Dancing is a stress buster and a way to let emotions flow for many. Some of you might even be professional dancers or at least love dancing, be it dancing for a competition or dancing in a baraat at a friend’s wedding. But have you ever thought that dancing could also cause fear and anxiety in someone? Yes, you heard right, there’s a phobia where people fear dancing, known as chorophobia. Let’s understand more about this phobia and also its symptoms and treatments.
What Is Chorophobia?
Chorophobia is a fear of dancing that occurs when someone is too uncomfortable at the thought of dancing. The word “Choro” is derived from the Greek language, which means dance. Many might not even believe this, but this condition is more ordinary than we know.
There are many reasons for an individual who is suffering from it.
- Associated with other phobias
Chorophobia is specifically related to other phobias at times. Phobias related to fear of crowds, fear of embarrassment, or fear of being touched can enhance the intensity of this phobia.
- Distressful events
Many of us might have experienced an embarrassing event when it comes to dancing, such as tripping over while dancing or stepping on someone’s feet. Most of us tend to shrug away at this moment or just laugh about it, but this can be one of the causes of chorophobia. This embarrassment can be the reason why one would fear dancing ever again.
- Depression
As we all know, depression has always been correlated with many mental illnesses, which also include phobia. Depression makes an individual lose interest in everything they once loved, be it talking or even dancing, which is why if someone has depression, it can also cause a fear of being in public places to perform.
- Past trauma
Childhood trauma or a person’s upbringing can also be one of the causes of an individual’s chorophobia. Someone who is brought up in a strict household where they have been restricted from dancing or belongs to a religious organization where dancing is prohibited, then there’s a high probability of that individual developing chorophobia.
Symptoms
1. Panic Attacks
Any moment of intense fear or discomfort can cause an individual to suffer from a panic attack, which can reach its peak within minutes. There are many signs of panic attacks, such as increased heart rate, excessive sweating, difficulty breathing, and shivering.
2. Isolation In Social Situations
An individual suffering from it might isolate himself in social situations to avoid being forced to dance.
3. Avoiding Places Of Dance
An individual who suffers from chorophobia tends to avoid visiting places such as weddings, parties, and nightclubs where they would be encouraged to dance, as this can cause stress.
4. Become Aggressive
When someone is suffering from extreme chorophobia, they might even get feisty when forced to dance, as it puts them under a lot of pressure and stress.
Treatments
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy helps in improving mental health and well-being by settling troubling behavior, compulsions, emotions, and thoughts. Two common treatments are used by psychotherapists: hypnotherapy and exposure therapy
- Hypnotherapy: Hypnosis is used to help awaken the subconscious mind to change behavior patterns. This may help the therapists to find the triggers that might cause fear of dancing. This is considered to be the safe and fast way to deal with almost every phobia.
- Exposure Therapy: This therapy is used to break the pattern of fear and disliking by creating a safe environment. The therapist exposes an individual to face his fears to overcome them.
Medications
Another method used is medications. Prescribed medications like antidepressants and anti-anxiety can be used to ease the symptoms as they help to balance the serotonin levels, but one should know that they can’t cure the phobia.
Conclusion
This just shows that there could be a fear of anything. A thing that might be normal or common to us, someone else might be afraid of it. We should make sure we help that person in every possible way instead of making fun of them or making them more afraid.
