We live with some animals on a daily basis and others pass by us without us even noticing. Some of us love them and we come to consider them family, while others cause us an inexplicable rejection. And what happens when animals scare us? Zoophobia is the fear of animals in general, but it may only happen to you with some. Are you afraid of toads Then you may suffer from bufonophobia. We explain its symptoms, its causes and its treatment with the help of our dictionary.
What is bufonophobia?
Bufonophobia is the irrational fear of toads. Sometimes it is confused with batrachophobia, which is the fear of all kinds of batrachians, so it would be a more specific phobia. A toad, a disgusting toad that jumps down the street at sunset, a horrible toad that, according to the stories, you have to kiss so that it becomes a charming prince.
It is true that not everyone lives with these animals on a daily basis. It is not usual to find a toad in the city when you go to work, not even in the park when you go for a run. But if you live in the countryside, you may come across one of these animals more than once. And that’s when you notice a fear that goes beyond rejection or disgust.
Pure fear. A limiting fear that can seclude you at home so you don’t have to meet a toad. The toads are not at home, are they? Sometimes yes. Because sometimes they appear on television or while you are distracted on social networks. Or maybe you’re with friends and someone says something about a toad. The mere mention of this animal causes you all the symptoms of anxiety. And that’s when you discover your phobic disorder and the stimulus that causes fear: toads.
Symptoms of bufonophobia
All phobias manifest with a series of physical, psychological and emotional symptoms. Fear is triggered when you see a toad, when you find yourself in a situation where you might come across a toad, and also when, by surprise, this animal appears on TV, on your mobile phone, or in a conversation. And what happens then?
You notice it clearly because the physical symptoms are evident. The most frequent reactions are shortness of breath that reaches the sensation of suffocation, palpitations, sweating, tremors, tingling in the legs and arms, dizziness, nausea or chills. It is a full-blown anxiety crisis that can lead to panic.
But maybe before the fear manifests itself in a physical way, you can look at the emotional aspect. The feeling of danger from the toad, alertness, the need to flee and, finally, terror most intense And all of them, physical and emotional symptoms, seasoned with a series of psychological symptoms that will increase your discomfort and extend it to other vital situations even if you don’t have a toad in front of you.
Among the psychological symptoms that worry us the most are obsessive about these animals and the reactions they provoke in you. The fear of going crazy or losing control is common in these phobic disorders, as is having a feeling of unreality or a kind of disconnection between body and mind. And, of course, then come all these ideas that something is wrong with you, that you are not psychologically strong enough, or that you are not going to be able to lead a normal life.
Causes of fear of toads
In order to lead a normal life, you have to seek a treatment for the phobia, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It is advisable to first understand or tries to understand, motives or origin of bufonophobia because, are toads dangerous? It is true that there are some species of toads that are poisonous and perhaps you have made that generalization of the danger also towards the common toad, which cannot really harm you.
There may be a cultural factor to develop this phobia of the toad, because it is an animal present in children’s stories that is associated with rejection and that must be taken care of. After all, this is one of the most used ingredients in witchcraft spells. Even if your family warned you against toads out of certain revulsion, you may have developed this phobia. But most phobic disorders find their origin in a previous anxiety disorder. That sensation of permanent alert in which anxiety plunges you creates irrational fears towards the most unexpected stimuli.
What if you have had a traumatic experience with a toad? It is another of the most common reasons for suffering from a phobia. And by traumatic experience we don’t mean a toad attacking you, it hardly could. The simple association of discovering a toad in your childhood and that a few minutes later you received news such as a death or an accident in the family, for example, is enough for you to associate the negative emotional impact with the animal.
Is there a treatment for bufonophobia (fear of toads)?
In principle, and depending on where you live, the fear of toads is not a very limiting phobia. There are not many activities that you are going to avoid for fear of meeting a toad that is true. But the problem with phobias is not just the avoidance behavior, which in some cases can paralyze your entire life, but the destructive thoughts you create about your inability to act normally. So, do not hesitate, because bufonophobia does deserve to seek treatment as soon as possible.
And the star treatment in phobic disorders is cognitive. We have talked a lot about this therapy that is also used for other mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. It is also a therapy that prevents the appearance of new disorders and makes you stronger against possible relapses. Do you know what it consists of?
Cognitive behavioral therapy gives you the necessary tools to face anxiety or fear. By now you will know that it is neither possible nor convenient for you to eliminate anxiety from your life, after all, it is a defense mechanism that can sometimes be useful to you. But what if you learned to manage it? What if you learned to reduce the negative and paralyzing impact that fear or stressful situations produce on you? What if you could continue with your normal life even if you feel some restlessness at times? Well, that is precisely the objective of this therapy that, of course, has.
Among the most used techniques to overcome a phobia, to toads, to another animal or to a situation, is gradual exposure. In fact, a (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) indicates that exposure therapy has shown very satisfactory levels of efficacy in the treatment of specific phobias. And what does this mechanism consist of? It consists of gradually exposing yourself to situations that scare you, in this case toads, and verifying that nothing of what you fear happens. At first with mentions of toads, then with images of toads and, who knows? Surely one day you meet a toad and discover that absolutely nothing happens.
Remember that all phobias have a high component of anxiety, so it is worth resorting to relaxation, conscious breathing exercises, the practice of Mindfulness and all those tools that psychological therapy can provide you to reduce anxiety.