Ailurophobia or fear of cats: causes and treatment

Causes

The fear of cats, or the name “ailurophobia,” is quite rare. Nevertheless, this is a common phobia among the modern population, occurring mainly in childhood. Experts agreed and identified a number of reasons contributing to the development of a violation of a person’s psychological state.

These include:

Aggressiveness of the animal

The fear of cats appears due to the fact that the animal is able to fight back the offender. A striking example is the fact when a child takes a cat by the tail. Of course, the animal will not like this much and will give change. This way the baby will get unpleasant pain and scratches. There have been cases when a cat caused very significant harm to a child. However, according to psychologists, all it takes for a phobia to arise is a small scratch.

Parental warnings

Ailurophobia is a fear that can be imposed by parents. Many mothers are so worried about their child that they see mortal danger in everything. From an early age, a child is taught that cats are an irreparable evil. Often parents themselves, without knowing it, suffer from a phobia of fear of cats, having heard stories about how an animal scratched a child’s face or infected it with all kinds of viruses.

Impression after watching the film

In some films, cats are shown as vicious and aggressive animals capable of causing irreparable harm to human health and crippling him. If a child watches such videos, he or she increases the risk of developing ailurophobia in all its manifestations. Some impressionable children developed this phobia even after watching a banal children's cartoon about cats.

Excessive superstition

As soon as a black cat crosses the road, some cross themselves, others grab a button and spit over their left shoulder. Of course, after such a reaction, the child develops a fear of this animal.

Mysterious behavior

In some beliefs, a cat is considered a mystical animal, which is a particular cause for concern for impressionable individuals.

Large breeds

For some people, the fear of cats manifests itself in animals - large predators and is subconsciously transferred to small breeds.

Fear of diseases

Ailurophobia is a fear that arises from the fear of contracting toxoplasmosis. The disease is transmitted through scratches. It poses the main danger to pregnant women, as it causes a serious mutation in the fetus.

Allergy

Ailurophobia or fear of cats also occurs if a person suffers from allergic reactions. Indeed, for the purposes of self-preservation and to avoid unpleasant symptoms, allergy sufferers try to reduce contact with this animal to a minimum.

Increased emotional sensitivity

A phobia of cats can develop in a person who may not have even met this animal in person, but has heard many scary stories.

Fear of unpleasant consequences

Ailurophobe, knowing that an animal is capable of scratching him, begins to fear him, thereby generating unreasonable fear in his psyche.

Parting with your beloved pet

This very unusual reason can provoke the development of ailorophobia, especially if such a tragic moment occurred in childhood.

Basically, the problem of fear of cats is far-fetched and is a psychosomatic disorder that can lead to serious consequences. In order not to make your life worse and to recognize the disease in time, you need to clearly know the clinical picture of ailurophobia.

Symptoms of the disease

Due to the fact that people suffering from ailurophobia seek help extremely rarely and in advanced forms, it is possible to protect yourself from such an unpleasant situation. Most often, a person suffering from this phobia experiences dramatic changes in their behavior.

• Deterioration in general health. Ailurophobia is a fear that causes an increase or decrease in blood pressure, causing the skin on the sufferer's face to turn red or pale. At the same time, with a change in the color of the skin, an increased heart rate begins, breathing becomes more frequent and sweating increases.
• Fear of going outside. People suffering from this disorder are terrified to go outside. This is due to the fact that there are thousands of stray cats in open space, ready to approach a person at any moment. Psychologists have observed that cats tend to approach precisely those who are most afraid of it.
• Fear of visiting certain places. Ailurophobes avoid places where the risk of a collision with a cat is maximized. For example, they do not go to the market, and buy food exclusively in supermarkets.
• Reluctance to visit certain friends. Ailurophobia is a fear that can even destroy friendships. A person with a phobia of cats will never cross the threshold of his best friend’s home if there is even a small kitten there.
• Toys. A true ailurophobe is afraid of even toy cats. One type of such product can provoke a panic attack and a feeling of rejection.

In addition to the above symptoms, a person suffering from ailorophobia may also experience:

• Severe headache;
• Dizziness;
• Suffocation;
• Trembling of limbs;
• Sharp chest pain;
• Darkening in the eyes;
• Loss of balance;
• Increased urge to urinate;
• Hot flashes or severe chills.

How does ailurophobia occur?

Fear of cats, or galeophobia as it is called, develops not only in childhood, but also in adulthood. Even if a person has loved cats since childhood, this does not mean that in later life he will not develop such an unpleasant phobia, especially if psychological trauma has previously been inflicted.

Ailurophobia most often occurs in three forms:

• When an animal approaches, a person experiences unpleasant sensations, resulting in severe fear.
• Attacks of severe uncontrollable panic occur, even if the animal is simply in the field of view of the sufferer.
• Constant and obsessive thoughts that there is an animal everywhere that is preparing to attack the sufferer. The patient constantly looks around and is in a nervous and hysterical state.

Absolutely any irritant associated with the presence of cats can provoke such reactions. Most often, ailurophobia is frightened by:

• Direct physical contact with the animal;
• Directly directed gaze of a cat;
• Abdominal movement directed towards a person;
• Touching the body or seeing cat hair;
• Live or audio recorded meowing and purring of an animal;
• Opportunity to meet a cat in the dark.

In addition, if you ask the patient directly the reason why he is so afraid of cats, the answer you will hear is:

• The ability of an animal to scratch or bite, thereby causing irreparable injury to it;
• Infect with worms or other infections;
• Abnormal fear. The person does not know why he is afraid, but he is unable to control the phobia.

