Fear is a basic emotion that we need to survive, since it protects us against threats and helps us protect ourselves or withdraw from situations that may put our own lives at risk. However, sometimes this fear becomes irrational and the feared phobias appear. One of the most curious and unknown is the ailurophobia or phobia of catsanimals that have been with us since time immemorial and whose company we enjoy, but that can also be the protagonists of our worst fears.
In this Psychology-Online article we explain What does it consist of and what is the meaning of ailurophobia?its causes, the most common symptoms and the indicated treatment.
Meaning of ailurophobia
Ailurophobia is the name given to intense and irrational fear of cats. This feeling of fear is strong enough to cause the person symptoms of anxiety and even panic when they have one of these animals nearby or when they think about them. Regarding etymology, the name of this phobia comes from the Greek “ailouros” (cat) and “phobos” (phobia or fear).
People with ailurophobia realize that their fear of cats is not rational, but they cannot avoid the anxiety reaction. They may fear not only scratches or bites, but also the whole mystique around cats that is represented in literary works, such as in “The Black Cat” by Edgan Allan Poe, for example.
Causes of ailurophobia
There are several possible explanations for fear of cats. Let’s look at some of the causes or factors that influence the development of ailurophobia:
- Traumatic experience. The most common way to develop a phobia is usually to have a negative experience with the feared object. For example, when a child is scratched by a cat, he or she may generalize this behavior to other cats, which ultimately triggers ailurophobia. The mechanism involved in this associative learning is classical conditioning (popularized by the famous psychologist Ivan Pavlov).
- Vicarious conditioning. A common trigger for ailurophobia is observing anxious and fearful reactions in other people when they approach cats. For example, children may develop this fear from seeing their parents or caregivers (or even cartoon characters) acting fearful of these animals. This is what is known as (by observation).
- Popular beliefs. Cats are predators by nature. Traditionally, these animals have been associated with witchcraft rites, folklore and superstitions in which cats are presented as evil (the legend of the black cat and bad luck, for example). These false beliefs can cause certain people to become suggestive and end up developing ailurophobia.
- Personal predisposition. It has been suggested that certain people could have a certain genetic predisposition to acquire some phobias more easily. Personality also appears to play an important role, as individuals with anxiety-prone traits may be more likely to develop an intense fear of these felines.
Symptoms of ailurophobia
People who have ailurophobia usually develop the following symptoms:
- A irrational fear and extreme apprehension of cats (which can be triggered by even a thought or image)
- Fight or flight response: When a person is confronted by a cat, their response is to flee immediately or try to defend themselves.
- Avoidance of the feared stimulus: completely avoid places or situations where cats may be present (such as the house of a friend or neighbor who has this pet)
- Hypervigilance, anxiety and extreme nervousness when thinking about or anticipating the presence of a cat.
- Psychosomatic symptoms: nausea, dizziness and general malaise.
- Fear awareness irrational and distress due to not being able to control the fear response.
- Panic attacks: feeling of suffocation, cold sweats, tachycardia, agitation, etc. In the following article you will find more information about the .
Treatment of ailurophobia
The indicated treatment for ailurophobia consists of a combination of psychotherapies and medication. The is an effective therapy for this type of phobias; The therapist guides the person through regular exposures involving the appearance of cats (in imagination or in person, depending on the intensity of the patient’s emotional reactions). The therapist will assess the intensity of the fear and the objective will be teach the person to relax and control their breathing while facing the feared stimulus, in this case cats. As the person becomes accustomed to the presence of animals, he eventually ends up controlling the anxiety symptoms.
Another way to address ailurophobia is cognitive restructuring, a technique used in . The objective of this therapeutic procedure is modify thoughts and beliefs irrational reasons that lead the person to behave the way they do. The therapist, through Socratic dialogue and confrontation, helps the patient replace negative thoughts with more realistic and positive ones (e.g., disproving the false belief that black cats are bad luck).
Finally, medications can be used in the most serious cases, when the person suffering from ailurophobia has panic attacks and extreme anxiety reactions that incapacitate them in their daily lives. Antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs are normally used. In the following article you will find the.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- González Guerrero, LJ, Lamus Rodríguez, LT, & Moreno Nieto, DM (2013). Manual of intervention techniques in specific phobias (Bachelor’s thesis).
- Idris, R.G., & Education, K.O. (2016). Ailurophobia: The curative, abnormal and irrational fear of felines (cats). In Proceedings of the International Conference on Education towards Global Peace.