Causes
The reason for the obsessive thought that there is a duck in the world that is watching you, most often, is childhood psychotrauma. Living in a country house or in a village, people often keep ducks, geese and other poultry in a barn. Adults, of course, are not afraid of them, but children, whose psyche is very vulnerable, may be afraid of birds that are huge compared to them.
A child can see a goose running towards him, cackling shrilly, flapping his wings vigorously and extending his beak to pinch. How can you not be scared? After such an attack, especially if the bird managed to pinch the child, he may withdraw into himself for a long time.
It happens that a curious child visiting relatives who keep birds in enclosures can stick their finger into a cage with birds, and they, mistaking it for food, will pinch it painfully.
There are also many cases when small children, either due to parental oversight or carelessness, can be pecked directly in the face or head by a bird. Anatidaephobia can develop from pain and shock. A person who received such psychological trauma in childhood may face the problem of fear of ducks.
The patient feels like the ducks are watching him
The main and only cause of this phobia known today
The prerequisite for the emergence of a psychological syndrome, on the basis of which anatidaephobia develops, is an unsuccessful contact with a real bird, which caused a negative reaction, manifested in negative human emotions. For example, from a bite or loud cry of a bird (duck/goose).
A person suffering from anatidaiphobia stops leaving the space of his home (apartment or country house), and going to a body of water where an encounter with a bird is possible is out of the question.
Consequently, the fear of “watching a duck” completely takes control over the fullness of life and the consciousness of a person who has been subjected to this phobia.
Most people suffering from anatidaephobia know and are aware of their problem, understanding that their fears are unnatural and frivolous, but they have no control over the situation.
This is paranoia, a persistent feeling of the presence of a “mythical” duck near a person constantly, despite the fact that there is no such bird anywhere nearby.
Symptoms
The symptoms of a fear of ducks are similar to those of any other phobia. The most common are:
- fainting;
- cardiopalmus;
- severe nausea during an attack;
- panic attack;
- anxiety, inability to sleep for a long time;
- apathetic state.
A visit to a park or recreation area where there is a river can turn into a tragedy for an anatidaephobe. Open area, the presence of many birds, wild ducks and swans often swim on the river. Here a person may encounter a problem related to fear.
If, while walking around the city, it just seems to him that a duck is watching him, then everything here is even very real: the bird poses a real threat to human life.
A panic attack followed by a heart attack may occur. And visiting those who have a household is also contraindicated.
A person with a fear of ducks may behave strangely in public. The strangeness lies in the constant anxious looking back and around, in search of the very duck that, according to the patient, is watching him. During an exacerbation period, such people especially feel the presence of a bird near them. This can happen from the influence of the lunar phase or weather changes, when atmospheric pressure affects the general well-being of people.
The patient should avoid households with ducks
Fighting methods
There are many ways to combat obsessive thoughts about ducks.
- Medicinal method. Seek help from your doctor. Prescribed medications and psychotherapy sessions will help you calm down and return to a normal lifestyle.
- Drink soothing tea with a decoction of chamomile, lemon balm, and mint.
- Take a course of therapeutic baths and massages. Relaxing the muscles through massage is a great way to relieve stress. A bath with herbal infusion and sea salt will relax you and help get rid of insomnia.
- Play sports. It not only strengthens muscles, but also improves the general condition of the body, stimulating the brain to work.
Try to get rid of the phobia by getting closer to the problem. The essence of the method is to show yourself that these animals are not scary. Try looking at the little, newly hatched ducklings - they are so cute.
It is not necessary to immediately encounter this in person, just watch videos or pictures about them, then you can try to pet a live duckling. Small birds are completely harmless. Some people even tame ducks, teach them funny dances, and make separate houses for them.
Causes of Anatidaephobia
Anatidaephobia, or the fear of a watching duck, can arise from a negative or even traumatic incident involving ducks or geese.
