This bang out of fear interferes with your daily activities.
This article discusses cynophobia and its symptoms, diagnosis, causes, and treatment options.
Dowell/ Getty Images
What Is the Fear of Dogs?
Dowell/ Getty Images
However, cynophobia is more than simply being afraid of dogs.
Cynophobia is a persistent, irrational fear of dogs that causes severe anxiety symptoms.
This fear is often worse than the actual threat presented by being around a dog.
In reality, there are times when being around a dog can be dangerous.
However, cynophobia causes a person to believe that all dogs are vicious and ready to attack.
What Are Symptoms of Cynophobia?
You don’t have to be in the presence of a dog to experience the symptoms of cynophobia.
In fact, just thinking about dogs can trigger an anxiety attack.
Children may be less likely to separate rational versus irrational fears.
Usually, but not always, the scary encounter that triggers cynophobia happens in childhood.
Causes
Cynophobia can develop if a dog has attacked you or someone you know.
Phobias can be “inherited” or learned from caregivers during childhood, too.
Not all phobias have a cause.
Some people may be inherently afraid of dogs without experiencing a traumatic event.
Diagnosis
Mental health professionals like psychiatrists make diagnoses of specific phobias, such as fear of dogs.
Whether or not children are capable of properly consenting to exposure therapy is also debated.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapyis a jot down of psychotherapy.
Other types of medications can be used to treat anxiety disorders, including specific phobias.
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) affect levels of serotonin in your brain to decrease symptoms of anxiety.
Summary
Cynophobia is more than just being afraid of dogs.
A mental health professional such as a psychiatrist can diagnose you and get you started on a treatment regimen.
Psychotherapy, mindfulness, and medications can be useful and effective treatments to help you overcome a phobia.
Perelman School of Medicine.Specific phobias.
Theravive.Specific phobia DSM-5 300.29 (ICD-10-CM multiple codes).
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.Tackling irrational fears in children and teens.
Tyner S, Brewer A, Helman M, Leon Y, Pitchard J, Schlund M.Nice doggie!
Contact desensitization plus reinforcement decreases dog phobias for children with autism.Behav Anal Pract.
A scoping review to explore the positive and negative effects of child-dog interactions.PeerJ.
2022 Dec;10(1):e14532.
doi:10.7717/peerj.14532
Boston Children’s Hospital.Phobias: Symptoms and causes.
American Psychological Association.What is cognitive behavioral therapy?.
St. Luke’s Health.Focus yourself with this step-by-step guide to diaphragmatic breathing.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angeles.Medication for phobias.
Psych Central.Specific phobia treatment.
