Cynophobia

Fear of dogs

According to the magazine "knowledge" by BBC, 3% people in the world suffer from cynophobia.

Phobia may not always be associated with the harmful venomous creatures, but also with friendly beasts like dogs. Cynophobia is one of the most commonly found phobias in people, signified by irrelevant and extreme fear of dogs.  In almost all cases, the subject is not visibly dangerous or possesses no risk in reality. A normal person would always be alert around a stray dog. But if your fear is over the extreme and you start avoiding a friend’s place or your own home to avoid a pet dog, you might be cynophobic.

Causes

The fear of dogs is known to be quite common owing to the historic association between dogs and wolfs, as a result, most cynophobics generally fear large and vicious looking dogs, though, in extreme cases one might even fear small or aggressive puppies. In reality dogs are considered loyal and faithful companions that are capable of forming close ties with humans, however to a phobic owing to a prior bad experience with dogs all canines appear dangerous or evil.

Parents may unknowingly instill a fear of dogs in their child by warning them against petting or approaching dogs. Thus the negative experience one has had with a dog in the past might not necessarily be a direct one: having watched a sibling or a close friend getting attacked or barked at by a dog can also sometimes result in an excessive fear of dogs.

Cynophobic individuals are often afraid of the barks or the growling sounds made by dogs rather than just their bites.

 

Symptoms

As with most other phobias, Cynophobia can cause the sufferers to feel terribly anxious and frightened. This can lead to different physical and psychological symptoms such as:

 

Physical symptoms

• Dizziness and feeling faint, disoriented
• Excess sweating
• Shaking and trembling
• Nausea and gastrointestinal distress
• Dry mouth, feeling of choking or difficulty in swallowing
• Freezing
• Running away
• Crying

Psychological symptoms

• Having thoughts of dying
• Feeling like losing control or going crazy
• Inability to distinguish between reality and unreality
• Trying to avoid situations which bring confrontation with a dog

These symptoms might be present days before an actual confrontation with a dog and the individual might go to great lengths to avoid it.

Treatment

Many people are afraid of dogs; hence diagnosis of Cynophobia includes determining if the fear is persistent or triggers an immediate anxiety response. To be categorized as Cynophobia, one’s fear of dogs would also be required to interfere with social, familial or occupational activities.
Therapy and self help techniques can be used for treating Cynophobia.

• The most popular and effective technique for treating phobias is the systematic desensitization technique developed by Joseph Wolpe in 1958. It involves having the patient imagine being in the same room with a dog while employing specific breathing and relaxation techniques to reduce one’s anxiety.
• In-vivo or exposure therapy can also help one get rid of one’s fear of dogs. This therapy involves a prolonged exposure to a dog until the patient can have a normal response to the animal.
• Exposure therapy can also be utilized in the form of self-help technique wherein the patient gradually exposes himself to canines, looks at photos, and progresses gradually to petting a dog etc. This type of gradual exposure can help one realize that his/her fears are unfounded.