Ophidiophobia, i.e. the fear of snakes is much more unpleasant than it might seem at first glance. People suffering from it often do not dare to go to pet shops and zoos, fearing to see these creatures there, and also cannot visit countries in which these animals are often found.
Ophidiophobia: in search of root causes
It is important to understand that people who are afraid of snakes do not always actually suffer from a phobia. It is natural to be afraid of these creatures, because it is a matter of survival. It is normal for a person to be afraid of a particular snake that might actually attack. But if he shivers at the mere mention of these creatures, and watching programs dedicated to them is horrifying, we are talking about a phobia.
Panic fear of snakes is not only unhelpful from an evolutionary point of view, but also harmful. It is known that the fear of tigers, lions and other dangerous predators is much less common, and this allows a person to coexist peacefully with animals.
Try to remember when you started to fear snakes. Very often, such a phobia arises as a result of someone's stupid joke: a toy snake, very similar to a real one, is thrown into a person's clothes or bag, he is frightened from surprise, and the negative reaction is immediately associated with the object of fear. If you are faced with such an unpleasant situation, think about the fact that such pranks are often stupid and disgusting, but they most likely will not happen to you again. In addition, it was about an artificial snake, and, of course, one should not be afraid of it.
In order not to aggravate the situation, do not watch horror films with the participation of the object of your fear, and also do not read books or comics that talk about snakes harming humans.
If the fear arose because your first encounter with the snake was very unsuccessful, try replacing this experience with another. Find a good shop that sells exotic animals and try snake mingling. For the first time, it will be enough just to look at it, repeating the appropriate affirmations to yourself. Think that you are not in danger, try to focus on the beautiful skin of the snake, on its smooth, graceful movements. Let this meeting replace the first, much more unpleasant one for you.
Getting rid of ophidiophobia
If you cannot cope with the problem on your own, contact a specialist - a psychologist or psychotherapist. It is not worth delaying: the earlier the problems begin, the easier it will be to solve them. Using hypnosis can be a good option. As a rule, a short course is sufficient to solve the problem.
In some cases, professionals use NLP. We are talking about situations when it is necessary to "rewrite" a wrongly perceived situation or behavior model, but a person cannot do it on his own.
