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Animal Phobias

Ophidiophobia – Fear of Snakes

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Fear of Snakes Is Natural (to a Point)

Have you ever gone to the zoo and avoided going to the snake section?

Does watching the late Steve Irwin hunt black mamba on television make you physically sick?

If your answer to these questions is yes, then you most probably suffer from an excessive fear of snakes.

What is the fear of snakes called? The official name is Ophidiophobia.

Maybe it’s difficult for you and others close to you to understand why you avoid like the plague any movie that has a snake in it.

Snakes on a plane?

No way!!

You definitely can’t explaining the stark terror that grips you at the mere sight of these slithering creatures—even if they’re just on-screen.

Or how about the way your heart feels like it’s going to explode? Or the rivers of sweat that run down your back?

You’ve probably even had to leave the room on various occasions.

Living with this fear can be very difficult and may even be the bane of your existence. You may feel unsure about talking to anyone about it for fear of being ridiculed. For people who suffer from phobias, their fears are very real.

But don’t lose hope. There are ways to overcome your fear. But first, you need to get to the root cause.

What Causes the Fear of Snakes?

To understand how it all started, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. It may have been a bedtime story that you were told as a kid. One in which the snake was made out to be the villain. The story has played out in your memory far too many times and eventually took the form of a phobia. Or you had a close call with a real-life snake some time in your past, and you haven’t been able to get over it.

Sure, science calls this a survival defense mechanism, but for you it’s definitely an unpleasant anxiety you could do without.

Some Things You Need to Know about Ophidiophobia

Disliking something is very different from a phobia. If the mere thought of a subject or a discussion around it evokes feelings of anxiety and dread, it can be termed as phobia. The term ophidiophobia comes from ophis which means “snake” and phobia which means “fear.” Ophidiophobia ranks at number two among all phobias.

One in ten people have some kind of fear of snakes. Which means you’re not alone.

The fear of snakes can also come from a learned behavior. If you had a family member or an older sibling that had an unexplained fear of snakes, the chances are high that you learned that fear from them. Ophidiophobia can be all-encompassing. You may gradually begin to fear anything that has an indirect connection to snakes. For example, the thought of going trekking or camping may give you cold feet. You may also avoid visits to a zoo, a natural sanctuary, or even a pet store that sells snakes.

Ophidiophobia is also the most common phobia among all herpetophobia (the fear of reptiles). An article in The New York Times states that the widespread fear of snakes is perceptual and could be blamed on the pulvinar, a region in our brain. In other words, we have been conditioned evolutionarily to be afraid of snakes or similar forms.

Symptoms of Ophidiophobia

It can be very challenging to diagnose a fear of snakes, since symptoms tend to vary between people. People with a mild case of ophidiophobia may fear only large and venomous snakes.

In severe cases, even a small snake may trigger a panic attack. There are two kinds of symptoms that people suffering from ophidiophobia usually experience at the thought or sight of a snake, whether venomous or not.

Physical and psychological symptoms vary. These symptoms range from the standard physical ailments to serious psychological indications.

Physical Symptoms

Psychological Symptoms

  • Extreme anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Uncontrollable and obsessive thoughts
  • Constant fear of encountering a snake
  • Replaying images of snakes in the mind
  • Constantly reliving fictional encounters with snakes

People with ophidiophobia may experience any or all of these symptoms which may worsen, depending on how close they get to a real snake.

How Do You Deal with Ophidiophobia?

Like all phobias, ophidiophobia is irrational. But if you find that this fear inhibits you from functioning normally or that the mere mention of a snake gives you the heebie-jeebies, consider getting professional help. While there is no particular treatment for a phobia, you can explore different treatment options.

Self-Help: What You Can Do to Help Yourself

Before you consider treatment options, consider ways to help yourself. Self-help is, after all, the first step. Start by convincing yourself that your fear is irrational. It is said that the mind will learn to believe things it hears over and over again. Keep making reassuring statements to yourself throughout the day.

Write down your thoughts to help you identify the patterns that lead to fear and anxiety. Focus on consciously replacing negative associations with positive beliefs and statements, which will help decrease the fear.

Relaxation techniques like deep breathing, controlled breathing, meditation, counting numbers, or making positive affirmations to yourself when faced with thoughts or images of snakes can also help.

Another alternative is to expose yourself to the very thing you fear. While it is easier said than done, you will find that with persistent effort, your anxiety will slowly begin to diminish. You can tailor any or all of these techniques to help you overcome your fears.

Professional Help for the Fear of Snakes: Available Options

Consider reaching out to a therapist for help with your phobia. The most common treatments are based on cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. Hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming are also used. Most therapists encourage you to talk about your innate fears and your reasons for them while observing your composure. Through this, they find ways to break the pattern of your thought process.

Many mental health professionals use exposure therapies to help people work through their fears. One such technique is systematic desensitization, considered one of the most effective and efficient methods of treating ophidiophobia. It involves gradually exposing someone to what they are afraid of, so they become desensitized and no longer fear it.