Such birds are known to often behave aggressively and fly at people without any provocation from humans. They often pinch a person to steal food or water from their hands. Most people develop this phobia in childhood. A child may directly or indirectly experience aggression from ducks or geese:
- He may have acquired this fear after hearing and being afraid of the threatening sound made by the large wings of birds as they flap and fap.
- Or, the child got scared when a duck or goose, hissing threateningly, ran at him with the aim of attacking (trying to pinch).
These examples of bird behavior make the child feel vulnerable and afraid of the ducks or geese (in any number) around him.
In most cases, childhood phobias get rid of over time. However, in some cases, the phobia persists into adulthood.
Causes and manifestations of anatidaephobia
The most common cause is psychological trauma experienced in childhood. If a child has encountered aggressive behavior of birds (a goose has pinched him or tried to do so), the brain associates birds with danger, trouble, and negative emotions. People who encounter waterfowl in the wild can also be afraid. Children are often frightened by the loud cries of anseriformes.
Less commonly, pathology develops due to a previously existing mental disorder. May intensify if negative emotions from contact are repeated.
The manifestations are similar to those of other phobias, and there are also specific symptoms. A person experiences signs of anxiety and constantly thinks that he is under the surveillance of ducks.
Delusions of persecution arise. At first, people begin to avoid walking near bodies of water or in rural areas, where waterfowl can often be seen. Then they may stop leaving the house completely, fearing surveillance. Social adaptation is disrupted and the quality of life deteriorates.
The patient may lose his job and break off contacts with loved ones if meeting them in a “safe” area is impossible.
At the same time, most patients understand that there is a problem and want to get rid of it; the person can turn to a psychologist or psychiatrist.
At the sight of a duck or goose, a panic attack occurs. Stupor is observed. A person ceases to control his actions, may become hysterical, try to run away, hide. It is difficult for the patient to listen to other people talking about the safety of the situation; fear does not allow him to perceive what is said.
The heartbeat becomes rapid. Blood pressure increases. Pallor occurs in the face and upper chest. Sweating increases. Dryness occurs in the mouth. Trembling of the hands is typical; legs may tremble less frequently. You may feel hot or chilly. Breathing becomes confused, becomes shallow, rapid, and shallow. There may be a feeling of chest compression. Possible nausea and dizziness. Vomiting is occasionally observed.
In severe cases, the patient may lose consciousness.
Symptoms of Fear of a Watching Duck
While ordinary people may smile or laugh at the thought of being afraid of a duck, for anatidaephobics this fear is constant and has a depressing effect on them all the time.
Sometimes the phobia is so great that it can even affect a person’s daily life - he may refuse to leave the house due to a possible collision with this duck (goose) watching him.
Physiological symptoms of fear of ducks in anatidaephobia include:
- Increased sweating.
- Trembling or shuddering when thinking about ducks (geese).
- Dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, or choking.
- A paralyzing fear that causes the person with the phobia to stay in place, not go out, or move.
- On the other hand, someone, when experiencing this phobia, tries to scream or run away at the moment of exacerbation of fear.
- Some people with a phobia fear that they will lose control of themselves, which may include fainting, dizziness, crying unnecessarily, or feeling awkward anywhere.
- Chest pain, gastrointestinal disorders and other signs of this phobia.
Other symptoms of a phobia are also relevant: a feeling of being trapped, nervousness at the mention of ducks (geese), and even thoughts of death.
Thus, the fear of a duck can completely take control of the mind of a person who is afraid of ducks, to the point that the person stops leaving his house for fear of colliding with this duck (goose) watching him. People suffering from this phobia may go to great lengths to avoid traveling to areas where ducks or geese are found.
Symptoms by which this phobia can be recognized
The signal for the presence of this fear is:
- stupor at the sight of a waterfowl (duck/goose/swan);
- increased sweating at the sight of waterfowl;
- trembling or shuddering even at the thought (mention) of a waterfowl;
- dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, or choking;
- unexpected pain in the chest, gastrointestinal disorders and vomiting symptoms that appear at the mention of waterfowl are also signs of the presence of this phobia.
