Anthropophobia, also known as a relationship phobia, and a pathological fear of people and of people’s company. This fear manifests itself in a desire to avoid society, a morbid fear of people and their presence.

Considered a pathological form of shyness, the word anthropophobia comes from the Greek “anthropo” which means man, and “phobia” which means fear.

Anthropophobia is therefore an obsessive fear of others, felt in a totally irrational way (like all phobias). Individuals with anthropophobia experience tremendous psychological anxiety and anguish when a person approaches them or when their personal and intimate space is violated. These people therefore isolate themselves much more than normal people. 

When a person tries to come into contact with an anthropophobe, the latter feels great physical discomfort, which can go through certain compulsions to keep the disturbing person away.

A pathological form of shyness, anthropophobia particularly affects adolescents, but it is often temporary. It is characterized by:

• severe reddening;
• increased anxiety in the company of others;
• dizziness ;
• or difficulties in expressing themselves. 

This phobia can quickly become insurmountable for adolescents who withdraw into themselves in the face of this unexplained fear. In them, this phobia can evolve into a school phobia and therefore an inability to follow their courses in high school and to be in contact with other students.

Anthropophobia can be explained by trauma originating from a past event or by genetic factors. The traumas involved often take place during childhood or during subsequent humiliation in a group.

Emotional disturbances experienced in the past, stressful situations within a group, etc., many causes can be at the origin of this fear of people, but these causes are often well hidden and buried, leaving only protruding the iceberg of obsessive fear of others.

What an anthropophobe reveals to those around him is first of all an exacerbated shyness of an autistic form. The individual prefers the relative suffering of isolation than the unbearable suffering of confronting the group and other people. The withdrawal into oneself is then inevitable. In addition, the anthropophobe is caught in a vicious circle: the more he isolates himself, the more he is stigmatized by others, who characterize him as asocial, the more he feels rejected by the group and is pushed into isolation.

As for the physical symptoms, they are numerous and still lead him to hide and isolate himself: 

• blushing;
• constant anxiety;
• dizziness;
• and sometimes eye disorders;
• or even attacks of anxiety and spasmophilia.

We can use the same methods as for many phobias:

• cognitive-behavioral approaches, in particular Ericksonian hypnosis and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming);
• if the individual knows the origin of his phobia (known trauma), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) can be used to treat it;
• psychoanalysis will finally be able to be of a saving help for the individual who completely ignores the origins of his phobia.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) will focus on how humans function in a given environment, based on their behavioral patterns. By using certain methods and tools, NLP will help the individual to change their perception of the world around them. This will thus modify his initial behaviors and his conditioning, by operating in the structure of his vision of the world. In the case of a phobia, this method is particularly suitable.

As for EMDR, meaning desensitization and reprocessing by eye movements, it uses sensory stimulation which is practiced by eye movements, but also by auditory or tactile stimuli. This method makes it possible to stimulate a complex neuropsychological mechanism present in all of us. This stimulation would make it possible to reprocess moments experienced as traumatic and undigested by our brain, which can be the cause of very disabling symptoms, such as phobias.

These two words are often associated or confused. They mean two very different things. Misanthropy is a moral and philosophical position, devoting a hatred towards humanity, in a totally rational and conscious manner. The physical symptoms are almost absent, except for the isolation that can result.

There is no phobia in misanthropy, unlike anthropophobia, in which the fear of others is irrational, experienced as unexplained anxiety.

In Molière’s play, “The misanthrope”, The main character Alceste is a very famous example of a misanthrope. Also, the philosopher Cioran or Yves Paccalet author of the pamphlet “Humanity will disappear, good riddance !”Are other examples.