Ranidophobia: symptoms, causes and treatment

Frog phobia can produce moments of great discomfort in those who suffer from it.

Fear is one of the basic emotions available to most of the animals that inhabit the planet, including human beings. Thanks to fear, we are warned that certain stimuli are potentially dangerous for life, and we prepare a response in accordance with the threat.

Thus, it is not a dangerous affect, nor is it "negative" as is traditionally thought. It is rather rather a useful and effective phenomenon to ensure the survival of a speciesIt keeps us safe in a sometimes extremely hostile world.

However, sometimes such emotion can extend where it should not be, or acquire an intensity disproportionate to the objective characteristics of the stimulus in front of which it is triggered. In this case we refer to phobias, disorders that are included in the general category of anxiety.

In this article we will talk about a fear that is more common than people usually think and that can limit the quality of life of those who suffer from it. This is called ranidaphobia.. Let's see what it consists of, why it happens and how it is treated.

What is ranidaphobia?

Ranidaphobia is the particular label with which the excruciating and disabling fear of frogs is described.. The term comes from two classical languages, whose etymology is rooted in Latin ("ranae" or frog) and Greek ("phobia" or fear). It is a specific phobia of the animal subtype, a form of aversion much more common in childhood than in adulthood, although it can affect anyone throughout their life cycle (regardless of sex).

A whole series of qualities are attributed to the frog that many people find unpleasant. Among them are extremely mobile eyes, which stand as the most visible anatomical region when they are submerged under water, and which also have both eyelids and nictitating membranes that cover their eyeballs and give them a shiny and "attentive" appearance. Their skin is slightly slimy, and their legs are tremendously strong for their weight and size.

People suffering from ranidaphobia judge these features as extremely aversive and extend this assessment to the animal's "non-physical" characteristics, such as its unmistakable croaking, which also requires the action of thin membranes located under the skin of its throat (whose movement tends to be "horrifying" for those who fear them). As time goes by, if appropriate treatments are not applied, the fear worsens and extends even to the simple viewing of a frog on television or other media (internet, e.g.).

During exposure to a stimulus associated with a frog, the person suffering from frogidophobia experiences bodily sensations similar to those of a panic attackThe symptoms include hyperventilation, accelerated heart rate, mydriasis of the pupil (which can reduce visual acuity and impair vision in brightly lit spaces), sweating and a feeling that the body itself is on the verge of collapse. In severe cases, symptoms of depersonalization and derealization may occur.

In addition to this, there are also cognitive symptoms that occur prior to exposure to the stimulus itself (anxious anticipation of the encounter with a frog because it is in a space where they are usually found) or during exposure (thoughts that it "cannot be tolerated"; or mental images in which this animal moves, stalks, jumps or comes into contact with the person). In addition, there are also motor behaviors that contribute to maintaining the problem over time (flight or escape).

This fear, which is valued as irresistible, usually extends also to those places that the frogs inhabit, which are numerous and very varied.which are numerous and very varied (as they are widely distributed throughout the geography). For this reason, they tend to avoid areas with excessive vegetation or humidity, as well as locations too close to rivers or swamps. In addition, the fear becomes more acute at night or close to it, since these are periods of low visibility and in which the sound of these batrachians is more evident.

What are the causes of this disorder?

The causes by which ranidaphobia can manifest itself are very diverse; and they are related to psychic, social and Biological variables. The last ones of them allude directly to genetics, since it has been evidenced that vulnerability to the development of anxiety problems is associated with family heredity, so that about 50% of the patients with anxiety problems have a family history of anxiety.It has been shown that vulnerability to the development of anxiety problems is associated with family heredity, so that approximately 50% of this phenomenon is attributable to it (although it is not always easy to dissociate it from specific patterns of upbringing that stimulate the onset of this disorder).

Personal experience of a real and adverse situation involving a frog is also very common, as well as having witnessed how a person reacted with excruciating fear when interacting with this animal. Likewise, the use of frogs or other animals as deterrence strategies to avoid the infant's undesirable behaviors ("a dog will come and get you ("a dog will come and eat you", e.g.), are also very frequently referred to when reconstructing the story of how the problem was created.

