Animal phobias
Have you ever been standing in a bus shelter on a hot summer's day when a wasp flies in? Half the people will run out in a flash to get away from it.
Have you ever watched people in George Square when the pigeons fly over their heads? They duck down in fear that one will hit them
Have you asked friends what they think of being in the same room as a snake? Chances are they will shiver and tell you how much they hate them (even though most people have never seen a snake outside a zoo).
How many of us could pick up a worm with our bare hands?
How many people do you know you have a fear of spiders? (it looks like more of us in Scotland than in any other part of the UK).
It all goes to prove this is the most common phobia. Most of us have some kind of fear that we know is a bit over the top. But if it does not affect your life too much, then we live with it. So if your wife can get the spider out the bath before you go in, you won't see it as a huge deal (as long as she does not tell your friends).
But, on the other hand:
- what if you won't go out the house on a hot day in case you meet a wasp?
- what if you won't visit a friend's house as you know she has a cat?
- what if you take a taxi from the shops to your door so you won't have to walk past a house as you know a big dog lives there?
- what if you won't go into a room until someone makes sure there are no spiders in it?
- what if you won't go for a walk in a city park in case you stand on a snake?
So if you have this fear, the chances are you will avoid a lot of places where you think you might come face to face with what you fear.
But, of course, you can't always be sure you won't meet one. So you might find you are tensed up a lot of the time. You worry a lot. You do the "What if"s:
- "What if I can't get out?"
- "What if I get stung?"
- "What if I make a fool of myself?" (this is often worse that the fear of being stung)
You will also have your radar on all the time - you will spot the wasp long before anyone else sees it. This makes you think there are wasps all over the place as you see all of them when others see only one in ten of them.
Once it starts to affect your life like this, its time to tackle it. So it's not if you have a fear of animas or not, but the degree to which it affects your life
Can we get a fear of all animals?
In practice, fears are much more common with these:
- Wasps and bees
- Snakes
- Worms
- Birds
- Spiders
- Dogs
- Cats
Why should this be?
To help us survive, it helps to be 'prepared' to be wary of things that can do you harm. If you are wary of them, you will steer clear of them and so stay alive.
Think what would happen if we didn't have this built in? Think of a child playing in the wood. The child sees a brightly coloured snake and is drawn to it. He goes over to clap it and the snake bites him. But with this inbuilt fear - a toddler sees the snake but there is something about it that makes him wary. So he runs to his mum instead of going to the snake. So he does not get bitten and so lives. This makes a lot of sense.
It lets us see why few of us get fears of, e.g. cows - cows have never been a great risk to us so why should we be wary of them? Snakes, dogs, spiders, etc. could do you harm so it makes sense to be wary of them.
How do you deal with these fears?
In the same way that you deal with any fear - you need to face your fear
