Hypophobia symptoms, causes and treatments

The hypophobia it is the irrational and persistent fear of horses. Also known as echinophobia, it is a subtype of phobia within the category of zoophobias or phobias of animals.

Those who suffer from it experience extreme fear and anxiety simply thinking that there are horses near them. It is a type of phobia that can interfere in the daily life of those who suffer from it, especially those people who are related to this type of animals in their closest context.

Article index

• 1 Causes of hypophobia
• 2 Symptoms
  • 2.1 Physical symptoms
  • 2.2 Mental symptoms
  • 2.3 Emotional symptoms
• 3 Treatment
  • 3.1 Exposure therapy
  • 3.2 Systematic desensitization
• 4 Curiosities

Causes of hypophobia

This phobia is mainly caused by a negative or traumatic experience with a horse, usually during childhood. Many of the people who suffer from it have been hit by a horse or have fallen off one, which causes them to avoid them for a while, thus enhancing the fear generated towards them..

Another possible cause may be the use that audiovisual media make of these animals. For example, there are movies in which black stallions are portrayed as fierce, even diabolical animals, with bloodshot eyes..

In addition, news about horse accidents can cause high levels of anxiety in certain people, which can lead them to develop an intense and persistent fear of horses. For example, the actor Christopher Reeve, famous among others for the film Superman, he was paralyzed after falling off a horse.

Finally, this type of phobias is usually inherited between members of a family, that is, if the father or mother has a phobia of horses, they can unconsciously transmit their fear to their son or daughter. Genetic factors such as adrenaline deficiency can also predispose this type of phobias.

Symptoms

Symptoms can appear anytime the person with hypophobia is near a horse or just thinks about them. We can divide them into physical, mental and emotional symptoms.

Physical symptoms

- Accelerated pulse

- Tremors

- Tachycardia

- Shortness of breath

- Gastrointestinal problems: vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, etc..

- Chest pain

- Dizziness

- Crying and screaming

- Excessive sweating

- Difficulty articulating words

- Dry mouth

Mental symptoms

- Obsessive thoughts. The person suffering from a phobia tends to unconsciously generate thoughts related to the object of their phobia. This symptom supposes a very significant discomfort in the daily life of the person since he cannot stop thinking about the same thing and, in addition, this thought produces high levels of anxiety.

- Fear of losing control or "going crazy". It is the feeling of loss of self-control and is common in situations in which the person suffering from a phobia sees their ability to control it exceeded and, therefore, has the belief that they will not handle said situation properly.

- Fear of fainting. Related to the previous symptom, it is the sensation of losing consciousness as a result of a situation that overwhelms the person's resources, which is frequent during exposure to the phobic stimulus..

- Negative images or “movies” related to horses. It is the appearance of mental images (fixed or moving) that are more or less directly related to the phobic stimulus, in this case, with horses. These types of images cause significant discomfort to the phobic which, depending on its severity, can interfere to a greater or lesser extent in their daily life..

- Derealization. It is the alteration of the perception or experience of the individual in such a way that he is presented as strange or unreal. This symptom begins to slowly increase with the underlying anxiety and later manifests abruptly, often after a panic attack..

- Depersonalization. It is an alteration of the perception or experience of oneself in such a way that one feels "separated" from the mental processes or body, as if one were an external observer to them..

Emotional symptoms

- Feelings of terror. Exposure to the phobic object, either in a real or imagined way, causes feelings of intense fear in the person that, depending on the severity of the phobia, can generate a feeling of terror.

- Anxiety. The feeling of anxiety can occur in several ways. In the first place, it can be generated in advance, that is, the fact of thinking about a future approach with the phobic stimulus generates in the person an increase in physiological activity caused by anxiety.

On the other hand, exposure to the phobic stimulus also causes this type of symptom, and its frequency and duration will depend on the severity of the phobia. Finally, anxiety can be generated by remembering events related to the phobic stimulus, either situations in which the object of the phobia has been directly exposed, or mental images of it.

- Sadness feelings. The appearance of a phobia can generate in the person who suffers feelings of despondency, reluctance or sadness, which can interfere in their daily life.

- Desires to flee. It is the need not to face what causes the phobia, and it can occur in two ways. The first is to try to avoid exposure to the phobic stimulus, and is known as avoidance. The second, on the other hand, consists of ending the exposure to the phobic stimulus, and is called escape.

- Other feelings. Feelings such as anger, guilt or the desire to harm someone may appear. This is because the frustration produced by the irrational fear inherent in the phobia, can lead to the appearance of negative emotions that overturn this impotence in others or in oneself. For example, in the case of hypophobia, a response to it can be aggression to a horse, or self-harm as a consequence of the guilt that it can produce..

Treatment

There are several treatment options for those who suffer from hypophobia. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most common therapies for people with this type of phobias.

This type of therapy focuses on fears and why they exist. Your goal is to change and challenge the thought processes that maintain fear.

Exposure therapy

A type of technique widely used to treat this type of phobias is called exposure therapy, which is within the scope of cognitive behavioral therapies. This type of treatment consists of exposing the patient to the object or situation that he fears.

There are several variations in the delivery of exposure treatment: self-exposure, therapist-assisted exposure, group exposure, and exposure with response prevention.

Exposure treatment can be carried out in real situations (live exposure) or it can be done through imagination, which is known as imagined exposure..

Systematic desensitization

Another type of therapy is systematic desensitization. This type of treatment focuses on the progressive acclimatization of patients to their phobias. The first step is to think about horses, as well as to observe images of them.

Once the patient feels comfortable with these images, we proceed to physical contact with the horse, first seeing it, then touching it and finally riding on it..

Sometimes it is necessary to use medication with this type of phobia, although the medication will only make the symptoms stop temporarily, therefore not being effective in the long term..

Reading and learning about horses can also help people with hypophobia in that it can allow them to realize that fear is irrational. Horses, at least well-fed and domesticated ones, are harmless.

Statistics show that they normally do not harm humans, which is reflected in the fact that no special safety measures are required when riding a horse..

Also, movies like The man who whispered to the horses show how the protagonist of the same relates to horses in a kind and reassuring way, which can help hypophobics to overcome their fears.

Curiosities

Below we will show you some curiosities related to horses, since these animals have qualities that will surprise more than one:

• There is a British law that states that an Englishman cannot sell a horse to a Scotsman.
• Horse teeth never stop growing.
• The animal that identifies the state of New Jersey is the horse.
• They drink about 25 liters of water a day (or more).
• Ribbons were once braided around the horses' tails to keep them safe from witches.
• Horses cannot vomit or burp.
• It is said that the first to domesticate horses were the Mongolian tribes, about 5,000 years ago.
• Julius Caesar was riding a three-toed horse. This situation resulted from a rare genetic mutation that can affect the front hooves..
• Horses mourn the death of a companion.
• They are instinctively curious and sociable animals, they do not like to be alone.
• Leonardo da Vinci liked to draw horses.
• The gestation period of a mare is 11 months and they only have one foal.
• The brain of an adult horse weighs 600 grams, about half that of a human.
• The first cloned horse was a Haflinger mare in Italy, in 2003.
• They like the sweet taste and generally reject the bitter.
• Until the 1960s, ponies on Dartmoor were used to escort prisoners from local jails while they were away.
• They have "monocular" panoramic vision and only distinguish the colors green, yellow and gray..
• Carriage racing was the first Olympic sport in 680 BC. C.
• They use their smell to find food.