Ophidiophobia: symptoms, causes and treatment

Although it is true that snakes enjoy little fame among people and that the stories about them have earned them the fame of very dangerous animals, the reality is that on rare occasions the coincidence with a snake poses a real threat to the life of the person.

Despite this, ophidiophobia or phobia of snakes It is one of the most common specific phobias worldwide. Throughout this article we will see what it consists of and how it manifests itself, as well as its possible causes and most effective treatments.

• Related article: "Types of Phobias: Exploring Fear Disorders"

What is ophidiophobia?

By ophidiophobia is meant the anxiety disorder specific in which the person experiences an exacerbated, irrational and uncontrollable fear of snakes. Although experiencing a certain degree of fear in the presence of one of these reptiles is something absolutely natural, in ophidiophobia the fear must be unjustified and exaggerated compared to the actual threat what the situation means.

Some keys that help us to differentiate between a normal and adaptive fear of snakes and a Phobia is the behavior that the person presents in situations in which the animal is not a danger. These situations can range from the fear experienced when seeing them in a zoo, to experiencing anxiety symptoms simply when looking at a photo or toy reproduction.

The phobia of snakes or ophidiophobia is found within another type of phobia that is somewhat more general: herpetophobia, which is included within zoophobia. Herpetophobia refers to the intense and exaggerated fear of any type of reptile.

What symptoms does it present?

Like the rest of phobias or specific anxiety disorders, ophidiophobia has a series of symptoms typical of this type of disorder. The symptoms of these can be divided into three large groups: physical symptoms, cognitive symptoms and behavioral symptoms.

As usual in all kinds of conditions, there is no common and rigid pattern of symptoms, but these can vary both in their incidence and in their degree of intensity. These individual differences in the manifestation of symptoms will change according to the intensity of the fear that the person experiences.

1. physical symptoms

When a person with ophidiophobia finds himself in a situation that involves the appearance of any type of snake, it will automatically trigger a hyperactivity of the nervous system autonomous.

This hyperactivity generates a reaction in the body which undergoes a large number of changes and alterations. Among these changes we find the following.

• rapid heart rate.
• Feeling of vertigo and dizziness.
• Nausea.
• tremors uncontrollable.
• Sensation of suffocation.
• increased sweating.
• Sensation of pressure in the chest.
• Confusion.
• syncope or collapses.
• Gastro-intestinal disorders.

2. cognitive symptoms

In order for the physical symptoms to appear in the presence of a snake, the person must also have a series of previous cognitive symptoms. This cognitive symptomatology is given by an association of the phobic stimulus with a series of irrational ideas and beliefs about these reptiles.

These distorted beliefs favor the development of the phobia, being reflected in the following way.

• Intrusive beliefs and thoughts, involuntary and uncontrollable in relation to snakes.
• Unpleasant and aversive mental images.
• obsessive speculations Associated with snakes.
• Fear of not being able to manage the situation properly and end up losing control.
• Feeling of unreality.

3. behavioral symptoms

Finally, as in all conditions in which fear and anxiety are beyond the person's control, ophidiophobia also includes a series of behavioral symptoms that appear in response to the sighting or perception of the stimulus aversive.

These acts are carried out with the intention of either directly avoiding the situation that causes discomfort, or escaping as quickly as possible once the aversive stimulus has appeared. These behaviors These are known as escape and avoidance behaviors..

Behaviors known as avoidance behaviors are carried out with the intention of avoiding the encounter with any type of snake. In them the person performs all kinds of behaviors to avoid the stimulus object of the phobia and thus not get to experience the feelings of anguish and anxiety that this causes.

For example, these avoidance behaviors can be reflected in the constant avoidance or refusal to visit zoos or any type of facility where these reptiles may appear; as well as avoid traveling to exotic countries.

Finally, escape behaviors appear when the person could not avoid encountering the phobic stimulus, and once the sensation of discomfort is experienced, they will carry out all kinds of behaviors that allow them to escape from the current situation as soon and as quickly as possible.

What causes this phobia?

One of the main features that characterizes phobias is the impossibility, in most cases, of defining the specific origin of a phobia. However, there are a number of factors that can facilitate the appearance, development and maintenance of a phobia.

someone with a genetic predisposition to suffer more from the effects of stress, accompanied by the experience of a highly traumatic experience or one with a very high emotional charge in which the stimulus aversive (in this case, snakes) have a relevant role, they may be much more vulnerable when it comes to developing a phobia.

However, in the specific case of snakes, there are some theories that expose other factors, in addition to of genetics and traumatic experience, which can justify the intense fear that a person feels towards are.

The first theory points to the idea that ophidiophobia has an evolutionary basis that has not disappeared in some people. These hypotheses maintain that in the past the danger that snakes posed to the physical integrity of humans was much higher, so the feeling of alertness and danger towards this reptile was much more intense. This feeling would have lasted until today in some of these people who suffer from ophidiophobia.

On the other hand, the mythology that surrounds this animal and the symbology that is associated with it facilitate the development and maintenance of these fears and irrational and aversive beliefs regarding snakes.

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Is there a treatment?

In the event that the person suffers from a real ophidiophobia, and not a normal fear of snakes, a Appropriate treatment can reduce, and even eliminate, the anxiety response associated with the stimulus. aversive. The high effectiveness of psychological interventions in the treatment of phobias have made them the main method of choice when it comes to relieving symptoms.

The cognitive behavioral therapy in which through cognitive restructuring, the distorted thoughts of the patient are modified as well as techniques such as systematic desensitization or in vivo exposure, and training in relaxation techniques, is highly effective and usually have very satisfactory results on the patient.