Cats and child

Sometimes a cat is adopted as a pet at the request of a child and for the child. However, due to a lack of understanding of the animal’s character, careless actions and the desire to play with a living “toy”, it is children who become victims of cat aggression. Sometimes unpleasant incidents happen because parents are careless when choosing a domestic cat and the family ends up with a pet that is completely unsuitable for the child.

For example, Siamese cats are recognized as the most intolerant towards people. Representatives of this breed are not only very aggressively defensive, but are also known for their vindictiveness. The Siamese cat remembers both the offender and the people present nearby. In the future, the animal may show unreasonable aggression towards everyone it has stored in its memory. Such cats are vindictive and cannot become a good friend for a child.

Hybrids of the jungle cat and domestic cat breeds are also aggressive. Before purchasing an animal, a parent should find out what breed the chosen cat belongs to, what character traits it has, whether the pet will harm the child, and whether children’s games will be a burden to the animal.

Knowledge of information and precautions will help protect your child from negative experiences with cats and from developing a phobic disorder.

How to get rid of ailurophobia

Despite the apparent simplicity of this disease, ailurophobia can cause significant harm to a person not only in relationships with people close to him, but also lead to nervous exhaustion. Therefore, recognizing the presence of a problem, in order to avoid negative consequences, you must urgently begin to deal with it yourself or with the help of a specialist.

Self-treatment of ailurophobia

Ailurophobia is a fear that society does not take seriously. In order to become a full-fledged member of society, it is very important to overcome your fear of cats. Otherwise, a person with such a phobia will definitely not be considered adequate.

A way out of this situation can be found by following this action plan:

1. Awareness of the problem itself. Only by accepting the fact of the presence of the disease can one begin to search for ways to cure it. You shouldn’t hide from everyone and be completely alone. This will not lead to anything good, but will only worsen your mental state.
2. Return of reality. With every panic attack, you need to remember that cats are small predators and they are absolutely neutral towards humans. Their interest is solely in the home, and not in its owner.
3. Get a kitten. Psychologists call this method “knocking out wedges with wedges” and in some cases it is effective. If you are not allergic, you can purchase or adopt a pet from the street. In addition, it has been repeatedly proven that cats are able to calm and bring positive emotions to their owners.
4. See only the positive aspects. Cats on a subconscious level feel their owner’s sore spots, so very often they like to kiss them. In addition, cats are excellent nannies and are able to lull a child and even an adult to sleep with their purring.
5. Watching an extremely positive video. It is better to avoid watching films and stories that show how wild animals attack humans. Today you can find many works showing cats from a completely different side, unfamiliar to the ailurophobe.
6. Get pictures of cats. People with a true phobia are afraid even of a photograph of a cat. Therefore, ideally, various posters depicting such a harmless animal will help overcome fear.

If you cannot overcome ailurophobia on your own, you should definitely seek help from an experienced psychologist.

Treatment of ailurophobia by a psychologist

Fear of cats in ailurophobia is the main cause of severe psycho-emotional disorders, which can only be stopped with the help of a specialist. Most often, he can offer the following treatment methods:

• Cognitive - behavioral method of treatment. This method helps sufferers identify the cause of their phobias thanks to well-posed questions from a psychologist. As a result, a person understands that cats do not pose any danger to him and all his fears are simply far-fetched.
• Hypnosis. Used in complex therapy with the above method. The specialist frees consciousness at a subconscious level, after which, in further therapy, he thinks through how best to help his client.
• Drug treatment. Under the supervision of a doctor, medications are often prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of ailurophobia. Most often these are sedatives, antidepressants, tranquilizers and antipsychotics.
• Phytotherapy. It is considered a non-standard, but very effective method in reducing symptoms and treating this disease. The essence of herbal medicine is to take drugs exclusively of plant origin. It is not recommended to carry out such treatment on your own.

Reviews of the work of psychologist, hypnotherapist Gennady Ivanov

The mechanism of formation of phobias is based on the idea of ​​the dual nature of the psyche, consisting of consciousness and subconsciousness. We will use the term “subconscious”, thereby emphasizing that this “internal knowledge” can be realized. The real problem is the irrational part of fear, which over time develops into a phobia - an inadequate reaction to the environment. The rational component of fear must remain, because this basic emotion mobilizes the body’s strength in order to survive.

Treatment of phobias comes down to a conscious search for an associative connection of a particular symptom with a traumatic event of the past. Hypnotherapy techniques erase and “demagnetize” a conditioned reflex, which in many cases acts as a hypnotic suggestion.

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Some interesting facts about ailurophobia

History has shown that ailurophobia is a fear that has been around for a long time. Such famous personalities as suffered from it:

• Mussolini;
• Napoleon Bonaparte;
• Adolf Gitler;
• Genghis Khan;
• Julius Caesar;
• Alexander the Great.

Despite their fame, these people did not hide their fear of such a cute animal. Therefore, there is no need to be ashamed of your phobias. They need to be recognized and, if necessary, seek help from specialists. After all, this is the first step on the path to recovery.

Symptoms of a phobia

The symptoms of ailurophobia are very similar to the symptoms of many other phobias and are not fundamentally different from them. A person who is in the grip of this pathological condition, in the presence of an irritant, that is, a cat, rapidly begins to feel worse, he turns pale, his heart beats faster, his breathing rate increases or, conversely, decreases. The body's reaction can also be expressed in:

• increased sweating;
• trembling of limbs;
• dizziness;
• nausea;
• chills;
• muscle weakness.

If you are very frightened, a person may faint or have a heart attack. A typical manifestation of ailurophobia is also the desire to escape from a frightening object and hide in a safe place.