What is ophidiophobia and what causes a fear of snakes? Symptoms, treatment and celebrity sufferers
OPHIDIOPHOBIA is the official term used to describe an intense or irrational fear of snakes.
Experts estimate that a third of adults are scared of the slithering creatures. Here's what we know about the common phobia...
What is a phobia?
A phobia is described by the NHS as an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal.
They are more pronounced than fears and tend to develop when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger regarding a situation or object.
If a phobia sufferer doesn't come into contact with the source of their problem very often it may not affect their life - although in some cases even thinking about the thing they fear can give a person "anticipatory anxiety".
If a phobia becomes very severe, the person suffering may organise their life around avoiding the aspect that’s causing distress.
Symptoms of phobias
Typical symptoms associated with phobias can include:
- Dizziness, trembling and increased heart rate
- Breathlessness
- Nausea
- A sense of unreality
- Fear of dying
- Preoccupation with the fear object
What is ophidiophobia and what are symptoms?
Ophidiophobia is the term used to describe an irrational or extreme fear of snakes.
It is a merge of the Greek words for snake and phobia, ophis and phobia.
Anthropologist Lynne Isbell has estimated that around a third of people are scared of snakes.
Some scientists have theorised that humankind has an innate aversion to snakes, as it is an instinctual way to spot danger.
Others believe that the fear is brought on by life-events.
The incapacitating fear can be sparked by a snake attack, or even reading about a particularly scary case.
Some sufferers have such an intense phobia that they may suffer anxiety or panic if they see pictures, videos or realistic drawings of snakes.
Other symptoms of ophidiophobia include emotional outbursts, trouble breathing, sweating, heart palpitations and nausea.
Is there a cure for ophidiophobia?
Just like treating other phobias, curing fear often isn’t easy.
Cognitive behaviour therapy can be used to help sufferers change their unproductive thought patterns.
This allows them to distinguish that their intense fear is in their imagination.
Other treatment that is taken on by arachnophobics includes behaviour therapy, counselling and hypnosis.
Which celebrities have ophidiophobia?
Matt Damon is an A-lister that is terrified of snakes.
Scarlett Johansson told PEOPLE that her We Bought a Zoo co-star was “terrified” and would “cry like a baby and rock back and forth when the snakes were spread all over the set.”
Last year, Jordan Banjo had to face his fear of the slithering creatures when he entered the I’m A Celebrity Jungle.
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There’s no doubt that some viewers would have found it difficult to watch the tasks, which involved being in confined spaces with the reptiles.
They're not the only celebrities to struggle with common phobias.
Megan Fox has aviophobia - a fear of flying - which undoubtedly affects her jetsetting lifestyle.
Victoria's Secret model Kendall Jenner has also publicly spoken about her trypophobia, where sufferers find it difficult to look at clusters of holes.