Fear of mice – Musophobia is the fear of mice or rats and the word originates from Latin Mus which means mice and Greek phobos which means deep fear or fear. Other terms used for fear of rats and mice include Murophobia, which is derived from the word “Murine” or the “Muridae” family of mice / rats, and Suriphobia, which is derived from souris, which is French for mouse.
Famous personality with an extreme, irrational and irrational fear of mice includes Dr. Genna Crosser, who not only first diagnosed this phobia in her patient, but also suffered it herself.
You might also like to read: Fear Of Bees: Definition, Symptoms, Treatment
Index
Causes of musophobia
Musophobia is a very common phobia that affects hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Where some think mice are “cuddly and cuddly,” phobics tend to find them “disgusting and disease-carrying.”
Rats and mice are known to carry pathogens.
They are also infamous in history for spreading the Black Death that wiped out much of the human population.
They are generally known to inhabit sewers, drains, and dark, damp, or dirty places. Rats are also known to carry fleas and other parasites that harm not only humans but pets as well.
Wild rats and rodents are not welcome in human homes, so they tend to hide in the cracks and crevices found around pantries, kitchens, and other places that have abundant food storage.
Naturally, they can jump on unsuspecting individuals and scare them.
Like most animal phobias , the fear of mice also usually stems from a negative or traumatic experience with rats.
Incidents in childhood where a rat has bitten a child or loved ones can also trigger this phobia.
Humans are conditioned from childhood to fear wild rats and rodents.
An adult, parent or caregiver, may have been startled by a rat and screamed or climbed into a chair. Children unknowingly learn to mimic this behavior, and the occasional fear triggers an anxiety response that could develop into a lifelong phobia of rats and mice.
Popular culture depicts these creatures in a negative light : cartoons (Tom and Jerry), books (Hamilton’s Pied Piper), movies, television shows, etc., display stereotypical traits about them. Typical: a rat scares the protagonist who jumps and climbs screaming on a chair / table. (Despite these stereotypes, musophobia affects both genders equally.
Symptoms of fear of mouse phobia
The symptoms of musophobia vary depending on the extent of fear that the phobia experiences. Like any other zoophobia, the fear of mice typically triggers physical and mental symptoms that include:
- Screaming, crying, climbing on beds or tables / chairs
- Trying to run away
- Shaking, shaking, and profuse sweating.
- Having a fast heartbeat, breathing rapidly, or panting
- Feeling nauseous, vomiting, or having other signs of gastrointestinal upset
- Musophobics may experience anxiety / panic attacks from the mere mention of mice, or even from seeing them feeding on garbage, or in pictures, on television, etc.
Treat and overcome musophobia
The treatment and diagnosis of musophobia is similar to that of other animal or specific phobias in that any standard therapy such as psychotherapy , cognitive-behavioral therapy, gradual desensitization therapy, etc. can be used for it.
- Patients should educate themselves about mice.
- Thanks to advances in modern medicine, the plague has been eradicated and at least it is not as dangerous as it used to be.
- Rats that inhabit domestic or residential areas are afraid of humans and generally stay out of their way.
- Wild rats and mice spread disease, so it is best to prevent them from entering the home by minimizing clutter and food sources in and around it.
- If your apprehension about mice is getting to you on a daily basis or you are afraid to go outside after dark or are constantly thinking about mice, then your doctor might prescribe medication to reduce anxiety.
- Note that these medications do not cure the fear of mice, but only provide temporary relief from symptoms.
- You’d better opt for long-term solutions like hypnotherapy , NLP or neurolinguistic programming, talk therapy, etc. to cure his musophobia once and for all.
Hello, how are you? My name is Georgia Tarrant, and I am a clinical psychologist. In everyday life, professional obligations seem to predominate over our personal life. It's as if work takes up more and more of the time we'd love to devote to our love life, our family, or even a moment of leisure.