Since ancient times, dogs have been human companions. These are not only true friends, helpers in hunting and work, but also favorites. These smart creatures are easily trained, quickly adapt to any conditions. But when animals can be aggressive, cause great psychological and physical damage. Because of this, some people have fear. What is called the fear of dogs and how to deal with it, you will learn from our material.
Dog fear
So what is the fear of dogs called and why does it arise? This anxiety condition is called kinophobia. The object of fear can be not only pets, street pets, but even videos with them, images, stories, etc. The stronger the fear, the more difficult it is to fight it. In such people, even the usual tales of these animals cause fear of dogs.
Causes
Typically, kinophobia develops even in childhood or adolescence and can persist for many years if appropriate treatment is not carried out. A distinctive feature of fearing dogs from other anxious conditions is that there are no truly objective reasons for a phobia. Some believe that the manifestation of the disease is associated with attack, bites, but as practice shows, kinophobia rarely develops in people who have ever been attacked by dogs.
After the stress associated with bites, a person may still fear dogs for some time, but this is not a phobia. After all, with her people do not experience constant horror in front of animals of any size, even in front of puppies, their images.
Phobia (fear) of dogs is associated with a hereditary predisposition when children learn from their parents' fears. Often kinophobia arises from a character trait, the formation of an inferiority complex. The feeling of one’s own inferiority leads to the development of pseudophobia, a person has lowered moral qualities, such as the courage and fidelity that are inherent in dogs. Less commonly, anxiety occurs due to mental disorders.
Clinical manifestations
Kinophobia (the name of fear of dogs) is manifested by severe anxiety, accompanied by various disorders. Among them are:
- feeling of tightness in the chest;
- the appearance of trembling;
- muscle tension;
- heart palpitations, heart pain may appear;
- dry mouth
- frequent urination.
Kinophobia is characterized by sleep disturbance, increased sweating, nervousness, irritability, alertness. A sense of impending threat may appear. In some cases, panic attacks occur, in which there is a fear of death.
Some people have bouts of fear even when they think of dogs, because of which their heart rate is disturbed, breathing is difficult, headaches, and nausea appear. Patients may exhibit uncontrolled attacks of rage, aggression. For them, any mention of dogs is manifested by a sense of impending catastrophe.
Due to the severe manifestation of fear, most patients require therapy. Knowing how to get rid of the fear of dogs, people will be able to return to normal life, otherwise patients can be dangerous for themselves and for others.
Diagnostic Methods
So what is the fear of dogs called and how to identify it, distinguish it from ordinary fear? Real kinophobia is diagnosed in cases where the patient has:
- psychotic, autonomic clinical symptoms that are a manifestation of anxiety;
- anxiety when colliding with an object of fear.
Kinophobia may be a sign of another mental illness. In this case, the doctor diagnoses, determines the disease, selects treatment.
Therapies
The name phobia of fear of dogs came from the Greek "movie" - a dog. In ancient times, people faced this ailment and did not know how to deal with it.
Today, for each case of the manifestation of the disease, a specific treatment is selected. After a visit to the doctor, patients will learn not only the name of the fear of dogs and treatment methods, but they can also say for sure what caused the formation of fear. During the examination, the doctor determines whether the patient really has kinophobia or whether he has a different type of fear. Only after that the method of therapy is selected.
Treatment for complex cases
In the absence of appropriate treatment, kinophobia can cause asocial behavior of a person. He seems to be falling out of public life, trying to go out less, or completely stop doing this, stop communicating with other people.
Most often, a course of psychotherapy is not enough, and additional medication is required. According to the indications and the clinical map, the doctor selects the drugs. But this does not mean that there are medicines created specifically for the treatment of this particular type of fear. All phobias are treated with the same drugs, individually selected.
Fear of dogs, or as they call it differently, kinophobia, was once treated with benzodiazepine tranquilizers. Then doctors began to abandon their use due to the formation of addiction. Now, for the treatment of phobias, a variety of drugs are used.
Most often, in the first two weeks of therapy, tranquilizers are selected together with antidepressants. Further, tranquilizers are canceled. In parallel, other drugs, for example, adrenergic blockers, which stop the severity of symptoms, can be prescribed.
Getting rid of fear on your own
To successfully get rid of the fear of dogs, taking medications alone is not enough. Doctors recommend the following:
- Change the diet. According to foreign scientists, malnutrition negatively affects health, but increases the likelihood of developing fears. In case of imbalance between proteins, fats and carbohydrates, malfunctions occur in the work of all organs and systems, including the nervous one. Due to a lack of nutrition, the nervous system and the brain automatically include the protection of the body in the form of anxiety. To reduce anxiety, you need to include full slow carbohydrates in your diet. They help to activate the production of tryptophan, a nutrient for the brain and an activator in the production of endorphins and serotonin. Upon receipt of tryptophan in the right amount, a person is balanced, calm.
- It should reduce the psychological burden. The modern rhythm of life makes a person set himself the maximum number of tasks and minimum terms, often to the detriment of good rest. To normalize the load on the body, it should be properly distributed, leaving at least eight hours a day to rest. All work matters should be left at work, and outside it to do other things that help to relax.
- Relaxotherapy. Positive effects on the psyche are activities that help relax, forget about the present. This may be yoga, a walk through the woods, a visit to the bathhouse, pool, picnic. Scientists have proven that it is nature attacks that help relieve nervous tension and stress.
- Please yourself. Happy people are practically not afraid of anything, because they have a high self-esteem. To make yourself happy, you should give up your unloved work as much as possible, stop communicating with unpleasant personalities. It is necessary to do what brings joy. It can be shopping, shopping, walking in the woods.
Solitude helps calm nerves. At this time, you can put your thoughts in order, devote yourself to self-development, read a book, do meditation, and perform psychological exercises.
Conclusion
Looking for answers to questions about the phobia of fear of dogs, how it is treated and why it arises, one can often hear stories that what you are afraid of heals. So, there are kinofoby who managed to cope with their fears, having got dogs at home. However, they took this step for a long time, psychologically preparing themselves. They looked at those animals that they walked, watched videos on the Internet, listened to the stories of dog breeders. This step really helps to cope with fear, because seeing the dog wagging its tail, regrets, cries and rejoices with the owner, it is impossible to resist.