It sounds simple, but it needs to be done very methodically and by a trusted mental health professional to prevent undue trauma. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Learning to Cope with Ophidiophobia

All of the above in no way guarantees that your anxiety or phobia will go away completely. What it means is that you won’t feel the same levels of anxiety as before and that you will have better control in managing your fear of snakes when it does arise.

A fear of snakes is very common, but is shouldn’t undermine you. By dealing with it, either by seeking professional help or asking for support from close family and friends, you can find ways to reduce your anxiety and lessen your fears.

You can also focus on positive thoughts or ask a trusted family member to talk you through an anxiety attack.

Reducing your fear from something that disrupts your life to something that causes only slight discomfort is more than half the battle.

Learning to manage your ophidiophobia can go a long way in leading a normal life. The next time you watch Jungle Book and listen to Kaa singing Trust in Me, take a deep breath, apply the techniques of systematic desensitization and sing right along.

Stories Submitted by Our Readers

Fear of Snakes

I am so terrified of snakes that I cannot even look at a photo or pictures in a book. If someone throws a plastic snake at me or I have to touch one, I literally faint. I try by slowly looking at pictures, but it does not seem to help. If I see a snake in a movie, I cannot sleep at all. I’m so afraid that there will be some way the snake in the movie will attack me while I sleep. I don’t know what to do as you never know when you may see a picture of one on Facebook, in a book, or in a movie. I am tired of living my life in fear. I think it’s time to get a therapist.

I didn’t know my friend had a pet snake. I got in her closet to get a shirt and passed out. Her mom came running and found out my friend had a snake in her room.
Leslie V Ernst … South Carolina

I hate snakes!!!! I have this dream all the time that there are snakes crawling on my legs.
George E Ingram

OMG! I have the same dream.
Candance B.

I’m not really scared of snakes, they just give me the creeps. I would never live where there are venomous snakes. I won’t date a guy that has one as a pet or anything like that but I don’t run in fear when I see one.
Kimberly A Jones

I have an extreme fear of snakes. I am too embarrassed to say exacting what I did when I saw a large snake in my yard, but it wasn’t pretty. This fear is unbearable. I live in the desert and love working in my yard and garden, but there always seems to be a snake lurking around. Now, I am scared to go outside and enjoy my flower garden. I’ve had this fear as far back as I can remember. I just don’t know what to do.
Elizabeth Nickelson
I agree with all the others that have commented. My fear is even worse as I can’t look at a photo of a snake. My young nephew threw a fake snake at me and I ran outside screaming. I knew it wasn’t real. He had been playing with it, but I just wouldn’t look at it and kind of ignored it until he threw it at me. Of course, my family thought it was funny. A guy running from a fake snake. They just don’t understand my fear.
Tim Newton

SUBMIT YOUR STORY

FearAZ.com is looking for personal stories of any 'fear of' or phobia. If you have an interesting story you'd like to share, we welcome your submission. If the story fits with our content and guidelines, we'll add it to our site.
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Your Fear Goes Up and Down

Are you someone who would rather climb the stairs than take the elevator? You call it squeezing in a workout after being sedentary the whole morning. Or perhaps you claim it's a faster route. These are both typical, normal, and acceptable reasons. But what if you need to be in the conference room on the eleventh floor in five minutes, and you're wearing your business suit and wingtips? Would you still prefer to take the stairs? If your answer is yes, then maybe it's time to take a closer look at your reasons for avoiding elevators. Elevators stir all sorts of emotions in passengers. From the discomfort of closeness to strangers to the sensations in our gut, elevators can be a source of the heebie-jeebies for many, but for some, they can also be a source of terror. Let's dig a little deeper into the latter, and see what this terror is all about and what can be done to manage it. To begin with, does being inside an elevator give you chills or the sweats? Or does it trigger an unpleasant memory? Perhaps you remember movies you've watched where something terrible happens inside an elevator. From Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, Final Destination 2, or the king of all elevator horror films, 2010’s Devil, the elevator becomes witness to something sinister and horrible. And you want nothing to do with any of it. You know that you're not claustrophobic. You can deal with heights just fine, too. And you know that you're not going to be trapped inside. All of these contribute to a fear of elevators—but they don't apply to you. Yet being inside one does something to you. It's hard to explain.

What is the Fear of Elevators Called?

What you have is a fear of elevators, which is called elevatophobia. It is most commonly triggered by an experience of getting stuck inside either due to a power outage or technical maintenance. Hearing about other people's experiences or watching a movie about similar circumstances can prompt a fear of elevators getting stuck with you inside. Usually, claustrophobics and agoraphobics may also develop elevatophobia because the triggers and objects of these fears are related. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed and cramped spaces, while agoraphobia is the fear of being trapped without any means of escape. Put the two together, and the elevator becomes the perfect combination of both phobias. The space is limited and closed, with only one means of entry and exit. You can add another point of access if you consider climbing the cables like they do in the movies, but that certainly isn't ideal.

