Specific Phobias
- ANIMAL PHOBIAS
Fear of specific creatures is one of the most commonly experienced specific phobias and responsible for most referrals for treatment. The particular phobia may be life-affecting because of the, sometimes extreme, avoidance behaviour that sufferers have to adopt. The list is almost innumerable but some of the most common are:
Fear of spiders (Arachnophobia )-. The most commonly experienced phobia and more so in females.
Fear of snakes (Ophidiophobia). Extremely commonly occurring and maybe disabling.
Fear of dogs (Cynophobia). Fear of Cats (Gatophobia). Less common than above but more likely to be encountered in everyday life and environment.
Fear of birds (Orniphobia), Fear of chickens.
Fear of reptiles (Herpetophobia)
Fear of wasps (Spheksophobia), Fear of bees (Apiphobia)
Fear of Butterflies (Lepidopterophobia), Moths and other winged insects.
Fear of Fish, Sharks.
The list is endless but in spite of severity Animal phobias are most straightforward to treat and often occur in people with an otherwise unexceptional psychological backgrounds and most commonly arise in childhood. It is thought that we are ‘hard-wired’ to perceive some creatures as threatening.