognosis of fear of nudity. For this reason, techniques such as virtual reality, augmented reality, cognitive-behavioral treatment computerized, or online and, games for therapeutic purposes or serious games.

On the other hand, the efficacy of cognitive and motivational therapies focused on cognitions about nudity that the patient presents. Here are the most important ones:

• Psychoeducation.
• Self-instruction training.
• Conflict resolution techniques.
• Cognitive restructuring.
• Positive reinforcement.

Regarding the pharmacological approach, no significant improvement has been shown in combining psychopharmaceuticals with psychological therapy, compared to psychological therapy without the administration of psychopharmaceuticals.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Gymnophobia (fear of nudity): what is it, symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

1. American psychiatric association, (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM–5. Madrid Spain. Pan American Medical Publishing.

• Belloch, A., Sandin, B., Ramos, F., (2009). Manual of psychopathology, volume II. Madrid. McGraw Hill / Interamericana de España, S.A.U.
• Ezpeleta, L., & Toro, J. (2014). developmental psychopathology. Madrid: Pyramid.