![]() | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(February 2010) |
Fear of frogs and toads is both a specific phobia, known simply as frog phobia or ranidaphobia (from Ranidae , the most widespread family of frogs), and a superstition common to the folkways of many cultures. Psychiatric specialty literature uses the simple term "fear of frogs" rather than any specialized term. [1] The term batrachophobia (fear of amphibians) has also been recorded in a 1953 psychiatric dictionary. [2]
Some cultures accord the sight of a frog as a bad omen. Other cultures regard the sight as a good omen. [ citation needed ] Portuguese shopkeepers use ceramic frogs to deter Roma people, and also serve as a marker of anti-Romani prejudice. [3]
A common myth says that to touch frogs and toads may give one warts. A survey carried out by researchers from the Johannesburg Zoo have shown that in modern times old superstitions play a less significant role and modern children are more concerned whether frogs are venomous or harmless. [4]
Phobia against frogs often happens after seeing frogs die violently. One case of severe fear of frogs has been described in Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry in 1983: a woman developed an extreme fear of frogs after a traumatic incident in which her lawn mower ran over a group of frogs and killed them. [5]
The client was a 26-year-old housewife who was seen at the Anxiety Disorders Program for complaints of a severe fear of frogs. The onset of her fear seemed to stem from a traumatic incident 18 months earlier when she was mowing thick grass in the yard of her home on a riverbank.