My fear of commitment is crippling. Gamophobia is defined as a fear of commitment, but interestingly enough it refers specifically to the fear of marriage. It’s derived from the Greek words Gamos meaning marriage and Phobos meaning fear. Pretty straight forward. The term commitmentphobia was originally coined in a popular men’s self help book in the 80’s called Men Who Can’t Love.

I would say no one warns you about the shift from your early 20’s to your late 20’s, but the truth is I’ve been warned since I turned 16. My much wiser but not so much older cousins have made sure to remind me annually, like the subscription to your local paper that no one really asked for but somehow keeps showing up at the end of your driveway. Like clockwork they’ll come to my house, take off their shoes, do the obligatory watered-down european kiss on each cheek, and then they’ll look me dead in the eyes and say: