ORNITHOPHOBIA (BIRD PHOBIA): SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, TREATMENTS - ARTE - 2024

The ornithophobia is a specific type of phobia is experiencing excessive fear, abnormal and irrational to birds. It consists of an anxiety disorder where the feared elements are all kinds of birds.

People with ornithophobia are excessively afraid of birds, a fact that provokes very high anxiety responses whenever they are exposed to them.

Likewise, due to the fear it produces, the person with ornithophobia will avoid contact with this type of animal whenever possible. This factor is a very important element of the disorder and modifies the normal behavior of the individual.

Meido to birds is a relatively common phenomenon in society. However, not all fear of these animals has to be included within the ornithophobia disorder, whose prevalence is much lower.

This article presents the main characteristics of ornithophobia. Its symptoms, its diagnosis and its causes are reviewed, and the treatments to be carried out to overcome the phobia of birds are explained.

Characteristics of bird phobia

Ornithophobia is an anxiety disorder that is currently well studied and correctly defined. It consists of a particular type of specific phobia in which the feared element is birds.

In this way, people with ornithophobia fear in a totally disproportionate, excessive and irrational way this type of animals, a fact that has negative consequences for their well-being.

The fear of birds is so high that it generates the main manifestation of this psychopathology: the experience of high feelings of anxiety whenever one is in contact with a bird.

In addition, the typical fear of ornithophobia is characterized by altering and negatively affecting the behavioral pattern of the individual. The fear of birds is so intense that it leads the person to avoid contact with them at all times.

Depending on the context, permanently avoiding contact with birds can be difficult. In both rural and urban settings, birds are animals that can be matched on a regular basis.

In this sense, the avoidance of birds usually motivates the development of noticeable changes in the normal behavior of the person. The individual with ornithophobia will do whatever it takes at all times to avoid contact with the birds.

Fear of birds

The fear of birds is a phenomenon that is not uncommon among human beings. This derives from the threatening image of some birds of prey, which can generate feelings of fear or suspicion towards these animals.

However, the fact of fearing some type of bird or being suspicious of birds in a generalized way, does not have to imply the presence of ornithophobia disorder.

In order to speak of ornithophobia, it is necessary that the fear experienced towards birds is characterized by being phobic. Likewise, in general, subjects with this type of phobia experience feelings of fear of any type of bird.

Obviously, birds of prey such as vultures, owls or owls are often interpreted as more threatening and generate greater feelings of fear than other animals such as parakeets or smaller birds.

However, the fear of ornithophobia is not governed by rational thought processes, so any type of bird can be feared. To define the phobic fear that is experienced in ornithophobia, the following characteristics must be met:

1- Excessive fear

Birds are animals that can be more or less threatening depending on the animal and the context. Obviously, meeting an eagle or a vulture in the middle of the forest can generate a more than justified fear due to the real threat that their presence can pose.

However, to be able to speak of ornithophobia, the fear of birds must always be excessive. This means that the fear experienced is not related to the real threats of the situation to which the subject is exposed.

People with ornithophobia experience heightened feelings of fear in seemingly harmless situations where there is no real danger.

2- Irrational

The excessive fear of birds is explained through the cognitive mechanisms by which the fear of ornithophobia is governed.

The phobic fear of birds is characterized by being irrational. This means that the feelings of fear do not appear through congruent or coherent thoughts.

This factor can be observed and evaluated both by third parties and by the individual who suffers from ornithophobia.

The individual who suffers from this disorder knows that his fear of birds is excessive and unjustified, however he continues to experience it every time he is exposed to one of these animals.

3- Uncontrollable

The fact that the irrationality of fear is not a sufficiently important factor to extinguish fear of birds lies in its appearance properties.

The phobic fear of ornithophobia is characterized by being totally uncontrollable. That is, the person does not have any type of control over their feelings of fear and can not do anything so that it does not appear.

4- Fear leads to avoidance

In order to relate the fear of birds with ornithophobia, it is necessary that the fear experienced has some direct repercussion on the individual.

In this sense, avoidance of all contact with birds is one of the most reliable diagnostic criteria for the disorder.

The fear that is experienced in ornithophobia is so high that it leads to the avoidance of contact with these animals permanently.

5- Persistent fear

On certain occasions, people may present responses of fear or anxiety that are higher than normal. In determining these responses, many situational and environmental factors can participate.

However, the person with ornithophobia persistently experiences phobic fear of birds, regardless of the situation or context. Individuals with ornithophobia respond with high fear responses whenever they come into contact with birds.

6- Fear does not depend on age

Animals in general and birds in particular are elements that are typically feared during childhood. During childhood, it is common for fear of these animals to be higher than normal.

