Phobia of People and What You Can Do About It

phobia of peoplePhobia of people is definitely a phobia that is well alive and kicking, no matter how absurd it may sound especially if it is the first time you are hearing of it. People may be able to accept that some people might have a phobia of specific people, such as clowns, bald people, smelly people, but when it comes to phobia of people in general, people seem to be unable to accept it and usually just laugh it off.

What I mean by phobia of people is that certain people are generally afraid of places with people and afraid to interact with other people. This is especially even truer for people who suffer from social anxiety or shyness. If you do not know what is social anxiety, then you might want to check out this article Do you have social anxiety first.

It is completely normal for people who are currently suffering from any kind of anxiety disorders to develop a phobia of people. Even for people who do not suffer from these disorders, they still have a slight phobia of people. Have you ever feared public speaking or stepping into a store completely unknown to you? At first glance, this may sound like a specific phobia, but they are basically just phobia of people also if you think about it carefully.

You are usually afraid of public speaking because it puts you in front of a lot of people who are going to judge and criticize you, and when you step into an unknown store you do not know who is going to attend to you and whether you will able to shrug their sales pitch off. All of these are interactions with people you want to avoid, and hence they can also be considered as a phobia of people.

So what can you actually do to get rid of this phobia? Well, basically doing the same things as overcoming shyness or getting rid of social anxiety would be good enough. But if you really want something more specific, then here is what you should do:

Just start to face your fears! Start to go out more often and interact with more people, one step at a time. This may sound really simple right from the start, but you will realize how difficult it actually can be if you have developed a strong phobia for people. If you have always been cooped up inside your own home and de-valued yourself greatly, then you will find a greater inertia when it comes to moving your butt and getting out of the house.

Start slow, one step at a time. For instance, if you have always bought food from the same stalls, change to a new one and try to strike up a simple conversation with the stall holder such as the weather or their business for the day. Take up new courses around your neighbourhood and start making new friends. Talk to the random person beside you in class whom you do not know. All of these are very simple and manageable small steps that anyone can do today to help overcome their phobia of people.

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