What is Herpetophobia?

Hepetophobia is a popular research debate among scientists & psychologists. The fear of snakes & other reptiles have various causes according to various studies. Research findings have been skewed by the media & herpetologists aim to debunk the myths about snakes & lower the herpetophobia population

Herpetophobia, the fear of reptiles, is one of the most common types of specific phobias. When a person has uncontrollable and unreasonable feelings of fear about an animal, object, or occasion they are considered to have a phobia. Herpetophobia is the fear of reptiles; mainly lizards and snakes, but some people who claim to have the phobia actually only have a natural fear of the reptile and not an actual phobia.

Is it a Phobia or Just a Fear of Reptiles

When dealing with phobias it is important to understand the difference between an acute fear and a true phobia. A phobia, according to the Mayo Clinic, is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that produce little danger. Herpetophobia is the fear of reptiles such as snakes and other creepy crawly things. The sub-catergory of herpetophobia is ophidiophobia-the fear of snakes only. Simply being afraid of a snake when one comes upon it unexpectantly is different than a person who is phobic of reptiles and snakes. These people do not even like to see a picture of a reptile or snake because it evokes fear and the common symptoms of phobias in general.

Herpetophobia, mainly the fear of snakes and the use of snakes as a way to evoke fear is sprinkled throughout the ancient readings of the Bible. In the first book of the Bible; Genesis, Eve is tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit. The snake in this context is depicted as Satan.

Religious people can have a fear of reptiles and basic fear of snakes by simply reading the Bible. Throughout the Bible references are made about the dangers and guil of snakes in general. From the serpent in Genesis, to when Moses turned his rod into a slithering snake and also again in the book of Acts when the Apostle Paul is seen entangled by a viper without fear. The natives believed Paul must be a murderer in order to handle the snake and not be injured or frightened.

When Moses was leading the Israelites to the Promised Land in the Old Testament snakes were used to attack members of the group that were not following Gods command. God sent serpents, scorpions, and other venomous creatures upon these people. In the movie The Passion of the Christ the devil is again depicted as a snake while Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. It shows the devil as a human transform to a yellow snake that slithers to Jesus' feet. Jesus steps on the head of the snake and crushes it.

It is easy to see how believers of the Bible could have herpetophobia because the Bible does not depict snakes in a positive light. The snake is either seductive and deceptive as seen in Genesis, as a way to show that snakes do not hinder sinners such as murderers in Acts, and were used to obliterate some of the Israelites in the Old Testament.

Symptoms of Herpetophobia

If a person has a severe form of this type of phobia it is important for them to seek medical and mental help. Most people will not encounter reptiles on a daily basis but some live in environments where reptiles are in close proximity to their home and the person is likely to come in close proximity to a snake or other type of reptile.

If the symptoms of herpetophobia are so severe that a person avoids going to places where reptiles may be or cannot even view a picture of a reptile or snake without panic, the person should seek psychological help. An unhealthy fear can interfere with a persons quality of life and with the use of various treatments by mental health professionals, a person can potentially overcome their phobia and go on to lead a normal life with less fear.
Stuidies About the Cause of Herpetophobia

A phobia, according to the Mayo Clinic, is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that produce little danger. Herpetophobia is the fear of reptiles such as snakes and other creepy crawly things. The cause for the fear of reptiles, especially snakes, has been researched by various scientists and psychologists to understand the root cause of herpetophobia and the sub-phobia ophidiophobia which is the fear of snakes only.

Research from the University of Virginia believe the etiology of herpetophobia is intrinsic. A study was conducted using preschoolers and their parents. It was believed by the researchers that the children had not had enough life experience to know about potential dangers from snakes and that the adults were. In the study the participants were shown imagery with hidden objects such as flowers, caterpillars, frogs, and snakes.

Both sets of age groups identified the snake images before all other images hidden in the picture. Researchers and psychologists Vanessa LeBoe and Judy DeLoache believe the results of this study find that humans are born with an innate ability to take note of snakes before anythings else. The result of this study showed that people were more likely to be inherently more noticing of snakes-not that the fear of snakes was inherited. However, the media took the research results and interpreted them to believe that the etiology of the fear of reptiles was seen in preschool aged children and undoubtedly was an evolutionary inherited fear.

A study conducted at the University of Queensland found different results when conducting a study to unlock the cause of snake and spider phobias. One of the researchers, Dr. Helena Purkis wanted to debunk the alleged fear of snakes being evolutionary. She commented that "Previously research is quoted as saying we react differently to snakes and spiders than to other stimuli, such as flowers or mushrooms, or even other dangerous animals....or cars and guns, which are also more dangerous." Dr. Purkis went on to state "In the past it has been explained by saying that people are predisposed by evolution to fear certain things, such as snakes....which would have been dangerous to our ancestors."

More Research Needed for Cause of Herpetophobia & Ophidiophobia

Dr. Purkis and fellow researchers at the University of Queensland aim to prove that the understanding of the University of Virginia study is not accepted by the general public in a way that it was meant to be. The study by LeBoe and DeLoache proved only that children and adults collectively were more apt to notice a snake other than the other stimuli-not to prove that we are born with a fear of snakes. Dr. Purkis wants more etiology of herpetophobia to be conducted.

According to Phobias List, snakes rank in the Top Ten Most Common Phobias. The fear of snakes, ophidiophobia is a sub-category of herpetophobia. The San Diego National History Museum Herpetology sections describes that the etiology of herpetophobia is due to people being afraid of things that seem abnormal to them; such as a snake moving without any legs. Read here for fascinating facts about phobias.

The SDNHM also mentions that people fear creepy crawly things, the fangs of snakes, and the shedding of their skin and scales that are on reptiles. The professionals in the herpetology division speak up in defense of snakes and other reptiles by educating guests that snakes are not slimy and in fact are dry and only shed their skin as they grow and that humans are in no way the snake or reptile's choice of prey. Snakes, according to the professionals, are reclusive reptiles that may strike only when frightened and would much rather use their energy on preying upon rodents and other sources of food which are not humans.

The etiology of the fear of reptiles such as snakes and lizards has varied beliefs. As with most phobias, the actual cause of the phobia can be personal to each individual. The reason so much research has been and is being conducted about the etiology of herpetophobia is because according to the National Institute of Health approximately 19.2 million people suffer from one of more specific phobias and because snakes, which are grouped in with herpetophobia, are one of the Top Ten Phobias, it has gained interest from scientists as to why almost 9% of the population is afraid of reptiles.

Image Sources:

Snake-earl53

http://morguefile.com/archive/display/687702

Content Sources:

Study by National Institute of Mental Health-Specific Phobia

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/pdf/NCS-R_Specific_Phobia.pdfPhobias

http://www.phobialists.com

Why are People Afraid of Reptiles (Snakes)

http://www.sdnhm.org/research/herpetology/resources4a.html

Evolution of Diversion

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227121840.htm

Unlocking the Phobia of Snakes and Spiders

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080320132646.htm

Journal reference: Purkis, Helena M.; Lipp, Ottmar V. "Automatic attention does not equalautomatic fear: Preferential attention without implicit valence." Emotion vol. 7, no. 2 (May 2007): 314-323.

http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Phobias

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/phobias.html

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/specific-phobias.shtml