Kenophobia- Fear of voids or empty spaces
As I have told my clients and students on many occasions. “the unconscious mind abhors a vacuum” The reason for that is that generally speaking we dislike not knowing things. For the vast majority of people, when we do not know something we go out and get the information. Of course, in this example I am referring to empty spaces or voids in our knowledge. There are other types of voids which are more physical. Some people see an empty space as an opportunity for conversion and change.
However, there are however people who have an intense fear of voids or empty spaces. These people are said to be suffering from kenophobia. Sufferers see empty spaces or voids are viewed as something scary and must be avoided.
This fear like so many, can often be traced to being handed down from parents who already had an issue with this. Perhaps the sufferer was raised in a household which was filled to capacity with things, and the fear of not having these things or things like them causes great distress.
Therapy for these sufferers must be based on determining the causative triggers for the fear and finding ways to rationalise these triggers and look for a more appropriate way to deal with this issue.