Symptoms of Elevatophobia

If for some reason an elevator stops due to an outage or some technical difficulty, passengers with elevatophobia may go into full panic mode. Even if the maintenance team advises that it will just be a matter of minutes, by then, the person's mind has become irrational with the fear of the elevator falling, being stuck for hours, or other unpleasant thoughts. You would expect a person to exhibit the following physical symptoms: Additionally, you would be filled with that overwhelming anxiety where you feel that you have zero control over the situation. You start fearing the unknown and are filled with negative thoughts about death and imminent doom. You become irrational and unresponsive.

Possible Complications of Elevatophobia

When the panic sets in, the possibility of emergencies related to pre-existing conditions may make themselves known. This might include serious health crises like heart attacks or asthma attacks. When this happens, fear becomes a medical emergency. Elevator rides do not last long; it's just a matter of minutes or even less. But the fact that a person can escalate from panic to a near fatal medical situation classifies the fear of elevators as a 'hard phobia.'

Trying Some Self-Help Methods

Your fear of elevators can likely interfere with your social and work life and relationships. Not everyone understands that elevatophobia, like most phobias, can be crippling. But don't be disheartened. Depending on the level of your fear and level of control, you can gradually face and manage your phobia. Here are some recommendations you can try:
  1. Make a List of Everything that Entails Riding in an Elevator This is a systematic approach to getting over your anxiety. By following a step-by-step process, you can identify where the fear kicks in at its strongest. You can write a list of steps like pressing the topmost button and waiting to arrive on that floor, watching as the door closes and opens, being alone inside the elevator, or having delays with the doors opening. Now try doing the opposite. For example, face away from the door or occupy yourself with your phone so that you are distracted.
  2. Create Your Fear Ladder Although the name says fear of elevators, it is not the whole process that scares you. There are just phases and parts of the elevator riding experience that cause you to panic. So go back to the list you initially created and label the fear level you feel. You can do it numerically, too, like ten being 'really scary,' six, 'manageable scary,' and one, 'not scary at all.' You can put the corresponding fear levels so you can focus more time and effort into activities that are more scary to you.
  3. Face Your Fear By now, you have identified what scares you the most. You can try repetitive action to minimize your fear and increase your sense of ‘normalcy’. Remember that the longer you expose yourself to your fear, the better you get at handling your emotions. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stop. Pushing yourself too fast and too soon can backfire. Modify your pace and go slower instead.
  4. Talk About Your Fear People by nature, unfortunately, are not quick to offer understanding and support. You need to tell them what's wrong before they can empathize. Talk to someone who you trust and ask for their support, especially in the initial phase of overcoming your fear. If you are too afraid to ride the elevator alone, you can ask them to go with you, and before you realize it, you are on your floor, and there was no indication of panic.
  5. Learn To Be Patient Be patient with yourself and your predicament. This is, after all, your fight against fear. It might take hundreds of elevator ride practices before the fear gets under control. Even then, there might be some hesitations and episodes of nervousness. These are acceptable and expected, so cut yourself some slack and congratulate yourself for every progress.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with self-help, you can always enlist a medical professional's aid to support you with your elevatophobia. Talking to someone who has experience with similar cases can be comforting, because you know that you are not alone, and this situation can get better. Talk to your doctor about the severity of your fears and the symptoms that you experience. Explain how you deal with it in an attempt to control it. An exam and a health history are made to ensure that there are no unrelated or underlying problems that your symptoms might mask. Usually, phobias like this are approached with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Your doctor will talk about these options with you, and it's entirely up to you, with your doctor's recommendation, what you want to pursue. For psychotherapy, the most common type is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to help you find different ways of behaving, thinking, and reacting when about to step inside an elevator or when already inside it. With medications, there are beta blockers and benzodiazepines, but note that these can have side effects. Whatever these side effects are, you should promptly share it with your doctor.

Simple Tips to Overcome Elevatophobia

Elevators are not perfect, but their likelihood to malfunction, fall, or get stuck is very low. If you are not fully confident with this information, you can help overcome your elevatophobia by learning common elevator safety tips and basic elevator operations. These should help curb your mild fear until you become more self-assured. In addition to that, here are some of the things that you can do to gradually overcome your fear of elevators—both in getting on and riding one.

Conclusion

Yes, elevatophobia can be a challenge in today's world, but don't allow the elevator to win. Don't let it stop you from taking a job on the top floor or attending a social gathering on the rooftop. Sure, you can take the stairs if you insist and arrive winded and sweaty, with the party about to wrap up. But is this the quality of life you seek? Elevators are designed to make life easier. There are guaranteed ways to help you overcome elevatophobia. Take the first step and seek help. Soon, you’ll see yourself breezing through the floors with those arduous stair climbs little more than a memory.
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