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We are glad to welcome you, dear readers of the site! Ichthyophobia is a panicky, irrational fear of various fish, even very small ones.
And today we invite you to find out by what symptoms it can be determined, as well as how to cure it. And, importantly, to find out the most common causes of the development of this phobia.
What is it like?
With ichthyophobia, absolutely any fish seems scary and deadly to a person. With a mild form of manifestation, he experiences only disgust, disgust. He doesn’t like her look or smell.
But with an average and severe course of the disorder, he may even be afraid to leave the house, frightened by the very idea of inadvertently meeting the object of his phobia.
But basically, such people do not swim in lakes, rivers, seas and oceans. Some are unable to force themselves to enter the water, others even approach it.
By the way, they do not use them for food under any pretext. And if you put a dish with these inhabitants of the depths on the table, then a tantrum may well happen against the backdrop of a panic attack.
And it arises completely unexpectedly, you just need to come across a dead fish, see a scale from it, or in general, an aquarium with different representatives of the families of aquatic vertebrates. Hear the conversation of the fishermen and, in general, think about the likely contact with these monsters.
Therefore, feeling powerless over a phobia, a person may decide to distance himself from the outside world. In order not to have to live through shame, guilt for actions at the moment of affect, horror and anxiety.
Only the trouble is that such actions can aggravate the condition, provoking the development of other diseases, both physical and chronic.
Symptoms
Somatic
- Asphyxia. Agitated, the fob begins to breathe rapidly, which leads to hyperventilation of the lungs. In simple words, there is more oxygen in the blood than necessary. Therefore, the head is spinning and sometimes there is a loss of consciousness. To stabilize the condition, you need to breathe into a paper bag or into your palms. The carbon dioxide we breathe out helps reduce oxygen levels.
- Pain in the chest. There is a feeling that the heart hurts from experiences, or, in general, there was a heart attack. A person, naturally, at such a moment begins to panic even more, thereby only intensifying the symptoms that are unpleasant for living. After all, it seems to him that if urgent action is not taken, he will simply die, so he prays for the help of everyone he meets.
- Hands, legs, chin and even voice tremble.
- Vomiting, diarrhea, nausea. It starts to «twist» in the stomach, there are urges to go to the toilet, including in a small way. The body at such a moment receives a signal that it is necessary to be saved. And usually saves the flight. Therefore, he gets rid of excess fluids, so that it will certainly be easier to move around.
- Blood pressure rises, heart rate rises, and sweating increases. Phoebe throws heat, despite the weather, that is, there may be snow on the street, and it will be stuffy for him, like in summer.
- Given changes in pressure and body temperature, the skin also changes its color. The face and neck become purplish red. In some cases, on the contrary, they turn pale.
Behavioral and cognitive
- Feeling the unreality of what is happening. As if he was just having a terrible dream, and he just needs to try to wake up, or do something to end this whole nightmare. This effect is called derealization, when it occurs, a person perceives the surrounding reality as fantastic.
- Hysterics. The ichthyophobe is shaking, he is crying loudly and is not at all aware of his actions. At least because it loses the ability to think rationally and adequately assess the environment. The real threat to life may be completely invisible to him, because it is the fish in his perception that carry the danger. Therefore, cases of injury and even death are not uncommon due to the fact that a person ran out in a panic onto the road and fell under a car, or jumped out a window and crashed, fell into hatches and fell down stairs.
- Intrusive thoughts. That is, ideas arise from which it is completely impossible to get rid of. For example, in the morning he was frightened by an unexpected meeting with a fish, and all day he cannot calm down, her image is before his eyes even at night when he is trying to sleep.
- Night terrors, insomnia.
- Depression of any form, that is, prolonged, with suicidal tendencies, and so on. The nervous system does not withstand stress, a person is isolated from society and subsequently suffers not only from fear, but also from a feeling of total loneliness.
Causes
Genetics and biological factors
Often, phobias are one of the signs of the presence of other mental disorders in the personality structure. For example, with schizophrenia, a person panics, is afraid of objects, creatures and phenomena that do not pose a threat to life or health.
In addition, they may well be inherited, or if a close relative suffered from some kind of similar disease.
A child, simply observing irrational reactions, say, of a mother to fish, adopts them, considering them the only true ones.
Indeed, at this age, he is not able to criticize the actions of significant adults, he learns, thanks to his parents, to contact the environment.
Therefore, in his perception, if a mother is terribly afraid of fish, then they are really dangerous.
Psychological trauma and negative experiences
Injure a person, especially a child, can be directly bitten by a fish, its unexpected appearance at the time of swimming in the sea, river.
The death of a pet aquarium pet, poisoning, or the likelihood of getting sick with a serious toxinfectious disease, which is botulism.
News about how a person died due to poisoning by the poison of an aquatic creature.
Even a horror movie will scare an impressionable person, where the main characters have to fight piranhas and other fish dangerous to humans.
Associations
If a traumatic situation occurred, but at that moment attention was focused on a picture with sharks, crucian carp, and so on. An aquarium or a documentary about them, then subsequently the negative emotions lived then will be associated directly with what the person was focused on.
For example, a child had a tooth pulled, trying to distract with a toy fish. He was so hurt and scared that in the future he was wary of any images that reminded him of that toy.
Or he found out about the death of a loved one when he fed his aquarium pets.
Treatment
Phobic disorder must be under the control of specialists. Thoughts that everything will get better on its own or that by some miracle you will be able to take control of your feelings, reactions and stereotypes of behavior are quite risky.
Since inactivity gradually leads to a deterioration in the condition. And if in the initial stages of the development of ichthyophobia it is quite possible to simply work with a psychotherapist on your fears, then in severe forms you cannot do without medications, and sometimes even hospitalization.
The most effective in this case are such areas as Gestalt therapy, cognitive behavioral and hypnosis.
Sometimes neurolinguistic programming is also used to subconsciously change the type of reactions to a stimulus.
In the process of therapy, you will be able to realize what exactly provoked the development of the disorder in you. And also change the perception of the negative experience received earlier and acquire a new one, only in safe conditions.
The psychiatrist will prescribe sedatives if necessary, if a person cannot achieve calm, only relying on the support of specialists.
Also antidepressants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and other drugs, depending on the situation and the severity of the course of ichthyophobia.
On your own, you can engage in the prevention of anxiety. For example, meditate, walk in the fresh air, do some kind of sport that is not contraindicated for you, communicate with those who do not provoke you to experience negative emotions.
Analyze your feelings, motives for actions and do not hesitate to seek help and support from loved ones.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Ichthyophobia is one of the manifestations of zoophobia. That is, the fear of any animals in principle.
For example, there are people who experience anxiety at the sight of snakes, and there are those who are indifferent to them, but panic even at the thought of spiders.
In general, go to the «Phobias and Fears» section and you will learn a lot more interesting things. Also subscribe to site updates.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina