Hereophobia. A Hidden Disease That Robs People Of Happiness

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

“I think I was afraid of this since childhood. It was especially hard when I had to participate in entertainment events. Everyone laughed and rejoiced, but I felt uneasy. It seemed that something terrible was about to happen."

If what is happening often seems to a person too good to be true, and moments of happiness are more frightening than pleasing, because misfortune will inevitably come after them or they will have to pay with pain, he has herophobia.

The word "cherophobia" comes from the Greek "chairo" ("I rejoice") and means the fear of happiness, joy.

People with cherophobia do not constantly experience the sad or anxious state of depression and anxiety disorder - they are afraid only of those events that can give them a sense of joy. It seems to such people that if they allow themselves to become happy and carefree even for a short time, some sad or tragic event will surely follow.

Herophobia most often manifests itself in the fact that people:

1) Try to avoid participating in recreational activities.

2) Avoid watching comedy films and funny performances, considering it a waste of time.

3) They never talk about something good that happened in their life or devalue it when they mention it.

4) They try not to think about happiness, once again forbid themselves to even remember joyful moments so that something bad does not happen.

4) Feel bad or guilty when they are happy.

5) Feel fear when they realize they are happy.

6) Unconsciously give up everything that could change their life for the better.

Herophobia is usually caused by the attitudes of relatives or other significant adults learned in childhood. For example, a grandmother or mother could often say: "Don't laugh, otherwise you will cry later!" or "All good things will come at a price."

It turns out that such destructive attitudes are inherited from people who themselves lived in fear of joy. They were accepted by the child as truth, he believed in them, and they became his convictions. That is, the person seems to be defending himself: I feel bad even now, so it certainly won't be worse.

Here you can also talk about an unconscious desire to support your ancestral system, that is, not to offend a close relative, to share his feelings: my mother has not seen anything good in her life - how can I now be happy?

Herophobia can arise after a child was unsuccessfully joked about in childhood, or after an unsuccessful prank, when he was hurt and offended, and everyone around was laughing. Then, for him, any funny or joyful situation will automatically be associated with those negative emotions that he experienced then.

The reason for herophobia can also be a tragedy that happened during the holiday or immediately after it, and a strong cause-and-effect relationship "joy - misfortune" was formed in the mind of a person.

In order to get rid of the fear of happiness, it is necessary to understand the reasons for the negative associations between joy and pain and change them. Since it is usually difficult to do this on your own, it is worth seeking help from a psychologist.