Cherophobia Is Real

I was reading @Peter-Molnar 's article about four days ago when he talk about Cherophobia. According to him "While many people might think that fear of happiness seems silly, for some it's a very real and debilitating phobia. Cherophobia can manifest itself in many ways, such as an aversion to Christmas or other holidays, parties, and other social events. Those with the phobia may also feel uncomfortable when others are enjoying themselves or display an exaggerated response to good news." You can read his full article here. It would be worth the time.

From the above, you can see that Cherophobia is the fear of happiness and despite how it might seem, it's a real thing, just like an allergy might seem funny to you, but it's a real problem for those who experience it. When I read that article, I started reminiscing about my childhood and certain things began to make sense.

In my childhood days, I had a father that was a disciplinarian and a mother who was going to heaven's length to manage whatever my dad was bringing to sustain us. It was a home where there was little to no time for hits, kisses or bedtime stories. It wasn't easy growing up like that. The disciplinarian tendencies of my father were on the ground, a demand for perfection in his children, especially me. Growing up, I missed out on all the fun things kids did during that age.

Looking back now, I can't tell if it was because I was trying to be the perfect son or if I was just afraid of fun. But I do remember days when my mother was urging me to go out and play with the other kids and I refused vehemently. After all, all of that time went into reading, so she made her peace with it eventually, even though she knew this was going to make for the improper development of this child.

Over the years though, having taught my fun to harbour fun in my childhood, I grew up into a teenager who was Cherophobic. Whenever my mates were excited over certain things, it made me uncomfortable as I just didn't see why they had to be so excited. I avoided any group stuff, howbeit, watched and loved it from a distance.

An unavoidable situation where I was required to be excited or be in a crowd or spotlight always caused my heart to race, basically a low impact anxiety attack. I just wanted to be alone in my corner of the room being the observer. It became harder and harder to stay that way. Mine was a bigger problem because despite introversion being one of the best human personas, and I was an introvert, it also fuels Cherophobia where both are present.

It took a long time to start getting over the problem, and this was only achievable because I met this girl. Over the next few years, she carefully sneaked into that protected space of mine, somehow convincing me she wasn't a threat to the peace, quiet and modest life I'd come to build inside my shell. She helped me along the way consciously and with a lot of effort. I remember trying to push her away, cos was becoming a source of comfort and happiness and I started to fear that. I tried pushing her away, again and again, but she wasn't going to have it and I'm grateful to God she didn't give up on me.

Conclusion

Today, I can say I'm far from that Cherophobic guy, but I haven't gone all the way. Sometimes, I still get a little anxious, but that's not the point. The point here is that this stuff is real and a good number of people suffer from it. Instead of looking at them like weirdos, try and help them. It's not like they hate to have fun and be happy, they fear it.

Thanks for reading...