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Fear of Animals
Animal Phobias

Zoophobia – The Fear of Animals

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Zoophobia: The Irrational Fear of Animals

How common is the fear of animals? It’s so prevalent that it is a general category in the American Psychiatric Association’s list of phobias.

Don’t believe it? Check out the DSM-5, also known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Do zoos and pet shops scare you? Do you avoid watching wildlife documentaries? If you cringed while reading these questions, then you may have zoophobia.

This abnormal fear of animals is real and not a cause for embarrassment. However, this phobia can affect your well-being and productivity. But it is possible to overcome this illogical fear. Let’s find out how.

What Is Zoophobia?

Zoophobia comes from two words, zoo and phobos. These Greek terms refer to “animal” and “fear” respectively. Also, a zoo is a park where animals are housed and bred for public display and conservation.

Zoophobia is not a specific animal fear disorder. Someone with this phobia is afraid of a wide range of animals. There are more specific animal phobias such as arachnophobia, or the fear of spiders.

Animals are always on your mind, but your worry goes beyond discomfort. You are not merely disgusted by slimy, furry, scary creatures. Instead, they cause irrational fear and extreme anxiety. If you have this condition, you’re terrified by the idea of running into an animal on the streets. Images or videos of animals can send you into a full-blown panic.

Fear of Animals

Zoophobia Causes

You might be wondering, Why do I have fear of animals? Like other phobias, the fear of animals is irrational.
Here are some factors linked to this condition.

Learned Behavior

Can you remember observing your parents or caregivers respond negatively to animals? Most children don’t fear animals when they first encounter them. But a child might learn to fear animals from what they observe in the reaction of others. For instance, you might have seen a parent or older sibling scream in horror at the sight of a specific animal. As a result, you came to develop a fear of animals.

A Frightening Experience

A traumatic experience is another possible cause. An animal may have caused you pain or distress in the past. You probably were bitten by a specific animal. Maybe you had an intimidating experience with several animals, especially when young.

Genetics

If you have a family history of anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder, you may be prone to developing phobias. You might have inherited the tendency for zoophobia. Once you were exposed to animals, it may have triggered this irrational fear.

Social Conditioning

Others claim that females develop this phobia more often than males. Why? Some cultures find it acceptable for women to exhibit a fear of animals, while men are discouraged from showing their apprehension. In movies, notice how often women scream at the sight of a mouse or faint when confronted with snakes or other critters. Men are then supposed to “rescue” the ladies from these fearsome creatures.

What Are the Symptoms of Zoophobia?

Zoophobia symptoms can manifest mentally, emotionally, or physically. Children and adults alike experience these telltale signs:

Physical Symptoms

  • Sweating
  • Difficulties in breathing
  • Nausea
  • Dizziness
  • Fast heartbeat
  • Uncontrollable trembling
  • Avoiding zoos and places with animals
  • Nail-biting

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Overwhelming panic
  • Uncontrolled thoughts about animals
  • Talking too much about animals
  • Seeing pictures or videos of animals in the mind
  • Hearing animal sounds even when there are none

Symptoms in Children

  • Crying
  • Screaming especially at night
  • Hiding behind their parents or caregivers
  • Throwing tantrums
  • Silence

Since children have fewer experiences with animals, their first encounters may be frightening.

Self-Help Tips to Manage Zoophobia

The symptoms of zoophobia vary from one person to another. In this sense, a treatment method may work in one person’s case and fail to work for another. Before you reach out for professional help, look into what you can do for yourself. Let it register in your mind that fear is as big as you make it and as effective as you make it. Fears are traps. They will hinder you from accomplishing whatever you have set your mind on.

Check out these other techniques you can do on your own:

Apply Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques don’t solve the problem. Instead, they help you address the fear and manage it better. Try controlled breathing at home every day before stepping out. Breath in and out for as long as necessary. This helps to relax your mind and reduce any tension. In addition, look at yourself in the mirror and affirm that you are not afraid of anything. There is a motivation that comes from the inside of you.

Join Phobia Discussion Groups

There is no better comfort than knowing you are not facing something alone. Nobody will understand you better than a person going through the same experience. Look for a group within your community and participate in the discussion. These groups work effectively if you are open and honest about your fear. It is in these group talks where you will learn what zoophobia treatment methods worked well for others.

Remember the Basics

As with other mental disorders, having the essentials in place will help you cope. This means you need to eat right, get enough rest, and exercise daily. Don’t forget to give your mind a break as well. Take note that there’s no medication to treat phobias. The only available medications for zoophobia are administered to treat underlying health issues, such as blood pressure or depression.

Seeking Professional Help

Talk to a mental health professional to explore medically administered help. Such treatments include:

Exposure Therapy

As the name suggests, this involves exposure to the trigger of your fear. Exposure therapy is a standard treatment method for most anxiety disorders. You will be gradually exposed to animals. The exposure is safe since it is done in a controlled process. First, you will start by visualizing and talking about your phobia. This will be followed by images and videos. Lastly, you will be asked to face or even hold a live animal. Your therapist will guide you through the treatment process and take notes of how you respond to animals. At the end of your treatment, you should be able to interact with animals more freely.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT is a standard treatment method. It identifies and changes thoughts and beliefs that you have acquired over time. The first step is accepting that these thoughts and ideas are irrational. However, CBT does not alleviate the problem completely. Therapists often combine exposure therapy and CBT to minimize the risks zoophobia has on an individual.

How to Avoid It Altogether

How do you get rid of zoophobia? Treating zoophobia starts with accepting that you indeed have a phobia and working to alleviate it. After all, only you understand exactly what you fear or what you are uncomfortable with. Professional treatment doesn’t get rid of zoophobia entirely. It works to help you better cope with the fear. While treatment is good, the best way to manage it is by addressing the problem within you. Fears start in the mind, and the same holds true for zoophobia. You may wish to avoid animals altogether. However, this isn’t realistic. Instead, practice the self-help tips mentioned above to alleviate the symptoms.

Conclusion

It’s normal to feel wary about certain animals. However, they should not give us sleepless nights or affect how we carry out everyday tasks. If you want to overcome this persistent fear, be ready to follow these tips for the long haul. There’s no instant fix for zoophobia. But eventually, you can visit the zoo or buy that stuffed animal without fear.

Stories Submitted by Our Readers

Zoophobia, Fear of Animals

I would say I hate animals, but that is not really the truth. I am tired of those people that have animals and have to shove it in my face all the time when they know I have a fear of animals. I use to be able to love animals as long as they were not close and I could see them from afar, but of course, others would not leave well enough alone and now I feel like I hate them. I am not sure when the fear started but I remember being scared of them when I was a kid. Where I live you have to man up if you’re a boy. If you show fear, your dad will scold you and your mom will be disappointed. If you try to get help from a therapist, it is shameful. I still live at home and when I mentioned going to my mom she refused and told me to grow up.

Eric

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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