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Hello, dear readers of the site! Zoophobia is the panicky fear of animals. It is one of the largest groups of phobic disorders.
And today we will consider the main ones that are most often found. And also find out why it occurs and how you can cope with your fears and obsessive thoughts.
What is it like?
There are people who cannot imagine life without pets, they love nature and absolutely all the creatures that live on our planet. And there are those who, at the mere thought, for example, of the likelihood of meeting a tiger, moreover, in a zoo, are horrified.
It may be that a person is afraid of cockroaches, but at the same time he feels completely calm in the company of wild animals. Naturally, if they are in cages.
Zoophobia affects a large part of the population, mostly women and children. It includes completely different species and classes of representatives of the fauna.
Types of zoophobia
The most common irrational fear is:
Wild animals — Agrizoophobia;
Cats — Ailurophobia, Galeophobia;
Ticks — Acarophobia;
Chickens, chickens — Alektorophobia;
Bees, wasps and hornets — Apiphobia;
Spiders — Arachnophobia;
Frogs, lizards and other amphibians — Batrahophobia;
Sharks — Galeophobia;
Reptiles, in particular snakes — Herpetophobia;
Krotov — Zemmifobia;
Muravyov — Insectophobia;
Pisces — Ichthyophobia;
Dogs — Cynophobia;
Otter — Lutraphobia;
Molly — Mottephobia;
Mice and rats — Musophobia;
Birds — Ornithophobia;
Mollusks — Ostraconophobia;
Insect parasites — Parasitophobia;
Lice — Pediculophobia;
Bykov — Taurophobia;
Bats — Chiroptophobia;
Horses — Hippophobia;
Symptoms
Somatic
• Increased blood pressure, resulting in a sharp headache;
• Increased sweating, the phobe throws you into a fever, no matter what the temperature is in the room or outside. That is, even in the cold, his clothes will get wet in an instant;
• Pain in the region of the heart, which resemble a heart attack, tachycardia. This, of course, frightens even more, which is why the rest of the symptoms of panic only intensify, because it seems to a person that he is about to die without waiting for help;
• Feeling of suffocation. With frequent shallow breaths, dizziness appears, and the level of oxygen in the blood literally rolls over. Why there is an opposite effect — asphyxia, lack of air. There are no problems with the pharynx and lungs, you just need to try to calm down by taking deep slow breaths and exhalations. Preferably in a paper bag or palms. In extreme cases, loss of consciousness threatens;
• Pain in the stomach, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea — mostly concerned about individuals who have a history of problems with the gastrointestinal tract. At the slightest excitement, their stomach begins to “twist”;
• Tremor of the limbs, unsteady gait, voice trembles and becomes high, thin. Sometimes there is stuttering, inarticulate speech;
• Frequent need to go to the toilet. The brain evaluates anxiety as the need to urgently escape. And salvation usually consists in running away from an object that carries a threat. In this case, from any animals. So, in order to get out of sight, it probably succeeded, the body gets rid of excess fluid, so to speak, dumps ballast. Therefore, there is vomiting, a desire to pee, and so on;
• The skin on the face and neck turns red, although it happens, on the contrary, from fright the fob instantly turns pale and faints.
Behavioral and cognitive
• Derealization is a perceptual disorder in which it seems to a person that he is sleeping or has fallen into some unreal world. And in general, at the moment of panic, the passage of time can slow down, or vice versa, accelerate so much that later he will not remember parts of the events that happened;
• Hysteria, loud crying;
• Fob, experiencing horror, loses control over his behavior. The main task is to calm down, feel safe, but how, is not entirely clear. The so-called tunnel consciousness makes itself felt. The ability to carry out mental operations is quite limited. He is not capable of giving rationality to the decisions made, therefore, later, having calmed down, he feels guilt and shame.
• Obsessive thoughts that you can’t get rid of. A person can be in the house, in bed, safe, but still think about dangerous predators that he is afraid of. And no logical arguments will help him calm down.
• The zoophobe does not visit zoos or places where animals are found that terrify him. Sometimes this can lead to the fact that he simply does not leave the house. Let’s say this happens with cynophobia — the fear of dogs that are found on the street, live in almost every house, guard gas stations, bases, and so on.
Negative consequences
• Traumatization. During a panic attack, some zoophobes become numb, others, as already mentioned, cry loudly and call for help, others take flight, not noticing the obstacles in front of them at all. And this endangers both health and life. For example, this way you can get under a car, crash into a door, fall out of a window, and so on.
