The Fear of Snakes: Ophidiophobia

Man Afraid of Snake CartoonIt seems surprising that so many people in the UK suffer from Ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes, even though most people in the UK rarely, if ever, come into direct contact with snakes. The phobia is almost as common as the fear of spiders which is the most common phobia in the world! This makes the fear of snakes the second most common phobia in the world, with nearly 10 percent of the entire human population afraid of snakes!

However, people who truly suffer from this phobia don’t even have to see a snake to have a panic like reaction. Many Ophidiophobics can suffer anxiety from just a video or picture of a snake and for some it could be simply something that just looks like a snake, such as some wire or tubing.

 

Considering how many things in life can easily resemble a snake and how much the imagery of snakes are used in films, advertising, etc, one can start to understand how such a phobia can start to affect someone’s day to day life, even if their are not real snakes around. This means that a sudden snake image popping up on their way to work could potentially ruin the day for an Ophidiophobic.

The phobia can also affect where one might travel and go on holiday. Someone might avoid going to Australia or America to visit relatives or go on the adventure trip of a lifetime because of the fear of an encounter with a snake. This is a very limiting way to live life that will undoubtedly bring many regrets.

A snake phobia, like most other phobias is something that is learned, usually in childhood. Most people think phobias of animals like snakes and spiders is something innate, however we are only born with the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Everything else is learnt, usually from parents or other family members as they are our first and most important influences.

However, a child can also develop the phobia if they simply have a perceived scary/traumatic experience with a snake such as a cheeky little brother throwing a rubber one unexpectedly at the face or seeing a scary film oran image of one.

Phobias are formed very quickly in the mind as a survival technique so we don’t put ourselves at risk by spending too much time thinking about how to react to every perceived danger. As we know, some of these reactions are not helpful, such as being afraid of snakes in a country where hardly any snakes live. The average person in the UK will never see a wild snake.

However, getting over your snake phobia is still very important as you might travel to a country where snakes are more common. Reacting in extreme fear is never helpful even in real danger, as panic can cause people to make dangerous mistakes. If you happen on the off chance to be actually confronting a live venomous snake, you want to handle the situation with your wits about you! And having a panic attack because you saw a bit of tubing flapping in the wind will only cause you unnecessary stress.

We at Creature Courage want to take the amazing success we have had with the Spider Courage Experience and transform the lives of people suffering from a snake phobia in the same way. Though someone with this fear may never love snakes there is no reason why they have to stay in a state of fear and anxiety because of them. Just like people who attended the Spider Courage Experience came to a healthy respect and appreciation for spiders, we can achieve the same for people who are afraid of snakes.

 Like many former arachnophobics coming to own and love spiders on the Spider Courage Experience, Many former Ophidiophobics may find themselves owning and loving snakes afterwards!

We will be using our powerful winning combination of education and specially adapted NLP, CBT and hypnotherapy techniques along with immersive therapy at the end of our therapy to treat people. We will help people who are terrified of snakes overcome their fear in just a few hours! Seems unbelievable but it’s true! Please get in CONTACT with us if you want to arrange a session for a snake phobia.