Important. Next to a person suffering from this kind of phobia, there should always be a loved one who can calm the sufferer in case of an attack.
Diagnosis and treatment of Anatidaephobia
In most cases, people suffering from Anatidaephobia are aware of their fear of ducks, and even understand very well that this fear is unnatural and frivolous.
However, they are unable to control this fear. Many people refuse to see a doctor, and as a result, their phobia can persist for many years. It is important to consult your doctor/family doctor, especially if the above-mentioned phobia symptoms interfere with your daily life. Your doctor may recommend a professional therapist for follow-up, or one of the following treatments, which are known to be very effective in overcoming and eliminating your fear of ducks (geese) for good:
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
This therapy is based on the principle that most phobias are “learned or programmed behaviors” of the brain. NLP seeks to reprogram the mind to completely eliminate fear once and for all. - Hypnotherapy
This is another proven and safe therapy that goes deep into the mind of an anatidaephobe to reveal the root cause of their phobia. - Other self-therapy techniques
Therapists also recommend that people with phobias practice techniques to calm the mind and body such as meditation, deep breathing, writing down their positive thoughts/ideas to rationalize the negative ones associated with the fear of ducks.
Incredible facts
We are all afraid of something. Spiders, clowns, responsibility - if you are afraid of this, then that's okay.
However, there are some phobias that are quite funny, although those who suffer from them will not agree with you.
Yet even people who suffer from some funny phobias admit that their fear is quite unusual, and may even laugh at it.
After all, laughter is a healthy thing that can heal wounds.
Treatment
Getting rid of anatidaephobia, like any other fear, especially one that has “its roots” in childhood (preschool or early school age), is very difficult. There is practically no way to cure it completely.
In a specific case of fear caused by waterfowl, it is necessary to contact a psychotherapist as early as possible. The psychotherapist, in this case, will develop a program to support such a patient and prescribe medication therapy, if necessary.
The following methods can be the main elements of therapy to get rid of anatidaephobia.
- Hypnotherapy. By putting the patient into a state of hypnosis, his consciousness can be reoriented (programmed) to the fact that one should not expect danger from a waterfowl.
- NLP (neurolinguistic programming).
- Medication, standard treatment. With the use of sedative standard drugs for all people suffering from “persecution mania” phobia.
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that in this case of a specific “funny” disease, self-medication or treatment by unqualified specialists can lead to deterioration of health or death.
Therapy for this phobia can take up to 3 months.
Conclusion
A phobia, which is a “fear of following a duck’s gaze,” is nothing more than a manifestation of anxiety from a psychologically neurosis-like state.
From the outside, this may seem like a funny prank, but a person suffering from such a problem does not laugh at all at those around him who consider it far-fetched.
The panic attacks he experiences, caused by the uncontrollable fear of the "Spy Duck's Eye", can lead him to lose rational explanations for what is happening to him. This condition can last for a very long time, several years or even tens. Instead of ridicule, such a person needs to be supported and urgently referred, or better yet accompanied, to a psychotherapist for an appointment.
Among the many fears inherent in humans, there is a very strange phobia - the fear of ducks. A person may be frightened not by the attack of a bird, but by its observation of him.
Fear of ducks is one of the most unusual phobias
Human phobias
Syngenesophobia – fear of relatives.
Usually this phobia occurs in people who have had frequent quarrels in the family.
Papaphobia – fear of the Pope
It is not clear how this phobia arose, perhaps it is connected with the strange car in which the Pope drives around the streets.
Xanthophobia – fear of the color yellow
The color yellow is often associated with fear. It is not surprising that yellow can cause it.
Linonophobia – fear of ropes, threads, strings
People suffering from this phobia simply cannot be seamstresses or tailors.