• Insomnia. Zoophobes often have terrible dreams involving animals, which they are terrified of. Why biological rhythms are disturbed, which is fraught with the occurrence of chronic diseases, sometimes incurable, causing a lot of trouble and pain.
• Depression. Tension and constant anxiety exhaust the nervous system, fears and shame for behavior cause a strong desire to distance oneself from others. Isolation, self-flagellation, plus unpleasant experiences and panic attacks lead to a feeling of total loneliness. Hence the apathy and suicidal tendencies.
• Loss of a sense of satisfaction with life. Phobe, in order to maintain peace of mind, has to give up the pleasures that other people can afford. In a sense, travel, trips out of town, picnics, visits to restaurants, circuses, parks and so on are literally forbidden for him.
• Narrowing of social ties. And subsequently, the inability to realize oneself in the profession, family, friendships.
Causes
The instinct of self-preservation
Subconsciously, people are afraid of animals because they quite often pose a threat to life and health.
But phobias are an irrational fear, a person is afraid even of those creatures that are not able to harm him.
The reason for this behavior lies in the genetic code, that is, in the information that we inherited from our ancestors at the level of the self-preservation instinct.
It’s just that for someone it turns out to be excessively strengthened, which provokes the emergence of a phobia.
After all, earlier a person was not protected from representatives of the animal world, tigers, bears, foxes hunted him, snakes, poisonous insects crawled into caves at night.
And there were no hospitals and medicines, no antidote, so a completely harmless wound received in a fight could well cost a life due to an infection that got into it.
Sensitivity of perception
The largest percentage of zoophobes are children. Their psyche is not yet able to work like a clock, that is, to withstand stress, cope with negative emotions and process the information received, appropriating it as an experience.
This means that if the baby is frightened by the unexpected barking of a dog, he runs the risk of becoming a cynophobe, or, having experienced the pain of a wasp sting, an apiophobic.
Sometimes it’s enough just to see a fragment of a film where some representative of the fauna killed a person. And there are enough such films, as well as reports in news feeds.
And not only children are impressionable, there are also quite mature personalities, they are simply overly vulnerable, emotional. Why is every little thing perceived as a tragedy.
Negative experience
The most common reason for the manifestation of a phobic disorder is a personal experience of interacting with an animal, which turned out to be extremely unpleasant.
For example, a person received an injury or an emotional shock, which is why the psyche had to urgently take action, attracting defense mechanisms to help.
Therefore, over time, such an episode could be forgotten, the intensity of emotions would weaken, but the fear would remain like a scar, reminding each time that one should be careful.
And then the fob, not quite understanding why, for example, is afraid of butterflies, will run in a panic when they meet them.
Education
We know that children are like sponges, absorbing patterns of behavior, ways of responding to a stimulus, parasitic words, and so on from significant adults.
So, if a mother, noticing a cat while walking with a child and throwing stones at him to scare him away.
Or dad constantly says that you should beware of insects, because they bite painfully, and grandmother sings a lullaby at night that a gray top will come and bite the barrel.
Then the baby, most likely, will form irrational fears and anxiety states.
Treatment
Regardless of the condition, at the first signs of the presence of a phobic disorder, you should contact specialists in this field. That is, to a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist.
It is they who will be able to diagnose the presence, and maybe the absence of zoophobia. And, given your condition, prescribe treatment.
Suppose a person is afraid of bats. They do not meet every day, unless, of course, a hobby or work is related to climbing caves and so on. Therefore, experiencing panic attacks is quite rare.
In this case, therapy with a psychologist is enough to understand why this is happening to him, to get rid of accumulated emotions, to find other ways to satisfy his needs so that they are realized.
But if the disorder is gaining momentum, and is already characterized as severe, one cannot do without a psychiatrist. Since he will stop leaving the house, communicate with people, sleep at night and even eat. In this state, there is a direct threat to his life.
Then prescribe antidepressants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and sedatives. What helps to relax the nervous system, relieve anxiety, get rid of obsessive thoughts and conditions. Get enough sleep, after all, to restore spent resources.
The most effective in the fight against phobias are cognitive behavioral therapy, gestalt, hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming.
The main thing is not to let it take its course, hoping that someday the fears will go away on their own and it will become good.
In addition to the prescribed treatment and therapy, you can independently practice meditation, breathing techniques and various ways to relieve tension and stress, which are indicated in this link.
And also try to devote time to pleasant activities, hobbies, communicate with those who do not seek to anger or upset you.
Feeling satisfaction and joy, you will be less prone to the occurrence of phobic disorders and other mental illnesses.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Take care of yourself and stay with us by subscribing to site updates.
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina