1. FEAR OF MARRIAGE AMONG YOUNGSTERS

             Marriage implies lifelong duties, responsibilities and commitments towards the partner and the offspring. 

         Fear of Marriage is signified by intense and irrelevant low confidence on one’s competence to manage the affairs of marriage and family.

SYMPTOMS OF FEAR OF MARRIAGE

Major symptoms that can occur with someone having Fear of Marriage (both in men and women):

          Continuous rejection of marriage proposals.

          Aggressive reaction on discussion of reasons of rejections.

          Irrational and extreme fear of marriage and commitment (even a thought of marriage or seeing someone

          else marry can trigger the fear).

          Complete avoidance of marriage or related events and discussions.

          Realization that the fear is irrational but unable to control.

          Low-self esteem

REASONS BEHIND FEAR/ESCAPE FROM MARRIAGE:

Fear of Marriage is a common phobia that occurs in people, especially men. Men tend to fear marriage due to the personal, financial and social risks that come along with marriage. Thus, Fear of Marriage can be caused by:

• Personal insecurity
• Related distressful incident
• Depression
• Rising rate of divorce
• Check on freedom
• Excessive career consciousness
• Expenditure on marriage
• Urge for multiple sex partners

CONSEQUENCES OF FEAR/ESCAPE OF MARRIAGE:

Fear of marriage can be a serious issue as it can either make a person to GET MARRIED IN MIDDLE AGE or  STAY UNMARRIED FOR WHOLE LIFE. Consequences of both the situations are very harmful for the person as well as for the society.

• Unmarried  cannot enjoy interpersonal affection, care, togetherness and bonding with wife/husband and children.
• Without marriage, social relationships don’t grow and one remains isolated in the society.
• On entering  the middle age, unmarried person starts feeling his/her life as  purposeless and the inspiration to work and  earn money slowly goes down ultimately leading to depression.
• Majority among the unmarried, get married in middle age or late middle age, with a person who is much below the level of persons he/she could get at his/her marriageable age.
• Unmarried generally go for alternate measures of companionship and sexual gratification like LIVE IN RELATIONSHIP or SAME SEX PARTNERSHIP or VISITING BROTHELS which may be the source of some serious ailments like HIV/AIDS, STDs and Skin Diseases.

All the so called alternatives to marriage neither serve the purpose of marriage nor are socially acceptable nor are self-fulfilling.