The truth is that frogs have traditionally been regarded as ungraceful, or even unpleasant and unlovable beings, which has been successfully transferred to folk tales and stories passed down for generations to children almost all over the planet ("kiss frogs until one of them becomes a prince"). In fact, there are areas in the world where they are considered an animal that carries bad omens (being related to witchcraft), and there are even phrases in the proverb that refer to them in a derogatory way ("I have grown frogs").

Some children also learn to fear them when they learn that many frogs are poisonous, especially those with colors that a priori could be striking. On the other hand, in many countries, frogs are used as a "medium" through which children learn the basics of anatomy; for many, this is an experience that is very rewarding.which for many involves a traumatic, repugnant or cruel experience (evisceration, dismemberment, dissection, etc.) from which the subsequent irresistible fear arises.

Finally, it is also possible that the fear of frogs arises in a secondary way, i.e., as part of a more "secondary" stimulus, as part of a "broader" stimulus that the child fears.. Thus, for example, the croaking of frogs in the middle of a dark and/or cold place (in which fear arises naturally and adaptively) can turn this sound from a neutral to a conditioned stimulus, and from there the emotion is generalized to the rest of what the frog is (including its physical presence in places very different from those in which this association was originally acquired).

It should also be noted that sometimes frogs appear in an unexpected or sudden way, jumping out from behind a bush or simply landing on a stone or a plant without anything being able to notice this fact. This way of acting can detonate the emotion of surprise in the child, an affection that is considered neutral (neither positive nor negative) for most people, but with adverse nuances for those who live with an anxiety disorder.

Treatment

Psychological treatment is a very effective tool for dealing with phobias, and this particular one is no exception.and this particular one is no exception. The program incorporates a set of cognitive and behavioral strategies that have a high degree of evidence, and which are selected according to the particularities of the case and the history of the problem. The use of drugs for anxiety (such as benzodiazepines) is not considered a priority, and there are even studies that indicate that it could interfere with some of the psychotherapeutic procedures.

As noted above, avoidance of the feared stimulus (the frog in this case) becomes counterproductive, as it exacerbates the problem.It exacerbates the problem through a mechanism of negative reinforcement. It is important, for this reason, to schedule exposure sessions that allow attenuating the fear response by habituation to the stimulus. In addition, over time they will improve self-efficacy and modify negative expectations about what happens when interacting with the animal (which are often very dark at the beginning).

Since it is not always possible to develop a live exposure from the beginning of therapy, it can be started only in imagination by making use of a progressive format. This modality is a good prelude and allows the therapist and the patient to build a hierarchy of situations (according to the levels of anxiety they generate), which the latter will have to face through "induction" by the practitioner. The technique is combined with diaphragmatic breathing or other relaxation modalities, and increases confidence in the ability to deal with fear. In addition, it can be enriched with audio-visual details (audio tracks in which the croaking of a frog is heard, e.g.).

Certain cognitive techniques have also proven to be effective in this problem, especially those aimed at reflecting on how mental contents (thoughts) can condition our emotions.especially those aimed at reflecting on the way in which mental contents (thoughts) can condition our emotions, articulating a proactive debate through which we will explore whether or not the beliefs we have about frogs are in line with objective and rational parameters. For this occasion, the therapist and the patient dialogue and/or explore together, through a diversity of logical resources based on collaborative empiricism.

Finally, psychoeducation is key throughout the process. This should focus both on what anxiety is and why it happens, as well as on the characteristics of frogs. This can be done by reading books about frogs, including those that delve into their habits and anatomy. In this way, it is intended to know better what the object of fear is, and to reduce the usual uncertainty that surrounds phobic stimuli.

Bibliographical references:

• Coelho, C. and Purkis, H. (2009). The Origins of Specific Phobias: Influential Theories and Current Perspectives. Review of General Psychology, 13, 335 - 351.
• Singh, J. and Singh, J. (2016). Treatment options for the specific phobias. International Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 5(3), 593 - 598.