Ophidiophobia

Ophidiophobia or ophiophobia is a particular type of specific phobia, the abnormal fear of snakes. Fear of snakes is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles and/or amphibians. The word comes from the Greek words "ophis" (ὄφις) which refers to snakes and "phobia" (φοβία) meaning fear.

Care must also be taken to differentiate people who do not like snakes or fear them for their venom or the inherent danger involved. An ophidiophobic would not only fear them when in live contact but also dreads to think about them or even see them on TV or in pictures.^{[citation needed]}

Recent studies conducted have theorised that humans may have an innate reaction to snakes, which was vital for the survival of humankind as it allowed such dangerous threats to be identified immediately.^[1]

Fictional cases

• Ophidiophobia is a characteristic of adventurer Indiana Jones
• Adrian Monk (TV series Monk: his numerous phobias include ophidiophobia)^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Arachnophobia
• List of phobias

References

1. ^ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1004_snakefears.html

This abnormal psychology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Phobias Abnormal psychology stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат? Gelindo Bordin Balisong Look at other dictionaries: ophidiophobia — (n.) 1914, excessive fear of snakes or reptiles, from ophidio apparently extracted from Mod.L. ophidia, a word coined arbitrarily (to provide an ia form to serve as an order name in taxonomy) from Gk. ophis serpent + PHOBIA (Cf. phobia) …   Etymology dictionary ophidiophobia — noun The phobia or fear of snakes. But why would the proud Egyptians borrow spells composed by foreigners in an alien tongue? The answer in a word: ophiophobia (fear of snakes). The Egyptians believed that poisonous snakes posed a threat to the… …   Wiktionary ophidiophobia — Morbid fear of snakes. [G. ophidion, a small snake, + phobos, fear] * * * ophid·io·pho·bia ō .fid ē (.)ō fō bē ə n abnormal fear of snakes …   Medical dictionary ophidiophobia — fear of snakes Phobias …   Phrontistery dictionary ophidiophobia — A fear of snakes …   Grandiloquent dictionary Ophidiophobia —    An intense fear of snakes …   The writer's dictionary of science fiction, fantasy, horror and mythology List of phobias — This article is about the suffix phobia. For the class of psychological disorders, see Phobia. Contents 1 Psychological conditions 1.1 Animal phobias …   Wikipedia Phobia — A phobia (from the Greek: φόβος, Phóbos, meaning fear or morbid fear ) is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically… …   Wikipedia -phobia — The English suffixes phobia, phobic, phobe ( of Greek origin: φόβος/φοβία ) occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, disabling fear as a mental disorder (e.g., agoraphobia), in chemistry to describe… …   Wikipedia Specific phobia — A specific phobia is a generic term for any kind of anxiety disorder that amounts to an unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situations. As a result, the affected persons tend to actively avoid direct contact …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”