How do I know if I have a fear of intimacy?

One clue is your relationship history. If you are a serial dater but you never give a relationship time enough to blossom, intimacy anxiety may be the culprit. You may also have people tell you outright that you don’t give others a chance to get to know the real you. There are also psychological tests and scales to help assess intimacy issues. The Fear of Intimacy Scale (FIS) was developed by Descutner and Thelen (1991) to determine one’s level of fear of intimacy. Remember that this is just a screening device and a true interpretation of results would have to come from a therapist or mental health professional.

Do you feel that you or your partner may have a fear of intimacy? What do you think caused it? How does this anxiety affect your relationships? Your story could help someone else who is going through the same thing. We hope to hear from you.