What is Cynophobia (Fear of Dogs) – Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Cynophobia is a fear of dogs where an individual feels excessive anxiety or distress on seeing a dog. Mostly, people with this phobia undergo a feeling of stress, emotional instability or even panic attacks whenever they encounter a feared stimulus.

This context throws light on various crucial aspects of cynophobia its ways of diagnosis and treatment plans available for better control and management of this phobia.

Individuals having cynophobia can get triggered or feel threatened not only by seeing a dog in person. Triggers can be caused by several other factors.

Here are a few common factors that can trigger cynophobia among people:

• Hearing a dog bark
• Watching a picture or video of a dog
• Imagining a dog or going to places where one can come in contact with dogs

Though it is challenging to identify the prevalence of cynophobia among people, the intensity of fear of animals is quite common among children and adults. Moreover, one out of three of individuals experiencing a fear of animals have cynophobia.

Cynophobia and other types of phobias related to an animal are diagnosed initially after assessing the symptoms. These symptoms help a healthcare physician to understand behaviour and emotional responses of a person, when exposed to dogs. 

Here are some noteworthy symptoms of cynophobia that one should never avoid:

• Trembling out of fear
• Difficulty to breath
• Sweating and an increase in one’s heartbeat
• Nausea and vomiting
• Sense of being threatened and in danger
• Fear of losing control
• Feeling extreme anxiousness
• Dizziness and unable to focus

Apart from these common signs of distress, in some severe cases, individuals may also face the following emotional discomforts.

• Developing anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder
• Loneliness and becoming socially inactive
• Instigating self-harming thoughts
• Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

The aforementioned physical, as well as emotional symptoms may exist in an individual for a prolonged period of more than six months. In that case, it is advisable to consult a therapist or counsellor for better coping strategies.

When an individual perceives to be in a potentially threatening situation on encounter with dogs, it causes a sensation of anxiety and fear in them. Though the actual reason behind the development of fear of dogs is yet to be discovered; however, certain factors can substantiate as causes of cynophobia.

• Past Unpleasant Encounter: The fear of dogs can develop in an individual due to experiencing any traumatic incident, such as being bitten, mauled or chased by this species.
• Family History of Phobia: There is a high chance that a person will develop this phobia if he or she grows up with parents who have a similar fear.
• Informational Learning: Cynophobia is also influenced at large by the information of someone getting attacked by a dog. This information can trigger fear in some individuals.
• Genetics: Sometimes a family history of mental illness plays a vital role in developing this kind of phobia.

In addition to the prominent symptoms of this phobia, the effects of cynophobia can often create a huge impact and interfere with one’s daily life activities. Here are some risk factors that increase the chances of developing cynophobia among adults as well as children.

• People having depression or any other mental health issues
• Individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), panic disorder or panic attacks
• Past family history of phobias
• Someone with a history of Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
• Pre-existing conditions like Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

In addition, individuals who have a traumatic encounter with dogs are highly sensitive to building this phobia. Furthermore, if this disorder is left untreated, it can develop some associated phobias like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

As it is difficult to avoid dogs for carrying out regular chores, where one needs to step out of their home, there can be a plethora of complications latched to cynophobia. Apart from the symptoms of this phobia, people tend to become socially aloof from gatherings where they may encounter a dog.

This eventually leads to a different type of phobia, agoraphobia, where people stop leaving their homes completely in fear of stressful situations or events. In addition to this, if left untreated these phobias may lead to chronic repercussions like severe panic attacks, strokes or chest pain.

The initial step of diagnosis of cynophobia begins with contacting an authorised therapist. The therapist may ask a range of questions to the concerned individual in order to evaluate the symptoms, identify the cause and how it has affected a person.

For acquiring detailed information on the patient, the medical professional may go through any family history of fear of dogs and inquire about other details that can relate to the cause of fear on dogs.

