A LITTLE KNOWN SPECIFIC PHOBIA 'OPHIDIOPHOBIA': A CASE REPORT

Abstract

Specific phobia is defined as marked fear and avoidance related to a specific object or situation. The prevalence of specific phobias is high in the general adult population. The majority of specific phobias typically have an onset in childhood. Specific phobias can be associated with high levels of psychosocial impairment in some cases. Subtype-specific analyses showed that animal phobia had the highest prevalence in the general population. Fear of snakes is one of the most common fears among humans. When the fear becomes devastating, persistent, and defeat an individual from normal functioning, it is considered a phobia. Specific phobias could be strong predictors of other mental disorders. Therefore, the incidence of other mental disorders could be reduced by treatment of specific phobias. A 38-year-old woman who had complaints of generalized anxiety disorder and snake phobia was presented in this case report.

Keywords

• Fear
• ophidiophobia
• specific phobia

AZ BİLİNEN BİR ÖZGÜL FOBİ ‘OFIDIYOFOBI’: BİR OLGU SUNUMU

Abstract

Özgül fobi, belirli bir nesne veya durumdan belirgin korku duyma ve kaçınma olarak tanımlanır. Genel yetişkin popülasyonunda özgül fobilerin prevalansı yüksektir. Özgül fobilerin çoğunda tipik olarak başlangıç çocukluk döneminde olur. Özgül fobiler, bazı durumlarda yüksek düzeyde psikososyal bozulma ile ilişkili olabilir. Hayvan tipi fobinin, özgül fobinin alt tipleri arasında en yüksek prevalansa sahip olduğu bildirilmiştir. Yılan korkusu, insanlar arasında en yaygın görülen korkulardandır. Korku yıpratıcı, sürekli ve kişinin işlevselliğini bozuyor olduğunda fobi olarak kabul edilir. Özgül fobiler diğer ruhsal bozuklukların öngörücüsü olabilirler. Bu nedenle özgül fobilerin tedavisi diğer ruhsal bozuklukların insidansını azaltabilir. Bu olgu sunumunda, yaygın anksiyete bozukluğu ve yılan fobisi şikayeti olan 38 yaşında bir kadın olgu sunulmuştur.

Keywords

• Korku
• ofidiyofobi
• özgül fobi

References

1. Lindner P, Miloff A, Reuterskiöld L, Andersson G, Carlbring P. What is so frightening about spiders? Self-rated and self-disclosed impact of different characteristics and associations with phobia symptoms. Scand J Psychol 2019; 60(1):1-6.
2. Hamm AO. Specific phobias. Psychiatr Clin North Am 2009; 32(3):577-91.
3. Wardenaar KJ, Lim CCW, Al-Hamzawi AO, et al. The cross-national epidemiology of specific phobia in the World Mental Health Surveys. Psychol Med 2017;47(10):1744-760.
4. Ajdacic-Gross V, Rodgers S, Müller M, et al. Pure animal phobia is more specific than other specific phobias: epidemiological evidence from the Zurich Study, the ZInEP and the PsyCoLaus. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2016;266(6):567-77.
5. Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ, Miloyan B. Specific phobias. Lancet Psychiatry 2018; 5(8):678-86.
6. de Vries YA, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, et al. Childhood generalized specific phobia as an early marker of internalizing psychopathology across the lifespan: results from the World Mental Health Surveys. BMC Med 2019; 17(1):101.
7. Coelho CM, Polák J, Suttiwan P, Zsido AN. Fear inoculation among snake experts. BMC Psychiatry 2021; 21(1):539.
8. Klieger DM, Gallagher RW. The measurement and mismeasurement of ophidiophobia in analogue research: a procedural review. J Clin Psychol 1993; 49(2):140-53.

9. Van Houtem CM, Laine ML, Boomsma DI, et al. A review and meta-analysis of the heritability of specific phobia subtypes and corresponding fears. J Anxiety Disord 2013; 27(4):379-88.
10. Czajkowski N, Kendler KS, Tambs K, et al. The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for phobias in women. Psychol Med2011; 41(9):1987-995.
11. Choy Y, Fyer AJ, Lipsitz JD. Treatment of specific phobia in adults. Clin Psychol Rev 2007; 27(3):266-86. chol Rev 2007; 27(3):266-86.