Anatidaephobia — a person’s fear that a duck or goose is following him

Hello, dear readers of the site! Anatidaephobia is an irrational, panicky fear that a duck or goose is spying, carefully watching a person.

This is a rather unusual phobia, and today we will try to figure out why it occurs, as well as how to stop being afraid of the sight of birds.

What is it like?

A phobia is that a person is tormented by obsessive thoughts about the fact that somewhere in the world there is a duck that is watching him. She does not try to attack him, pinch him or scare him.

She just silently peeks around the corner and watches, passes by, not taking her eyes off. And this brings the fob to a hysterical state.

The term comes from the Greek word «anatidae», which means waterfowl, that is, geese, ducks, and so on. And, accordingly, “phobos” is a strong fear.

Despite the fact that the fob understands how frivolous his fear is, and in some places even causes laughter, he cannot do anything with his feelings.

The horror is sometimes so strong that he refuses to leave the house, moves to high-rise buildings to avoid an accidental meeting with the object of his fear.

Symptoms

At the thought that a goose watching him was hiding somewhere nearby, and even worse if he met him on his way. For example, if you come to the countryside, it is simply inevitable. Then the fob starts a panic attack.

He is suffocating, it seems to him that there is not enough air, and he will simply die from asphyxiation now. The fact is that when a person is excited, breathing becomes shallow and frequent, and this leads to hyperventilation of the lungs.

The amount of oxygen in the blood goes off scale, which causes a completely opposite effect — suffocation.

In this case, you need to breathe into your palms, a paper bag, if you have it with you. Carbon dioxide will normalize the condition. This will also relieve dizziness and nausea.

Also, often with panic it hurts in the chest, stomach. A person sweats profusely, his arms and legs tremble, sometimes even his chin and voice. Gait unsteady, shaky.

Diarrhea, vomiting and loss of consciousness are sometimes observed. A person is unable not only to control his feelings, but also thoughts, behavior.

Therefore, most often he tries to find a safe haven where he can relax and calm down.

In the meantime, he is looking, desperately calling for help, crying and not really understanding how to really take care of his own health and safety.

For example, in a panic, he does not distinguish the road and runs the risk of being hit by a car, rolling down the stairs, or even worse, jumping out the window.

Causes

Naturally, the most logical and common reason is getting a negative experience, trauma. Especially in childhood.

That is, when a person had to survive the attack of a duck or goose. Moreover, a whole flock. Or just happened to be scared of their hiss.

Sometimes a person is subjected to serious stress, and anatidaephobia begins its development only because his psyche could not withstand the stress and failed. Just at that moment, she chose a waterfowl as an object of horror.

Geese are quite aggressive, and given that they are quite large in size, it is not surprising that children are afraid of them. In addition, they usually attack for no reason, without any provocation from the person.

And the pain that occurs if pinched is intense enough to seek to avoid meeting them by any means in the future.

It is enough for impressionable individuals to witness such an attack, or to see a plot on the news, an excerpt from a film, to be so frightened, up to the development of a phobia.

Treatment

The fear of a duck that is watching you — although it seems insignificant at first glance, but requires qualified treatment.

Contact a psychotherapist to work through your childhood traumas, to realize what exactly happened in your life, which is now tormented by insomnia and nightmares involving a carefully observing goose.

The psychiatrist will prescribe drugs, thanks to which it will be possible not only to remove the symptoms of anatidaephobia, but also to relieve anxiety, normalize mood.

Sedatives and antidepressants help to relax the nervous system. And this means that you will regain peace, quality sleep and the ability to experience a whole range of feelings, not just fear and horror.

But also, let’s say, tenderness, joy, pleasure, peace and happiness.

The most effective in the fight against phobic disorders are considered to be Gestalt therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming.

Completion

And that’s all for today, dear readers! Finally, we want to recommend an article about what a phobia of balloons is.

Stay with us, we share daily interesting and exciting information that will help you develop your horizons, as well as have a pleasant and useful time.

Take care of yourself and be happy!

The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina