Children experiencing childhood trauma will go to great lengths to cope, often using extreme tactics to remain “young and protected forever.” It’s a psychological means of protecting themselves, and often, it is harmless, say medical experts. But once in a great while, the obsession to remain child-like and innocent is taken to the extreme, as in the case of a 14-year-old Mexican youth who unknowingly put his health in jeopardy.
This case was reported in the Dec. 21, 2014 open-access journal Case Reports in Psychiatry. Researchers at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, in northern Mexico diagnosed the teenager with gerascophobia, an excessive fear of growing up. The case is interesting because it is so very rare. There have been only two previously reported cases of gerascophobia in the medical literature.
The affliction appears to have started when the young man was around 11 to 12 years of age. The child began adopting a stooped posture to appear shorter than he was and stopped eating. He searched the Internet for advice in how to stop ejaculating. He also began distorting his voice, speaking in a high, squeaky tone.
Specialists in Mexico noted in their case study that the boy’s mother also treated him as if he were a younger child, singing him lullabies and choosing what he wore every day. It was also noted that the boy had seen a psychologist for a year, but the therapy did not help. It was after this that the boy was referred to the Autonomous University of Nuevo León.
The case report noted the teenager “felt his body development was a threat, to the point where he took extreme measures to stop or otherwise hide growth. Every time he notices a physical change that indicates that he is growing, he feels fear and anxiety, to the point that he has considered undergoing multiple surgeries to hide it. If people tell him that he is taller or older, he becomes extremely upset and cries.”
Early childhood trauma appears to be the instigating factor in the boy’s fear of growing older, according to the report. The report reveals that at the age of five, he suffered separation anxiety, for which he received treatment once a week for several months, seemingly improving. Then, at the age of six, he was sexually abused by a 16-year old neighbor.
The parents noticed a change in their son, especially his refusal to play at their neighbor’s home. But the full magnitude of the incident did not come out until the boy was under treatment with the research group. It was learned that by the sixth grade, the boy was being bullied 2 to 3 times a week at school. His mother was an overly anxious personality, and very dependent. The boy’s father, on the other hand, was rigid and often judgmental.
Medical Daily cites a similar situation involving the TLC’s reality show “ My Crazy Obsession—A Real Life Adult Baby,” saying the compulsion to revert back to early childhood is not that uncommon. They point to Stanley, who spends up to eight hours a day dressed in a diaper role-playing as a baby. They say this is the result of a childhood trauma.
“It’s a feeling of being safe, something I didn’t have growing up. There was child abuse going on at the time and being an adult baby became my way of coping with the world and my own problems,” Stanley explained on the show. But Medical Daily also points out that Stanley’s obsession with role-playing is a lot different from being scared to grow up, a very real and frightening fear.
Two years after starting therapy, there is progress. The boy was treated with the antidepressant fluoxetine, intense psychotherapy, and family therapy. His posture improved and his voice has returned to normal. He also gained weight. “He is able to imagine the future, living on his own and working as an actor, and this is an idea he likes; however, he continues to express a fear of commitment and responsibilities that he feels will be required of him in adult life,” the researchers said.
