Anxiety of Vaginal Penetration

The fear of vaginal penetration in women is one of the most important causes of vaginismus problem in our country. Moreover, the vaginismus problem is described as a anxiety of vaginal penetration in some sources.

Anxiety of Vaginal Penetration

The anxiety of vaginal penetration in women is one of the most important causes of vaginismus problem in our country. Moreover, the vaginismus problem is described as a anxiety of vaginal penetration in some sources.

False, exaggerated, and unreal stories about the first sexual intercourse fill young minds especially from childhood; and when it is time for girls to get married, these stories can cause vaginismus, which is the disease of inability to have sexual intercourse. All these unreal, exaggerated stories and superstitions in the form of urban legends whispered from ear to ear in the society are also known as “Sexual Myths”.

What are the stories that led to the anxiety of vaginal penetration?

According to the most common exaggerated stories, the loss of virginity is very painful, and the first sexual intercourse is highly difficult, painful, and can even cause death from hemorrhaging. In addition, the inexperience of the partner about sexual intercourse increases the anxiety of vaginal penetration.

Such fears also include the concern that the penis can go to a wrong place and damage the urinary tract or anus during sexual intercourse. Another anxiety of vaginal penetration is the myth “penis captivus”, also known as vaginal headlock.

How to prevent the anxiety of vaginal penetration?

The anxiety of vaginal penetration in women and men can be prevented with sexual information given primarily by the family and then by the school from an early age.

Considering that sexual identity begins to develop at 3 years of age, such information should be given from a very early age. The information and messages that the child needs to receive about sexuality is different at every age. Giving correct sexual information to the child will prevent unnecessary anxieties and exaggerated and false information that he/she will hear from the people in the following years.

Who have the fear of vaginal penetration among women?

• Those who do not have adequate knowledge about sexuality,
• Those raised by helicopter parents in a closed, conservative family,
• In people who have grown up in a modern environment but who are excessively afraid of pain and have high self-control.

The fear of vaginal penetration is mostly common in young girls who were raised without adequate knowledge of sexuality. Such girls are mostly those who have been raised by helicopter parents in a closed, conservative family. However, it is more likely to be seen in young girls with high self-control and a low threshold of pain, who have been raised in a modern environment.

How to overcome the anxiety of vaginal penetration?

It is extremely important to be informed correctly for being able to overcome the anxiety of vaginal penetration. Especially couples who will get married but have no previous experience should get general information about the genital anatomy and physiology before sexual intercourse. Couples can get support from sources such as books, encyclopedias, and trusted websites about sexuality.

If, despite getting general information, intense contractions are experienced during sexual intercourse due to having anxiety for pain, ache, bleeding etc., the problem has now turned into a problem called vaginismus. In such a case, it has become necessary to eliminate the fear of vaginal penetration with procedures intended to treat vaginismus.

Penis Captivus a Sexual Myth

According to our own statistics, some of patients with vaginismus (about one out of every five) are severely affected by the sexual myth ‘penis captivus’, who suffer from the problem of inability to have sexual intercourse with their partners. Penis captivus is a common sexual myth known as the condition in which, the woman does not leave the penis in the vagina by involuntarily contracting herself during sexual intercourse (vaginal headlock),and then the couple wrapped in a blanket is taken to the emergency department. It is interesting that this completely imaginary event is told in the form of urban legends similar to each other in different countries and cultures.

How do sexual myths affect?

Sexual myths settle in the subconscious especially from adolescence and then cause the fear of vaginal penetrations. These stories mostly derived from friend chats, home visit chats or Internet forums may result in conditions in which the woman closes herself, withdraws, and prevents her partner by pushing him during her first sexual experience. The cause of such behaviors is the woman’s instinctive self-protection mechanism that has a link to the tales about the first sexual intercourse told her before.

Such involuntary behaviors during sexual intercourse mostly do not have a cause that can be understood even by the women herself, and they are revealed during interviews conducted within the scope of sexual therapy sessions.

Anxiety of vaginal penetration in men

Similar to women, men may have the anxiety of vaginal penetration as well. In men, conditions such as fear, excessive excitement, sweating, palpitation during intercourse are usually caused by lack of sexual knowledge and experience. Experiencing sexual intercourse at an advanced age increases this anxiety.

The anxiety of vaginal penetration in men can manifest itself with ‘premature ejaculation’ immediately after erection, which occurs in consequence of the activation of the ‘sympathetic system'. Like in the treatment of vaginismus, they are treated with cognitive behavioral sexual therapies administered with the systematic desensitization technique.