Many a time, doctors may refer to symptoms of phobias for proper diagnosis as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, also known as (DSM-5-TR). This offers a specific criterion of diagnosis, which includes the following:

• Fear of a specific element – In this case, it refers to fear of dogs
• Nature of immediate response to the feared object – Individuals with cynophobia will most likely become anxious when in contact with dogs
• Signs of extreme fear – The uncontrollable and unmanageable fear or anxiety when one sees a dog approaching
• Signs of discomfort or avoidance – In this case, a person fearing dogs will avoid confrontation with the animal whenever possible. He or she will even avoid going to a friend’s house that has a pet dog.
• How it affects the daily routine – The effect of phobia and its interference with daily work and activities
• Persistence of the symptoms – By verifying this, the therapist will try to assess the severity of the fear. The therapist will try to identify whether the person has been experiencing the fear for six months or more.
• Symptoms that arise due to other disorders – It is important to assess certain underlying factors before formulating a treatment plan. A therapist thus needs to determine whether an individual is suffering from any underlying disorders before experiencing a fear of dogs.

Some of these disorders are Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), clinical depression or certain other major depressive disorders.

Based on the above criterion of the diagnosis procedure, a doctor or therapist recommends the best set of treatment programs that is customised to suit an individual’s needs.

Different mental health facilities use various psychotherapy methods to treat cynophobia in adults as well as children. A licensed professional will assess the symptoms and medical history of the patient and will prepare the right set of treatment plans. Here are a few clinically-approved methods for treatment of cynophobia that show positive results.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Therapists largely use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to treat various kinds of phobias. The main goal of CBT is to help individuals with cynophobia address and acknowledge the problem within themselves and to devise controlling mechanisms to respond to a feared animal or situation.

 With the help of medical guidance, a patient starts to understand how he or she feels when they see a dog. For example, one may feel that every time one chance upon a dog, the animal will bite or maul them. In such a case CBT will help the person retrain their brain and reconstruct negative thoughts into positive ones.

Eventually one needs to come in acceptance with the fact that not all encounters with a dog will lead to dangerous consequences. In addition, with the help of this therapy, an individual suffering from cynophobia will gain confidence to deal with any type of negative incident or related phobias.

Exposure Therapy

One of the most prominent treatment programs of psychotherapy is exposure therapy, which exposes an individual to the object, animal or event he or she fears, in order to interact with it and eventually come out of the fear. This is also known as desensitisation, where the therapists create a situation for the person and the feared stimuli (dogs) to interact by slowly exposing each other under professional supervision.

While treating cynophobia, a patient is asked to watch videos or pictures of dogs, while the therapist gradually increases the exposure time. Once the individual can control the fear, the doctor slowly exposes the person to dogs in person.

Visualisation

Visualisation or active-imaginal exposure is a type of exposure therapy where the therapists guide the person to imagine oneself interacting with dogs. This technique works for some people as it offers better control over their feelings and helps them manage their responses.

Medications

In some severe cases of fear, individuals may undergo some health issues due to cynophobia. These issues are mostly anxiety and rapid heart rate, which need to be treated with medicines.

To impart relaxation and regulate blood pressure, a licensed medical practitioner may recommend beta-blockers and sedatives based on the physical symptoms of an individual. Furthermore, medication including steroids like glucocorticoids is also prescribed during exposure therapy to offer relief from anxiety.

It becomes essential to reach out and seek medical guidance if the signs of cynophobia continue to interfere with one’s daily life activities for a prolonged time period of six months or more. Moreover, many people suffer from heart palpitation or anxiety when they see a dog. This is a vivid indication that the situation is chronic and needs medical supervision.

Though it is challenging to control one’s responses when one comes to confront a feared element, it is easier to control and manage the sense of fear by following a few tips and tricks.

These tips are discussed below.

Tip 1: Practice mindfulness by routine exercise, meditation or yoga – This will help in elevating one’s mood and offer better brain functioning.

Tip 2: Indulge in regular breathing exercises – This supports individuals with cynophobia or any other fear and helps to manage their anxiety.

Tip 3: Talk to a professional – Whenever the symptoms or side effects of cynophobia become unmanageable; it is always the best option to seek professional help who understands the problems well and will guide you with effective coping mechanism.

Cynophobia or any type of phobia can be treatable and cured with proper medical guidance up to a manageable extent where the phobia does not affect one’s daily life obligations. The fear of dogs and animals develops as a child and is most prevalent in children. Hence, it becomes quintessential for parents to be more aware of the situation to take timely actions.