Being Alone is definitely sad and depressing, but when the sadness or fear of being alone becomes a persistent fear and affects your Mental well-being, this scenario is called Autophobia. Due to the pandemic and social distancing policies, the number of people with autophobia has increased dramatically.

 

This phobia is also known as Monophobia in other words fear of being isolated. For some people, the idea of being alone causes severe anxiety and stress.  They (Autophobes) always want to be surrounded by someone, maybe family members, friends, or relatives.

 

This blog will discuss autophobia in detail along with its symptoms, causes, treatment, and other health risks related to autophobia, autophobia versus loneliness.

 

SYMPTOMS OF AUTOPHOBIA: CHECK DO YOU HAVE A FEAR OF BEING ALONE?

 

One may experience symptoms of Autophobia or Monophobia even not being physically alone. The first and foremost symptom of Autophobia is trying to avoid loneliness. Moreover, autophobia is quite complex and the symptoms of this phobia are not specific at all. It is difficult to distinguish autophobia from other different types of disorders such as separation anxiety disorder or attachment disorders. Symptoms of Monophobia differ depending on the person and circumstances. However, there are some identical symptoms that are apprehended by most of the people who suffer from this phobia of feeling alone.

 

• Obsessive anxiety about being alone with physical symptoms including sweating, chest pain, dizziness, increased heart rate, stomach ache, headache or nausea.
• Having frequent panic attacks.
• Numbness and failure to think clearly.
• People want to run away from any event or situation when they feel alone.
• Changes in food habits and sleeping patterns usually result in sleepless nights due to fear.
• Don’t want to leave the company, even when it is impractical.

 

ARE THE CAUSES OF AUTOPHOBIA OR FEAR OF BEING ALONE SIMILAR TO OTHER PHOBIAS?

 

The fear of being alone is all about getting intense feelings of discomfort when you believe you are about to be left alone even for a short period of time. Phobias generally develop in the early years of life.  The reasons behind monophobia or fear of loneliness are not always clearly apparent. However, there are some common causes of  feeling alone which are explained below:

 

Fear Of Facing Your Thoughts:

 

The human mind can do a lot of tricks in order to help a person escape from a problem or an unwanted thought. Once your subconscious mind realizes that you want to run away from a certain thought, your mind can actually do that in various ways. One of the ways your subconscious mind can help you to escape an unwanted thought is to prevent you from being alone, by making you feel uncomfortable, or anxious when you are not with company. In such a case, because you’re too afraid to face your problems, your subconscious mind wants to use this trick to prevent you from facing them.

 

Fear Of Being Abandoned:

 

If you feel that you were abandoned by your parents during childhood or by your significant others, then you might develop Monophobia in your adulthood.  Additionally, any childhood wound that happened to you in the past would become the primary source of your fear. If this is the cause, then deep down in your heart, you might be too afraid the past will repeat itself and that the people will abandon you again.

 

Wrong Understanding Of Closeness:

 

Many people, especially women, give a wrong meaning to the word, closeness. Those people assume that love means that a person must be next to them 24/7. Those people also believe that if someone goes away for some time, this means that this person doesn’t like them. This wrong understanding of the dynamics of love and of the individual differences between people can result in the fear of being alone.

 

Serious Self-Esteem Issues:

 

If the person has serious doubts about themselves, or their own self-worth, they might become extremely sensitive when being left alone. For instance, the person interprets the event of being alone as if they are not worthy of being loved. This perception feeds the fear of being alone and the person does their best to avoid that situation in order to not feel unworthy.

 

Intense Need For Approval:

 

The need for approval can become so intense that the person might feel bad whenever they are left alone. In this case, the person fears being alone because, for them, it means others are not approving them

 

IS YOUR FEAR OF BEING ALONE NORMAL?

 

It’s not hard to understand Autophobia. A weekend or holiday spent alone might trigger feelings of loneliness. But a certain level of fear is good for you because it’s “an evolutionary response that helps you survive,” says Carmichael. The problem occurs when there is a constant fear. The fear doesn’t leave you anyway.

 

LONELINESS VS AUTOPHOBIA:

 

Loneliness and autophobia are not the same. They have differences and variations between them.

 

Loneliness: Everybody feels lonely from time to time. When we have no one to sit next to at lunch, when we move to a new city, or when nobody has time for us on the weekend. But this is an occasional feeling and this feeling of loneliness disappears after a small period of time.

 

On the other hand, Autophobia is an anxiety disorder and a chronic long-term fear of loneliness. Feeling alone is rational and a natural human emotion whereas autophobia is an irrational fear of being alone. There is no danger associated with being alone but  Autophobia might be threatening as it could result in an accident or an actual danger.

 

HOW TO MANAGE MONOPHOBIA OR FEAR OF BEING ALONE:

 

We are living in the most connected times of human history. Yet, an unprecedented number of people feel isolated. This prolonged isolation aggregates to autophobia. However, like other phobias, autophobia can be treated too. Here are some strategies that you can follow to overcome your fear of being alone.

 

Although it is not easy to overcome autophobia. But persistent and consistent efforts along with management of symptoms help one to overcome autophobia. Therapy and medication are available for people with the fear of being left alone. Gradual exposure to fear also works very well. For instance, one should try to stay in a room alone initially for 5 minutes and gradually increase the time spent alone in the vacant room.

 

Moreover, you must avoid fear to conquer your fear. It will hopefully help if you start noticing your triggers. Try to remember Specific situations when you feel alone because the more we know about our triggers the better we get to know ourselves. This will certainly help to control yourself at your crisis moment.

 

And remember only you can give yourself the love you need and deserve.  Everyone else in your life can only add to that love and respect. But they won’t be able to love or provide you company if you don’t know how to love yourself. Have confidence in your ability that you can stay alone without any company.

 

If you feel you are having symptoms of Monophobia or in other words Autophobia, Don’t be scared because there is help and support always available for you. Moreover, you are not the only person who is suffering through these conditions, there are millions of people going through similar types of experience. According to the International Loneliness Index, 2 in every 5 people suffer from acute loneliness. However,  with proper treatment and support, autophobia usually reduces significantly or goes away entirely.