RE: What I Learnt For The Week #1: Microglia, Ophidiophobia, Imposter Syndrome, Hyperthymesia And The Invasive Asian Toad
You can overcome Ophidiophobia by looking at images of snakes and even visiting the zoo to look at a caged snake. This would help in overcoming the fear of snakes.
Actually, not everyone who is afraid of snakes is an Ophidiophobia. The most important criteria to diagnose this form of specific phobia is that the fear/anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger and it causes a significant impairment in terms of social, occupational and other forms of functioning. The anxiety should have been affecting them for at least 6 months period and there were other criteria too. You can refer to the latest DSM to know more.
It is a little bit tricky to determine whether people who were afraid of snakes because they were bitten by a snake in the past were an Ophidiophobia or just having some symptoms related to PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder).
I understand you. But imagine you were bitten by a snake and survived, whenever you see snakes, you would fear them, be it PTSD, you are scared of them and that's what ophidiophobia means - Fear of snakes.
Thanks for your contribution @conficker, I really appreciate.