What is zoophobia?
Zoophobia is an extreme fear of animals. Many people who have zoophobia fear one specific type of animal. Others fear many types of animals or all animals.
The fear of animals is a type of anxiety disorder called a specific phobia. Specific phobias are intense fears of certain objects, situations, people or animals. Many people with specific phobias know that the intensity of their fear isn’t proportionate to any actual threat. Still, it can be challenging to manage phobia symptoms.
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What are the types of animal phobias?
Some people who have zoophobia are afraid of one specific type of animal. For example, studies have found that the two most common types of animal phobias are ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) and arachnophobia (fear of spiders).
Other common animal phobias include:
- Chiroptophobia (fear of bats).
- Cynophobia (fear of dogs).
- Entomophobia (fear of insects).
- Musophobia (fear of mice and rats).
- Spheksophobia (fear of wasps).
How common is zoophobia?
Specific phobias are common. More than 12% of adults in the United States have a specific phobia.
In particular, zoophobia is one of the most common specific phobias. Some research has found that a fear of animals is one of the top three most common specific phobias.
FAQs
The primary symptom of zoophobia is an intense fear of animals. Typically, the level of fear isn't proportional to the actual threat an animal poses. People with zoophobia may avoid going to zoos or even visiting a friend who has pets. They may avoid viewing images or videos of animals like nature documentaries.
Is zoophobia normal? ›
Although zoophobia as a whole is quite rare, types of the fear are common. As mentioned before by Sigmund Freud, an animal phobia is one of the most frequent psychoneurotic diseases among children. Zoophobia is almost never towards mammals, but instead towards non-mammalia creatures.
How many people suffer from zoophobia? ›
Females are found to be more likely to experience one or more specific phobias than males and with greater severity. The exact prevalence of zoophobia or specific animal phobias is unclear. However, some studies report that a fear of animals occurs in between 3-12% of the population.
How do you treat zoophobia? ›
People with zoophobia exhibit a wide range of symptoms that involve intense, uncontrollable fear when exposed to a certain type of animal. However, zoophobia is highly treatable with exposure therapy, CBT, or both. People with zoophobia can have other phobias and other anxiety or mood disorders.
Is zoophobia coming back? ›
On November 14, 2016, the comic was put on indefinite hiatus. The Zoophobia comic website is still up and running to this day for anyone who wants to view it. On April 7, 2017, Vivziepop announced that she would be rebooting the series in the future. In 2019, it was announced that a series of shorts would be produced.
What is exposure therapy for animal phobia? ›
The 'gold standard' psychological treatment for animal phobias, like cynophobia, is a type of behaviour therapy known as exposure therapy. In exposure therapy, the client is assisted by an experienced clinician to approach the object or situation that they fear while being coached on how to deal with their anxiety.
Why is my child afraid of animals? ›
Young children are hardwired to be afraid of unfamiliar things. As a child grows, they gain knowledge about animals and how they behave. They develop self-confidence to deal with an animal's unpredictable nature. Knowing their fear is normal will help you navigate the best way to approach it as a parent.
What's scarier, snakes or spiders? ›
Spiders evoked the strongest response from the study's participants, racking up a total of 4.39 points out of 5 for fear and 4.47 points for disgust. Snakes — the poisonous ones, not the innocuous grass snakes — took second place, at least in terms of evoking dread.
Are phobias unhealthy? ›
Summary. Fear can be healthy. It is programmed into your nervous system, and gives you the survival instincts you need to keep yourself safe from danger. Fear is unhealthy when it makes you more cautious than you really need to be to stay safe, and when it prevents you from doing things you would otherwise enjoy.
Who started ZooPhobia? ›
ZooPhobia is an American webcomic originally published in 2012 by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano, from which she later loosely adapted characters and plotlines for her animated musical television series Hazbin Hotel.
Octophobia is an intense, irrational fear of the number 8. It's a type of specific phobia, which is a kind of anxiety disorder. Because numbers are everywhere, octophobia can have serious consequences for education, career, daily functioning and personal relationships.
What is zuigerphobia? ›
Zuigerphobia is a type of specific phobia, meaning it is an enduring, overwhelming and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, place or person; in this case, an extreme fear of vacuum cleaners.
What is teratophobia? ›
Teratophobia: Fear of bearing a malformed child. A phobia is an unreasonable sort of fear that can cause avoidance and panic. Phobias are a relatively common type of anxiety disorder.