However, ornithophobia is an age-independent disorder. This can appear both in childhood and in adulthood, but in any case it is characterized by being permanent and persistent.

A person with ornithophobia will continue to experience phobic fear of birds throughout their life, unless they start the necessary treatments.

Symptoms

Ornithophobia is classified according to diagnostic manuals as an anxiety disorder since the symptomatology of psychopathology is characterized by being mainly anxious.

Individuals with this disorder respond with elevated feelings of anxiety whenever they are exposed to their dreaded element. However, the state of nervousness can disappear when there are no birds nearby or there are no fears that there may be.

In this way, the main factor that generates the appearance of the symptoms of ornithophobia is the fear of birds itself. The anxiety manifestations of the disorder are characterized by being severe, although they rarely reach the intensity of panic attacks.

At present, there is a high consensus in grouping the symptoms of ornithophobia into three broad categories: physical symptoms, cognitive symptoms and behavioral symptoms.

1- Physical symptoms

Ornithophobia, as it happens with all anxiety disorders, is characterized by generating modifications in the physical functioning of the person.

The anxious manifestations regarding the organism may vary in each case. However, these symptoms always respond to an increase in the activity of the peripheral nervous system of the brain.

In this sense, a person with ornithophobia may experience some of the following symptoms whenever they are exposed to a bird:

1. Increased heart rate.
2. Increased respiratory rate.
3. Choking sensations, palpitations or tachycardia.
4. Increased muscle tension.
5. Stomach and / or headache pain.
6. Pupillary dilation.
7. Increased body sweating.
8. Dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, or vomiting.

2- Cognitive symptoms

The main element of ornithophobia is the phobic fear of birds. This fear is characterized by being irrational, which is why it is modulated by a series of dysfunctional thoughts.

The cognitive symptoms of the disorder refer to all the irrational thoughts that a person with ornithophobia has about birds.

These thoughts can take multiple forms and contents, but are always characterized by negative attributions to birds and personal capacities to deal with these animals.

The appearance of irrational thoughts of anxiety is fed back with physical symptoms and increases the state of nervousness of the person.

3- Behavioral symptoms

Finally, ornithophobia is a disorder that is characterized by affecting the behavior of the individual. In this sense, there are two symptoms that can be witnessed: avoidance and escape.

Avoidance refers to all the behaviors that the individual initiates to avoid contact with birds. These behaviors can negatively affect the life of the person since they can force her to modify her habitual behavior.

Escape, on the other hand, is the behavior that appears when the individual has failed to avoid contact with the birds. At such times, the person will try to get as far away as possible and as quickly as possible from their feared element.

Diagnosis

To establish the diagnosis of ornithophobia, the following criteria must be met:

1. Strong and persistent fear that is excessive or irrational, triggered by the presence or anticipation of a bird (phobic stimulus).

1. Exposure to the phobic stimulus almost invariably elicits an immediate anxiety response.

1. The person recognizes that this fear is excessive or irrational.

1. The phobic stimulus is avoided or endured at the cost of intense anxiety or discomfort.

1. Avoidance behaviors, anxious anticipation, or distress caused by the phobic stimulus markedly interfere with the person's normal routine, work (or academic) or social relationships, or cause clinically significant distress.

1. In those under 18 years of age, the duration of these symptoms must have been at least 6 months.

1. Anxiety, panic attacks, or phobic avoidance behaviors cannot be better explained by the presence of another mental disorder.

Causes

At present it is maintained that ornithophobia is a psychopathology that is not generated by a single cause. Several studies have shown how many factors can intervene in the development of the disorder.

However, the experience of traumatic or negative experiences with birds seems to be an important factor that can participate in the development of ornithophobia.

Other elements such as viewing images or receiving negative verbal information about birds, genetic factors, anxious personality traits, or cognitive styles focused on the damage that can be perceived are other factors that may play an important role in the etiology of the disorder.

Treatment

The first-line treatment for ornithophobia is psychotherapy, which has shown much higher efficacy rates than drug therapy in the intervention of this disorder.

Specifically, subjects with ornithophobia tend to respond adequately to cognitive behavioral treatment.

This treatment is mainly based on exposure to phobic elements. The therapist will design a progressive approach plan to the birds so that the subject will learn to expose himself to them, control his anxious responses and get used to the feared elements.

Other tools that this treatment usually incorporates are relaxation training and cognitive therapy.

Relaxation serves to reduce the anxiety generated by phobic stimuli and facilitate the process of exposure to birds. For its part, cognitive therapy is used to modify and correct irrational thoughts about birds.

References

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1. Sadock, B. (2010) Kaplan & Sadock pocket manual of clinical psychiatry. (5th Ed.) Barcelona: Wolters Kluwer.

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