Contents
Hello, dear readers of the site! Ailurophobia is the irrational fear of cats.
And today we will try to find out why people are terribly afraid of these graceful creatures, as well as how to cope with panic attacks and other symptoms of a phobia.
What is it like?
In addition to the term ailurophobia, names such as gatophobia, felinophobia and galeophobia are also often used.
A phobia begins its formation mainly in childhood, but adults can also be wary of cats. In severe forms, Gatophobia causes a lot of trouble for its owner.
After all, there are a lot of homeless animals on the street, which are sometimes aggressive. And each time, faced with them, a person lives a lot of horror. This cannot but affect the state of his health.
Especially on the nervous system. Yes, visiting is also prohibited. The probability of being face to face with the object of your fear is quite high.
What can we say about films, cartoons, advertising, where these animals are often depicted.
Every mention of a cat provokes a panic attack, a person feels that he is in danger, and he does not know what measures should be taken to calm down.
Symptoms
Ailurophobe is quite easy to recognize, he is wary of felines and bypasses them on the street. Even if he has to go to another street to exclude a meeting with tailed ones, he will do it without hesitation for a minute.
When you panic, your blood pressure rises, your heart rate increases, and you sweat more. A person is thrown into a fever, regardless of the temperature outside or in the room.
Cheeks redden, arms and legs tremble. Breathing can spiral due to an excess of oxygen in the blood, dizziness and completely paradoxical sensations arise — suffocation, lack of air.
The more often a person takes a breath, the less air he receives, it seems to him that his throat is about to block, and he will die. It happens that the heart hurts, which also prompts completely unhappy thoughts about the approaching end against the background of a heart attack.
Since the brain receives a signal of danger, it instructs all systems to get rid of excess fluid so that nothing prevents them from fleeing. Therefore, at such moments, there is an upset stomach, vomiting, frequent urination.
Fob loses control of his body and behavior, being in a state of panic, he is worried about one thought — salvation.
And this means that by any means it is necessary to reach a place where there is no hint of the presence of cats.
Therefore, without being aware of his actions, he can simply jump out the window, jump out onto the roadway, fall into the hatch, and so on.
Causes
Negative experience
A small child, faced with an animal, usually does not really understand how to properly handle it. So that he, at least, also liked this meeting.
So, not knowing how best to behave, children most often grab what they can get and grab. That is, by the tail. Naturally, the cat is hurt and reacts aggressively, scratching and biting the offender.
For a baby, even a small but painful scratch may be enough to avoid coming close to cats in the future.
Education
An important role in the development of ailurophobia is played by the attitude of parents towards representatives of the cat family.
If, for example, a mother from childhood inspired that cats are evil, carriers of all kinds of infections and, in general, servants of witches, the devil, then it is quite natural that the child will perceive them in this way.
superstition
Do you know the sign that if a black cat crosses the path of a person, then that person will be haunted by failures? So, there are people who are overly superstitious, they give responsibility for their well-being and life to various phenomena, animals, signs, and so on.
And the probability of being in a difficult situation due to the fact that at a certain moment a cat was nearby is frightening, annoying and causes their persistent rejection.
Allergy
For allergy sufferers, let’s say, the instinct of self-preservation works, because a meeting with tailed ones may not end very well for them.
And in order to maintain at least good health, they need to stay away from them.
But fear for health can develop into a phobia, when a person reacts irrationally to the slightest stimulus, perceiving it as a threat to life.
Hypochondria
Hypochondriacs and impressionable people are literally terribly afraid of getting sick. At the same time, they are firmly convinced that they have already “caught” a deadly, dangerous infection, and so on.
And cats are carriers of toxoplasmosis, which is transmitted through scratches. Street also with fleas and worms. This, of course, causes tension and disgust, and with it the fear of being just around.
Treatment
Gatophobia must be under the supervision of specialists. Dealing with a phobic disorder on your own is not easy. And yes, there are health risks.
Indeed, in fact, this is a disease of the psyche, which, so to speak, has failed, and now the nervous system is working hard, trying to cope with a huge amount of stress.
Therefore, if you want to feel peace as soon as possible, and even the joy of communicating with feline representatives, be sure to contact a psychotherapist.
In the process of therapy, you will be able to find out what exactly provoked the development of alurophobia, how it affected other areas of your life. Learn to relax and control obsessions, or rather, slow them down at the right time.
The psychiatrist will also prescribe sleeping pills, if necessary, so that you can restore sleep and get rid of nightmares. Also sedatives, antidepressants and tranquilizers, if the case is complex.
On your own, you can practice breathing techniques, alpha visualization, and positive affirmations. This will not get rid of the phobia, but it will help you stay calm in the moments when cats are nearby.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Finally, we want to recommend an article about a similar disorder called anatidaephobia.
And it lies in the fact that a person is terribly afraid of a duck, it seems to him that she is constantly watching him, to the point that she is purposefully spying.
Take care of yourself and be attentive to your fears and worries.
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina