PHOBIA OF ANIMALS | MOUSE, DOG, CAT ETC | CAUSE & TREATMENTS

PHOBIAS FOR ANIMALS

Animal phobia is a class of specific phobias to particular animals  or an irrational fear or even simply dislike of any non-human animals. Animal phobia is also known as Zoophobia.

Examples of specific animal phobias would be entomophobias, such as that of bees (apiphobia). Fears of spiders (arachnophobia), birds (ornithophobia) and snakes (ophidiophobia) are also common. See the article at -phobia for the list of various phobias. Sigmund Freud mentioned that an animal phobia is one of the most frequent psychoneurotic diseases among children. Zoophobia is the non-sensible fear of dangerous or threatening animals, such as wild dogs (example: wolves, dingoes, and coyotes), big cats, bears or venomous snakes. It is a phobia of animals that causes distress or dysfunction in the individual's everyday life.

Today we discuss about some of animals phobia which were usually happen to many people.

1.  MOUSE PHOBIA:

MOUSE PHOBIA:
Fear of mice and rats is one of the most common specific phobias. It is sometimes referred to as musophobia or murophobia (a coinage from the taxonomic adjective "murine" for the family Muridae that encompasses mice and rats)

The phobia, as an unreasonable and disproportionate fear, is distinct from reasonable concern about rats and mice contaminating food supplies, which may potentially be universal to all times, places, and cultures where stored grain attracts rodents, which then consume or contaminate the food supply.

CAUSE:
In many cases a phobic fear of mice is a socially induced conditioned response, combined with (and originated in) the startle response (a response to an unexpected stimulus) common in many animals, including humans, rather than a real disorder. At the same time, as is common with specific phobias, an occasional fright may give rise to abnormal anxiety that requires treatment.

TREATMENT:
Fear of mice may be treated by any standard treatment for specific phobias. The standard treatment of animal phobia is systematic desensitization, and this can be done in the consulting room (in vivo), or in hypnosis (in vitro). Some clinicians use a combination of both in vivo and in vitro desensitization during treatment. It is also helpful to encourage patients to experience some positive associations with mice: thus, the feared stimulus is paired with the positive rather than being continuously reinforced by the negative.

2. DOG PHOBIA:

DOG PHOBIA:
Dog phobia is also known as Cynophobia. Cynophobia comes from the Greek words that mean “dog” (cyno) and “fear” (phobia). A person who has cynophobia experiences a fear of dogs that’s both irrational and persistent. It’s more than just feeling uncomfortable with barking or being around dogs. Instead, this fear may interfere with daily life and trigger a number of symptoms, like trouble breathing or dizziness.

CAUSE:

Researchers estimate there are more than 62,400,000 dogs living in the United States. So your chances of running into a dog are relatively high. With cynophobia, you may experience symptoms out when you’re around dogs or even when you’re just thinking about dogs. Symptoms associated with specific phobias are highly individual. No two people may experience the fear or certain triggers in the same way. Your symptoms may be physical, emotional, or both.

TREATMENT:

Not all phobias require treatment by your doctor. When the fear becomes so intense that you avoid parks or other situations where you might encounter dogs, there are a variety of options available. Treatment includes things like therapy or taking certain medications.

Psychotherapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be incredibly effective at treating specific phobias.

Exposure therapy is a form of CBT where people face fears head-on. While some people may gain benefit from in vivo exposure therapy, or being around dogs in real life, others may gain a similar benefit from what’s called active imaginal exposure (AIE)Trusted Source, or imagining themselves performing tasks with a dog.

In a study from 2003, 82 people with cynophobia went through either in vivo or imaginal exposure therapies. Some people were asked to attend therapy where they interacted with dogs on leashes, while others were asked to simply imagine doing different tasks with dogs while acting them out. All people showed significant improvement after exposure, whether real or imagined. The improvement rates for in vivo therapy were 73.1 percent. The improvement rates for AIE therapy were 62.1 percent.

The researchers concluded that AIE is a good alternative to in vivo therapy.

Medication

Psychotherapy is generally effective at treating specific phobias like cynophobia. For more severe cases, medications are an option that may be used together with therapy or short-term if there’s a situation where you’ll be around dogs.

Types of medications may include:

Beta blockers. Beta blockers are a type of medication that block adrenaline from causing symptoms like racing pulse, elevated blood pressure, or shaking.

Sedatives. These medications work to reduce anxiety so you may relax in feared situations.

3. CAT PHOBIA:

CAT PHOBIA:
Cat phobia is known as Ailurophobia. Ailurophobiais a type of specific phobia, the persistent, irrational fear of cats. If you’ve ever been bitten or scratched by a cat, you might feel nervous around them. Or, you may simply dislike cats. In either case, you probably won’t go out of your way to interact with them, and you likely won’t spend too much worrying about them.

A phobia goes beyond mild fear or dislike. If you have ailurophobia, you might spend a lot of time worrying about encountering cats and thinking about ways to avoid them. This can have a big effect on your daily life, especially given the popularity of cats as pets.

CAUSE:

The exact cause of ailurophobia is unclear; it may be due to experiencing a previous attack by a cat or witnessing someone else be attacked, but genetic and environmental factors may also play a part. Specific phobias, especially animal phobias, often develop in childhood.

An ailurophobe may experience panic and fear when thinking about cats, including imagining the possibility of encountering a cat, inadvertently making physical contact with a cat, even seeing depictions of cats in the media. They may experience extreme anxiety and fear when hearing meowing, hissing, or similar sounds made by cats.

TREATMENT:

Exposure therapy is one of the most effective treatments.  One strongly motivated patient was able to recover using this method, by slowly becoming accustomed to cat fur, under therapist supervision, by first touching varying types of velvet, then becoming accustomed to a toy kitten, and finally a live kitten, which the patient subsequently adopted. As the kitten grew, she also became less afraid of full-grown cats.

Systematic desensitization is a specific type of exposure therapy that involves learning relaxation techniques to help manage feelings of fear and anxiety during exposure therapy. Eventually, these exercises can also help form new associations, such as eliciting a relaxation response instead of a stress response when confronted by a cat.

There are not any medications specifically designed to treat phobias, but some can help with short-term management of symptoms.
These include:

Beta-blockers. Beta-blockers help with physical symptoms of anxiety, such as increased heart rate and dizziness. They are generally taken before going into a situation that triggers physical symptoms.

Benzodiazepines. These are sedatives that also help decrease anxiety symptoms. While they can be helpful, they also have a high risk of addiction.

D-cycloserine (DCS). This is a drug that may help enhance the benefits of exposure therapy.

Thanks for visiting this site.