Although it is known worldwide as the best friend of the human being, not all people see dogs as friendly, cute and harmless creatures. There are even those who are afraid of dogs, regardless of their breed. It’s about a extreme fear, to the point of being considered a phobia. This is called cynophobia and it is one of the most common phobias, although it may not seem like it. If you want to know everything about dog phobia and how to overcome it, be sure to read on. We will find out in Supercurious.
Are you afraid of dogs?
Before we look at what is cynophobia, let’s review what is a phobia. A phobia, simply put, is a anxiety disorder that arises as a response to a stimulus that is interpreted as a threat, even though objectively it is not. So a phobia is a irrational fear of objects or situations that do not present a real dangerbut that the person interprets as such.
Within the types of phobias, we find the animal phobia which, obviously, is the irrational fear of any animal, regardless of class or species. Among the most common of this type of phobia are: arachnophobia (fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) and cynophobia (fear of dogs).
The term cynophobia derives from two Greek words: kyōn,”dog and phobos,”fear”. So there is a big difference between those people who feel a simple dislike or rejection towards dogs, either for hygienic reasons or a lack of empathy, and those people with a phobia of dogs.
Cynophobia It can be towards certain breeds or all dogs in generalregardless of whether they are large, medium or small or by shape, and tends to increase the danger and decrease the ability of the affected individual to defend himself.
1. Symptoms of phobia or fear of dogs
The most obvious symptom of cynophobia is excessive and disproportionate fear when seeing, feeling or being close to a dog. This symptom also appears without the need for the physical presence of the canine. That is, the fear and rejection of the animal appear just by thinking about it. Now, specifically, we can find both physical and emotional symptoms. At this point, it should be clarified that, although the phobia of dogs in children is more common, it is also very common in adults, both presenting the same symptoms.
As for the physical symptoms, we can find those of a Anxiety Attack. Among them we find:
- disturbance of heart rate and breathing
- excessive sweating
- nausea
- stomach contractions
- And, in very acute cases, diarrhea and fainting, although others may occur.
In addition to these physical symptoms, the person suffering from cynophobia may present behavioral and emotional responses when in front of a dog. In the first place, she adopts an avoidance behavior, so she will do everything possible to avoid contact with the animal
Added to this are other behaviors such as anger and crying, caused by the same fear and frustration.
2. Causes of cynophobia
Socially, people tend to be more understanding of certain irrational fears or phobias, such as cynophobia and thalassophobia (fear of the sea), since they seem to follow a certain logic and represent a possible danger. Although it is true that among the rarest phobias, we find some that can be funny and absurd, each of them is a serious disorder and deserves to be treated as such.
Determining the reasons why some are afraid of dogs is complex, because as you well know, a phobia is an irrational fear; it is not objective. Both in cynophobia, as with any other anxiety disorder, these are different and particular.
Although it is difficult to determine the causes of the phobia of dogs, experts say that Cynophobia in children is more common, since it is usually learned. Children learn from the behavior of parents, acquaintances or just unknown people, so if they perceive that someone else is afraid of dogs, they will adopt this phobia. In addition to this, there are indicators that Cynophobia can be hereditary.
Despite the above, there are reports of the development of this phobia in people aged 20 and over, so cynophobia in children is not exclusive. Generally, in adults it develops traumatic or negative experiencesespecially arise from the attack of a dog.
3. How to overcome cynophobia?
The main thing you must do to overcome the phobia or fear of dogs is go to a professional. There are various therapies to overcome dog phobia, ranging from psychoanalysis sessions to the use of drugs to control the physical and psychological symptoms of the dog. panic attack. Specifically, two techniques have shown great efficacy when dealing with animals: exposure therapy and cognitive therapy.
Exposure therapy or systematic desensitization it consists of a gradual exposure to the object of the phobia; in this case the dogs. You can start with brief encounterswithout getting too close to the dog and learning to control your breath in order to reduce anxiety.
The sessions they will increase the exposure time until the person manages to overcome the fear of dogs or until they can control panic attacks and the most severe symptoms of cynophobia. Naturally, this technique should be applied with the guidance of a professional.
In addition, this therapy can be complemented with the cognitive therapythis consists of the application of relaxation techniques to control anxiety. Among them, the most used and effective are: self-knowledge and knowledge of the adversary. We talk about self knowledge because in healing a key step is to understand that the phobia of dogs is a problem that can affect our life. In addition, investigating the origins of fear will help us to know ourselves and evolve.
The knowledge of the adversary, which in this case would be a dog, can go a long way in reducing anxiety. If you know the characteristics, behaviors and qualities of the adversary, you can objectively see the level of danger and thus you will reduce the level of anxiety when you face him. When you have an encounter with the dog, try use logic. For example, you can think and repeat to yourself that if dogs were as dangerous as your body and mind seem to believe, there wouldn’t be as many people living with them, even indoors.
Perhaps you do not suffer from cynophobia, but it is very likely that a friend, relative or acquaintance is a victim of this disorder. The next time someone next to you is paralyzed by a small animal, offer your understanding and support.
If you are interested in these topics, we suggest you do not stop reading: celebrity phobias. You will love the article! We also leave you this selection of dog phrases. Ideal to remember why we love them.
Other phobias you should know about
Now that we conclude our article on cynophobia, we want to leave you with this selection of phobias. Do you have any of them?
- What is turophobia, fear of cheese
- What is Eisoptrophobia, fear of mirrors
- What is arachnophobia, fear of spiders
- What is glossophobia, fear of public speaking
- What is acrophobia, fear of heights
- What is hafephobia, fear of being touched
- What is decidophobia, fear of making decisions
- What is tanotophobia, fear of death
- What is aerophobia, fear of flying by plane
- What is ophidiophobia, fear of snakes
- What is hemophobia, fear of blood
- What is clautrophobia, fear of closed spaces
- What is coulrophobia, fear of clowns