Herpetophobia | |
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A U.S. Air Force Airman handles a snake to overcome herpetophobia. | |
Specialty | Psychology |
Herpetophobia [1] is a common specific phobia, which consists of fear or aversion to reptiles, commonly lizards and snakes, and similar vertebrates as amphibians. It is one of the most diffused [2] animal phobias, very similar and related to ophidiophobia. This condition causes a slight to severe emotional reaction, for example anxiety, panic attack or most commonly nausea. [3] Herpetophobia is a common phobia and comes in many forms. Some people have fears of just looking at a reptile, some have fears of touching a reptile, and some cannot even stand knowing a reptile is in their space. Due to the specific type of phobia, there are no individual statistics for those who suffer from herpetophobia. Not everyone who is scared or has a fear of reptiles has herpetophobia.
The cause of the phobia is different for everyone and varies from person to person, meaning that the cause is still unknown. The phobia is likely to be caused by an experience that is traumatic either negative, scary experience, or painful experience. Herpetophobia can affect people of all ages but is more common in children. Herpetophobia may also be caused by a family member's same fear making the other person also scared and gain the phobia. Seeing another person having a phobia it may make someone else scared and maybe frightened by the reptile.
The physiological signs are when an individual is unable to control the fear, anxiety, and panic that arises even when those who are experiencing the fear are not in danger. When you are around reptiles you are unable to function or concentrate. Some physical symptoms include:
In some instances, people who have Herpetophobia may cry, freeze, and cling to others in their environment.
This is an image that may cause herpetophobia due to its realistic features.
Those with herpetophobia tend to go out of their way to avoid the reptile and will do anything to avoid herpetophobia. This may lead to self-isolation, and depression, and change the way they live. The sufferers may affect their work and social lives which can lead to isolation.
Those with herpetophobia may utilize two types of therapy. One is exposed therapy, which is when your therapist slowly introduces you to reptiles. Some types of exposure therapy include:
The second type is cognitive behavioral therapy , which is used to help identify and change the negative experience you had with reptiles. The third type is desensitization therapy where the doctor allows the treatment process to progress on its own which may help to reduce the discomfort those feel while facing their fear. Some coping mechanisms that may work are:
Some medications that have been found beneficial for herpetophobia are Benzodiazepines , antidepressants , and beta-blockers . The drugs aren’t a cure, but they are used to help cope with the phobia and may only be effective for a short amount of time.
A phobia is an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avoid the situation or object, to a degree greater than the actual danger posed. If the object or situation cannot be avoided, they experience significant distress. Other symptoms can include fainting, which may occur in blood or injury phobia, and panic attacks, often found in agoraphobia and emetophobia. Around 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias.
Specific phobia is an anxiety disorder, characterized by an extreme, unreasonable, and irrational fear associated with a specific object, situation, or concept which poses little or no actual danger. Specific phobia can lead to avoidance of the object or situation, persistence of the fear, and significant distress or problems functioning associated with the fear. A phobia can be the fear of anything.
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Fear of needles, known in medical literature as needle phobia, is the extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. This can lead to avoidance of medical care and vaccine hesitancy.
Systematic desensitization, or graduated exposure therapy, is a behavior therapy developed by the psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe. It is used when a phobia or anxiety disorder is maintained by classical conditioning. It shares the same elements of both cognitive-behavioral therapy and applied behavior analysis. When used in applied behavior analysis, it is based on radical behaviorism as it incorporates counterconditioning principles. These include meditation and breathing. From the cognitive psychology perspective, cognitions and feelings precede behavior, so it initially uses cognitive restructuring.
Flooding, sometimes referred to as in vivo exposure therapy, is a form of behavior therapy and desensitization—or exposure therapy—based on the principles of respondent conditioning. As a psychotherapeutic technique, it is used to treat phobia and anxiety disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder. It works by exposing the patient to their painful memories, with the goal of reintegrating their repressed emotions with their current awareness. Flooding was invented by psychologist Thomas Stampfl in 1967. It is still used in behavior therapy today.
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Mysophobia, also known as verminophobia, germophobia, germaphobia, bacillophobia and bacteriophobia, is a pathological fear of contamination and germs. It is classified as a type of specific phobia, meaning it is evaluated and diagnosed based on the experience of high levels of fear and anxiety beyond what is reasonable when exposed to or in anticipation of exposure to stimuli related to the particular concept. William A. Hammond first coined the term in 1879 when describing a case of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) exhibited in repeatedly washing one's hands.
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Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy to treat anxiety disorders.
Gerascophobia is an abnormal or incessant fear of growing older or ageing (senescence). Fear is characterised as an unpleasant emotion experienced as a result of some perceived threat or source of danger, in the case of gerascophobia that threat is ageing. This fear is irrational and disproportionate to any threat posed and persists even in the case that the individual is in perfect health.
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Most people have a fear of medical procedures at some point in their lifetime, which can include the fear of surgery, dental work, doctors, or needles. These fears are seldom diagnosed or treated, as they are often extinguished into adulthood and do not often develop into phobias preventing individuals from seeking medical attention. Formally, medical fear is defined as "any experience that involves medical personnel or procedures involved in the process of evaluating or modifying health status in traditional health care settings."
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Ancraophobia, also known as anemophobia, is an extreme fear of wind or drafts. It is rather uncommon, and can be treated. It has many different effects on the human brain. It can cause panic attacks for those who have the fear, and can make people miss out on regular everyday activities such as going outside.
The dictionary definition of herpetophobia at Wiktionary