WHAT IS FELINOPHOBIA?
Felinophobia is one of many specific phobias some people develop throughout their lives. Like the fear of spiders (arachnophobia), the fear of flying (aviophobia) and the fear of heights (acrophobia), felinophobia (also known as ailurophobia) is an irrational fear that does not respond to reason.
"People suffering with a phobia will totally avoid any circumstance relating to their fear, or approach those circumstances with intense anxiety, stress, dread and fear," said Reid Wilson, Ph.D., a psychologist who directs the Anxiety Disorders Treatment Program in Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C., and author of "Don't Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks."
"In the case of felinophobia, it's not about disliking cats. It's about having a tremendous fear of them. Typically, people with this problem avoid cats and eventually avoid anything that even reminds them of cats," Wilson said.
The anxiety can be overwhelming when a person with felinophobia finds him or herself in the presence of a cat. "A person with this problem can experience mild to severe anxiety and apprehension when they are either exposed to a cat, or simply anticipating exposure to a cat," said Lucinda Bassett, founder of the Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and author of "From Panic to Power."
"Symptoms vary for each individual," Bassett said, "but can include difficulty breathing, feeling that one is choking, panic feelings, heart palpitations, sweating and nervous discomfort, and unreasonable, fearful feelings that something bad will happen as a result of being near the cat. It is common for the sufferer to experience avoidance behaviors such as staying away from the area, room, or even the house where the cat is present."
"Walking down the street and seeing a cat can cause people with this phobia extreme discomfort," Wilson said. "Even knowing a cat is in the same building can be too much for them."
Because felinophobia is not rational, it is not based on the assumption that the cat will actually cause physical harm, according to Wilson. "It's not usually a fear of being scratched or injured, or a fear based on superstition or old wives tales," he said. "People with this phobia are simply terrified that the cat will touch them or even look at them. Often, their greatest fear is that the cat will suddenly leap up on them. It's about contact with the cat, and sudden contact is the most traumatic."
UNDERSTAND THE PERSON
Cat lovers are often baffled by people with felinophobia, and often struggle to understand where this irrational fear comes from. According to Wilson, mental health experts don't completely understand the basis for felinophobia either.
"Some people have traumatic events that cause this fear, but in most cases, it's a slow and gradual process that occurs without a trauma," Wilson said. Some researchers believe the tendency to develop phobias, such as felinophobia, may have a genetic link.
What may be surprising to cat lovers is that people with a fear of cats are not necessarily anxious people in other areas of life. Most likely, these individuals have come to associate cats with a time of stress in their lives. "When they see a cat, they associate that stressful feeling with the cat," Wilson said.
Cat owners with friends or family suffering from this phobia often find themselves put out by the problem. If you know someone with this phobia, he or she may refuse to come to your home or demand that your cats be locked away when visiting you.
While the demands of the felinophobe can be extremely confusing and even irritating to cat lovers, keep in mind how difficult it must be for the affected person, who must find completely avoiding cats in modern society nearly impossible.
"Unfortunately, for most felinophobes, their most effective method of avoiding the fear is by avoiding cats," Bassett said. "This can be effective to some degree until they fall in love with someone who is a cat lover or become best friends with someone who owns three cats. And certainly, they will confront the occasional cat on the street in their neighborhood."
Consequently, people suffering with felinophobia are plagued by a tremendous fear that may confront them at any time in their lives.
HELP FOR THE AFFLICTED
If you know someone who is tormented with a fear of cats, you can take steps to help him or her.
First, have compassion and understanding for the problem. This means avoiding the temptation to talk the person out of his or her irrational fear.
Whether a person with felinophobia is willing to seek treatment or not, it's important for friends and loved ones to be compassionate. "Fear of cats is a very powerful phenomenon," Wilson said. "People with this problem feel quite scared and out of control."
"Basically, leave the person alone about the problem," Wilson said. "Don't degrade him or her and don't talk to the person like a child. Don't make suggestions and, most of all, don't tell him or her to relax. Doing all these things will make the person feel misunderstood. Instead, read articles about phobias, so you'll have more information. If you want to help, ask the person to tell you how he or she is feeling, and help them cat-proof their environment. Don't try to talk them out of their fear."
While Wilson doesn't believe you should go out of your way to restructure your home to accommodate a felinophobic friend or relative, it's important to keep the problem in perspective. "People with this phobia have been made to feel ashamed. If you want to help them, treat them with compassion and respect."
"The worst thing friends and family members of felinophobes can do is make fun of the person who suffers or try to expose them to cats without his or her approval," Bassett said. "Do not run out and buy a gift kitten in attempt to warm him or her to the idea of cats. If you do, be prepared to own a new kitten. The best support you can give your loved one who suffers with felinophobia is to take his or her fear seriously."
Some people are eager to get help for the problem, while others appear not quite ready to face it. "If the person is not looking to tackle the problem at the moment, just help him or her avoid cats," Wilson said. "Arrange to meet him or her in a neutral cat-free environment."
Second, for those looking to confront their felinophobia, there is hope. Treatment involves gradual desensitization to cats. This can be done with the assistance of a therapist.
"Cognitive behavioral therapy is the treatment of choice for phobias," Wilson said. "Specific phobias like felinophobia cannot be treated with medication. The most current way of treating this problem is to help the patient stay with his or her fearful feelings and maintain the stress level at increasing intensity. The person begins to tolerate more and more exposure until the fear eventually subsides."
Wilson points out this treatment is done gradually, starting with something as seemingly benign as looking at a picture book of cats, to holding a stuffed cat, then standing outside a facility where cats are caged and then going in a friend's house with a cat in the next room.
source: http://www.catfancy.com/
Originally posted by phobic:Person with Felinophobia would have problem stepping out of the house if there's a cat downstairs. Or freeze in terror when there's one in a distance. Hard to understand isnt it ? Tats wat a phobia is about. An irrational fear other people cannot understand.