Fear of being alone

I'm Afraid Of Being Alone!

Fear of being alone is the thing many people are experiencing daily. It may range from fear that a friend, lover or a spouse may leave you to be all by yourself, all the way to fearing every second of your solitary time anywhere. Some people may have this fear because they lack self-confidence while other may simply be paranoid and easily frightened once they are alone. Whatever the reason might be, people who fear being alone may hear and see things which are not happening. For example, a person suffering from this phobia, once left alone in a house during the night, may frequently jump out of bed, checking the locks, afraid of turning off the lights, seeing and hearing something in the dark. This condition may be quite bothersome and it can evolve to many other phobias causing problems to both people near the troubled person and the person him or herself.

Isolophobia

The title bears the medically assigned name for this condition. It is often a product of a traumatic experience the person in question developed either during childhood or later in life. The very peak of one's inability and fear of spending time alone involves the necessity of this person being accompanied even to the toilet.

People suffering from this phobia tend to do nothing without a companion. This involves both staying in their homes or going out in public. Fear of losing this companion of theirs is so great that they do not allow him or her a single moment without them. When left alone, these people get anxious, sad and depressed, unwilling to leave their homes, let alone socialize with other people. Then, they are left to themselves, fearing many different things, incapable of finding work, getting into relationships, or doing anything other than feeling miserable.

Children get used to their parents providing them attention and protection so much, that, once they grow up, they find such a person somewhere else and cannot function on their own. Fear of being alone in the dark is also closely connected to this, and the situations mentioned above.

Possible Means of Overcoming This Fear

In most cases, persons suffering from this problem are unable of recognizing, let alone excepting it. Therefore, people close to them are those who have to take further steps. The best cure involves psychiatric counseling and therapy. It is a long an troublesome process, highly effective in the end.