All About Herpetophobia

Snakes have always terrified humans. The fear of these reptiles is in our minds almost from birth. The appearance of this creature is unpleasant and looks pretty intimidating. Consciousness involuntarily includes a sense of self-preservation at the sight of a snake. In some people, the fear of these reptiles is not so strong, while in others it can cause a panic attack.

Ophidiophobia or herpetophobia is a fear of snakes. It is deciphered as follows: the word “ofidio” is translated as “snake”, and “phobos” - “fear”. This disorder refers to zoophobia. The fear of snakes inherent in human consciousness is transmitted from generation to generation.

Anxiety can occur when a person looks at a lizard or snake. This is a completely normal condition if it does not turn into a panic mood. It is he who can say that we have a sign of ophidiophobia. In a person suffering from this disorder, fear develops when there is no risk to life. For example, when you see a picture of a reptile or when the same person, visiting a serpentarium, begins to panic.

Women and children are most prone to these phobias. And only a specialist can distinguish a nervous breakdown from ordinary fear. If the type of snake causes some discomfort, which disappears as soon as the stimulus disappears from the view, then this manifestation can be called a banal aversion to the creature, which does not cause sympathy.

There is nothing unusual in the development of a phobia of this orientation.Man’s fear of reptiles developed along with evolution. When homo sapiens acquired skills and intellectual abilities, at the same time he developed a strong sense of self-preservation. The first tragic experience of a collision with these creatures cemented a potential danger in the mind. This experience has been transmitted from century to century. Subsequently, people learned to use snakes to destroy their own kind. Foes often put vipers in the bed of their opponents.

The hostility to snakes is aggravated by nature itself. The effect of surprise can be taken by surprise, and a person will not be able to react in time to danger. Snakes are almost invisible. They can appear in front of a person at any moment and attack. That is why an unexpected meeting causes inevitable fright even among the most daring individual.

Children are afraid of snakes because fear is transmitted to them from their parents. They precisely repeat the behavior of their senior mentors, and the fear of snakes is well fixed in consciousness. However, the same negative experience can be gained regardless of adult behavior.

Children often encounter reptiles on their way. Depending on the nature of the character, and after a series of such encounters with danger, a phobia may occur. Jokes from classmates can consolidate this fear in consciousness. The guys throw toy snakes to their comrades. In children with a weakened psyche or a very impressionable character, such pampering can form a persistent phobia.

Perhaps she will be forgotten for a while. But if in the life of such a person a situation occurs that leads to stress, then the phobia can wake up and go outside from the hidden corners of consciousness. Do not forget that reptiles and their images are used to conduct various rituals of black magic. And this fact adds certain moments to the development of the phobia.

If you have only a slight hostility to snakes and do not think every day that they exist and can attack you, then this condition should not cause you anxiety.

To fear the development of phobia is necessary with the following manifestations:

• it’s hard for you to be where terrariums with reptiles are located, for example, pet shops where reptiles are sold dislike you;
• being next to a reptile, you experience uncontrollable fear;
• thoughts that snakes are found in the wild make you refuse to rest in the forest or in hot countries.

A phobia can develop after meeting with a snake, which brought unpleasant moments. Suppose she attacked and harmed her health. It is not necessary that this incident could happen to you. If you were near when the snake attacked a person, then observing the tragedy will necessarily negatively affect your condition and will be remembered for a long time.

Strong-spirited people will be able to cope with the anxiety state quickly and independently; others need to carefully work on themselves and deal with their fears. You may even have to consult a specialist (in severe cases).

A science such as psychology has long been studying the problem of various phobias, and psychologists are developing various methods of getting rid of obsessive states. It is likely that you will be advised to proceed as follows.

• You must have misconceptions about reptiles. Your fears are unjustified. Therefore, write down everything you know about these creatures, and compare your knowledge with the original source.
• Ask yourself what exactly causes your fear at the sight of snakes. Apparently, you have no idea how snakes attack and why they do it.Most likely, you simply do not like their appearance, but you have never been attacked by these creatures. It is entirely possible that you have come up with your own fears yourself, and they are completely unfounded.
• To stop being afraid of reptiles, you need to know all the information about them. If the reason for the fear lies in the fact that you were misinformed (influenced by a friend’s story or you heard something unpleasant on TV), then your fears can be overcome by examining the problem carefully.
• Watch documentaries about snakes that are filmed for educational purposes more often. This information will help you understand some of the points that will affect your future attitude towards snakes.
• To overpower yourself, pick up a toy snake and hold it. Try to understand that nothing terrible is happening to you.
• Go to the serpentarium or the zoo, where reptiles are found in terrariums. No matter how scary you are, try to stay there longer. Deal with yourself and stop near the most dangerous snake. Look at her. You will be scared, but you need to calm yourself.
• As soon as you begin to think that you are in danger from snakes, then try to reason like this: “I should not (be) afraid of snakes. They’re not near me. And why did I decide (a) that they should appear and attack? Every living creature has a sense of self-preservation, and the snake is no exception. She is afraid of man just as a man is afraid of her. And this means that snakes do not just attack people. It’s just my fears that will go away as soon as I stop propagating them with my thoughts. ”

In more severe cases, it is better to consult a therapist who will identify the problem. To begin with, he will find out where your fear came from. Identifying the cause is the beginning of the correction. As soon as the specialist finds out the reason, he will offer to undergo a course of psychotherapy.

• Prescribing drugs, such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Benzodiazepine tranquilizers complement the therapeutic effect.
• Panic attacks result from neurosis. The development of this condition is adaptive. The body adapts itself to trouble. The use of physiotherapy will be the best way to get rid of phobia, since this is the effect of nature: heat, electric current, magnetic field, etc. The structure of physiotherapy includes the following procedures: massage (restorative), water treatment (contrasting souls and swimming in the pool), float camera (complete isolation of extraneous noise), magnetic procedures (use of magnetic fields).
• Hypnotherapy also gives a lasting cure result.

It must be remembered that serious therapy with the use of drugs can give a good result, if used together with other effective methods that relieve phobias.