![]() ![]() Still, "it can be very difficult" to draw the line between tokophobia and normal fears because "there's not a great textbook definition" for it, Gur says. How to tell if you have tokophobiaĪgain, tokophobia is different from being nervous about being pregnant or giving birth. "I would be surprised if someone had a pregnancy phobia isolated from other anxieties, unless they had seen something traumatic as a child," Gallagher says. "Anxiety can lily-pad and jump from one thing to the next," she explains.Ĭleveland Clinic says people with the following phobias may also be more likely to develop tokophobia: People who have "high levels of anxiety" are more likely to develop tokophobia, Thea Gallagher, a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health and co-host of the Mind in View podcast, tells Yahoo Life. And she adds, "It's not uncommon to see fear of pregnancy in those situations." Are certain people more likely to develop tokophobia? Tamar Gur, a women's health expert and reproductive psychiatrist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. For these people, "being back in the same environment can be very triggering," Dr. "This type of fear of pregnancy is usually just one of many reactions to pregnancy- or childbirth-related traumas, which can include posttraumatic stress disorder and mood disorders," Capaldi says. The second major cause is related to traumatic experiences someone may have had during pregnancy or childbirth. Pregnant women often gain weight or need to have blood drawn, so a fear of becoming pregnant may develop if a person has another existing related fear." A history of sexual abuse or rape could also feed into this fear, Capaldi says. "In these cases, one might be afraid of becoming pregnant because it could lead to these other fears. ![]() "The first is the presence of other fears or phobias that are functionally related to pregnancy or childbirth, such as extreme fear of gaining weight or extreme fear of needles," she says. Two main precursors lead to the development of an extreme fear of pregnancy, Sandy Capaldi, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and director of implementation at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania, tells Yahoo Life. Story continues Where does the fear of pregnancy come from? If you're feeling nervous about pregnancy right now, it's understandable to have questions about tokophobia and whether your fears may be classified as an actual phobia. Misty Richards, a psychiatrist who specializes in perinatal mental health at UCLA Health, tells Yahoo Life. ![]() While it's normal to have some concerns about pregnancy, people with tokophobia "present with severe distress and avoidant thoughts and behaviors, to an extent that extends beyond what can be considered a normal reaction," Dr. People with tokophobia are also more likely to choose a cesarean section if they become pregnant, seek an abortion if they become pregnant or put their baby up for adoption, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Trying to hide the fact that you’re pregnantįeeling disconnected from your partner or loved ones Not feeling emotionally connected to your unborn child People with tokophobia may have never experienced pregnancy or may have had a traumatic event during a previous pregnancy that led to the phobia.Īccording to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms of tokophobia can include: This pathological fear of pregnancy can lead to someone going to sometimes extreme measures to avoid becoming pregnant. Researchers estimate that about 0.032% of the population experiences this. Tokophobia is an intense fear of pregnancy - more specifically, it's an overwhelming, debilitating phobia of childbirth, according to the BMJ. It's called tokophobia and, while it's rare, it can be scary to experience. But while some have expressed fears about an unintended pregnancy or what they would do if they happened to have a complicated pregnancy, there is an actual phobia people can experience around pregnancy. Wade, the landmark legislation that guaranteed women the right to an abortion on a federal level. Social media is already flooded with comments from women who say they're scared of getting pregnant now that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Tokophobia is an intense fear of pregnancy and childbirth. ![]()
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