Ailurophobia
Ailurophobia is a type of specific phobia: the persistent, irrational fear of cats.[1] It comes from the Greek αἴλουρος (aílouros), "cat" and φόβος (phóbos), "fear".
Synonyms include felinophobia,[2] elurophobia,[2] and gatophobia.[2]
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[edit] Description
The phobia manifests itself in different ways. Some sufferers experience it almost all the time, others just in response to direct stimuli. Some possible situations that can trigger the fear of cats are: hearing purring, seeing a cat in real life, imagining the possibility of a cat attack, the thought of meeting a cat in the dark, cats in pictures and on television, and cat-like toys and cat-like fur.[3]
[edit] Treatment
There are many ways to treat ailurophobia; treatment is usually carried out by a psychiatrist or other therapy specialist.
One strongly motivated patient was able to recover by slowly becoming accustomed to cat fur by first touching varying types of velvet, then becoming accustomed to a toy kitten, and finally a live kitten which the patient subsequently adopted.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ailurophobia
- ^ a b c A lexicon of lunacy: metaphoric malady, moral responsibility, and psychiatry De Thomas Szasz, pagina 68
- ^ a b Freeman, H. L.; D. C. Kendrick (August 1960). "A case of cat phobia. Treatment by a method derived from experimental psychology". BMJ 2 (5197): 497–502. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.824.497. PMC 2097085. PMID 13824737. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2097085. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
[edit] Further reading
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Look up ailurophobia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- London, Louis S. (1952). "Ailurophobia and ornithophobia". Psychiatric Quarterly 26 (1): 365–371. doi:10.1007/BF01568473. PMID 14949213.
- Crawford, Nelson Antrim (1934). "Cats Holy and Profane". Psychoanalytic Review 21: 168–179. http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=PSAR.021.0168A. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
