Ornithophobia or phobia of birds: what does it consist of?

Bird phobia is a more common anxiety disorder than we imagine. The high discomfort that sufferers experience in the presence of birds can significantly affect their daily lives. Additionally, if proper treatment is not received, the phobia is unlikely to disappear spontaneously.

Ornithophobia falls within the category of specific phobias, specifically zoophobia. A specific phobia is characterized by an excessive and irrational fear of an object or situation that does not pose a real threat to the person. Those who suffer from it know that their fear is not logically supported; However, this does not stop me from experiencing it.

Sometimes, coming into contact with the phobic stimulus – which does not pose a real threat – causes such a degree of anxiety that the person chooses to avoid or escape, even though the objective cost of this action is high.

This fear is persistent over time and is fed back by avoidance itself. This makes it increasingly less likely that the ornithophobic will be able to overcome their disorder, also complicating subsequent intervention.

The phobia of birds

Therefore, as we have seen, specific phobia involves three components: cognitive, physiological and behavioral. In the case of ornithophobia:

The first component is made up of the irrational and dysfunctional thoughts about birds.The physiological component is manifested in a series of physical symptoms that are triggered by the presence of birds. These can range from the sensation of suffocation to sweating, nausea or increased muscle tension. Finally, the behavioral factor of ornithophobia consists precisely of that effort to avoid any contact with birds. This can interfere with a person’s daily life: in both urban and rural environments, birds are common animals.

What is the origin of ornithophobia?

In some animal phobias there is a certain influence of ancestral fears. Fear and avoidance may have helped our ancestors survive; However, in the current context they are totally inappropriate.

On the other hand, they have been determined three main ways in which a person can develop a phobia specific:

By direct experience of a traumatic event. A negative experience related to birds that occurred in childhood could be at the origin of this disorder.By vicarious learning, after observing a third person relate negatively to the stimulus. Witnessing someone’s unpleasant experience with a bird is enough. Just as it is to observe someone with ornithophobia, especially if it happens when we are children.Receive or hear negative information About birds can produce a phobia without requiring any type of personal experience with them.

How to treat a phobia of birds?

Once the specific phobia has established itself in adulthood, the chances of spontaneous remission are slim. The treatment of choice for ornithophobia -in the framework of cognitive-behavioral therapies– is exposure with response prevention.

The main axis of this intervention consists of exposing the person to the feared element. This exposure can be done intensively or gradually. It involves the person withstanding the feared stimulation until the anxiety begins to subside in the absence of an avoidance or flight response.

This is done because, otherwise, with the person never being in contact with the phobic stimulus, the person lacks the opportunity to break the negative association that has been established. Exposing yourself to birds will make it easier for dysfunctional beliefs about them to be modified.

To assist in this exhibition, The person is usually trained in some impulse control or anxiety reduction technique (relaxation).. This is necessary since, generally, the level of anxiety experienced when contacting the phobic stimulus is very high.

With these instruments we reduce the risk of the person abandoning therapy. By using a relaxation technique it is possible to reduce anxiety levels to an acceptable degree.anxiety does not reach such high peaks and, therefore, it will be easier to tolerate it until it begins to subside.

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