Gelatophobia: The Fear of Being Laughed At

Course overview

Gelotophobia: The Fear of Being Laughed At is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that examines a relatively unknown phobia stemming from the behavior of laughter. Human laughter is ubiquitous and has been found worldwide and in all cultures. The fear of being laughed at, gelotophobia, is also found everywhere, yet it is generally unrecognized in the United States. Thus, most therapists and clinicians in the U.S. are typically unaware of this syndrome, and they tend to misdiagnosis it as a form of social anxiety or generalized anxiety. Gelotophobia may, in fact, be a symptom of both social anxiety and avoidant personality disorders but is distinct from social phobia. Exact statistics of the prevalence of gelotophobia are not yet available, but it is quite frequent and can be seriously debilitating in both children and adults. Laughter can mock, ridicule, and demean. Not all smiles or laughter are friendly. Gelotophobes have difficulty distinguishing those differences and so they tend to regard all laughter as negative. When employed as a manipulative tool, laughter can be a source of anxiety, stress, avoidance behaviors, and fears for some individuals. This course reviews the available research literature on gelotophobia and discusses its salient features, possible causes, methods of assessment, and offers an innovative treatment approach. The roles of shame, vulnerability, and guilt in gelotophobia will be discussed, as will symptom similarities between gelotophobia and borderline personality disorder, the degree of gelotophobia in adults with ASD, and the association of gelotophobic symptoms with major psychological syndromes. Many case histories of gelotophobes trace the beginnings of their wariness to childhood, typically associated with being bullied. One major implication, therefore, is for school counselors to be vigilant in finding, evaluating, and reducing bullying incidents on their campus. The related phenomena of gelotophilia (the joy of being laughed at and ridiculed) and katagelasticism (feeling special pleasure in making fun of other people) will also be reviewed. Course #31-59 | 2025 | 51 pages | 20 posttest questions | Mobile-Friendly