Arachibutyrophobia – fear of peanut butter sticking to the soft palate
Peanut butter tends to stick to the roof of your mouth. People with arachibutyrophobia fear that peanut butter will stick to the roof of their mouth and may cause serious harm to themselves in the attempt to remove it.
Chaetophobia - fear of hair
This applies to both your own hair and that of others. The fear also applies to dirty hair, and to hair found lying around in different places (i.e. hair not on the head). The reason could be a bad experience with hair or with a hairy person. This phobia can lead to baldness.
Asymmetriphobia - fear of asymmetrical things
The funny thing is not the fear itself, but how it manifests itself. Usually different, mismatched socks, mittens or earrings just start to piss people off. These people cannot concentrate on anything and become very nervous.
Globophobia – fear of balloons
In fact, this phobia extends to any ball-shaped object. However, it is worth noting that people suffering from this phobia are most afraid not so much of balls as of the sharp loud sound of a bursting ball.
List of phobias
Anatidaephobia - obsessive fear that a duck is watching you
This phobia manifests itself not just when ducks or a goose are nearby, but when a person constantly encounters these birds in different places. He begins to worry that somewhere around the corner a duck is watching him and waiting for something.
Aulophobia – fear of flute sounds
Today, few people suffer from this fear, but its appearance is to blame for post-traumatic stress received at the beginning of the war, when flute players played on the battlefield.
Deipnophobia – fear of table conversations
This fear appeared in societies where there were too many rules. Many people became simply afraid to start a conversation during dinner, because they were afraid that if someone saw them chewing their food or suddenly interrupted someone, they would be ignored for the rest of the evening.
Metrophobia – fear of poetry
People suffering from this phobia cannot tolerate iambics or trochaes, so refrain from reading poetry in front of them. Usually this phobia develops during school years, in cases where teachers give too many tasks related to poetry: analysis, meaning, find certain words, divide into syllables, and so on. However, there are people who feel that poetry is not their topic at all.
Pentheraphobia – fear of mother-in-law or mother-in-law
If you suffer from this phobia, then there are a couple of legal ways out of the situation - either move with your family away from your mother-in-law or mother-in-law, or get a divorce.
Among several hundred human fears, there are so unusual and even strange that one can only be amazed at the unexplored capabilities of the human brain. Such rare and mysterious phobias, in particular, include anatidaephobia - the fear that there is definitely a duck in the world that is watching you.
Description
Anatidaephobia and ornithophobia (fear of birds) should not be confused. With ornithophobia of any form, no matter what birds cause horror, the person is afraid of the bird, its feathers, the sounds it makes, and much more. Anatidaephobes are not afraid of the sight of ducks or quacking, they are only afraid of the fact that one of them is sure to carefully watch them.
It is not known for certain how many people suffer from such a phobia; only isolated cases are available for analysis by psychiatrists, so it is premature to draw conclusions about the prevalence of such fear.
A person who is afraid of birds generally experiences intense fear when encountering a frightening object.
With anatidaephobia, fear is almost always present, because the patient knows for sure that no matter what he does, no matter where he goes, the duck sees everything and watches him closely, attentively, unkindly. Ducks can hardly be called good-natured birds. They, like geese, tend to show aggression towards humans, flapping their wings, attacking, and pinching painfully. Ducks are also incredibly curious and actually love to watch their own kind and people.
Nevertheless, fear is irrational, because a duck, even if it watches a person, cannot harm him by this action. However, the deep parts of the brain of a person suffering from anatidaephobia recognize the very idea of possible pursuit by a duck as a danger signal. A strange phobia may border on persecution mania or a delusional state, in which case the person may require completely different treatment.
Is this phobia a disease? In the full sense of the word, no.
But it belongs to the category of phobic mental disorders, classified as isolated phobias by the International Classification of Diseases.
The disorder is called so pretentiously because of the merger of two words - anatidae - ducks, waterfowl and "phobos" - fear. A phobia seems funny only to those who are not familiar with such fear. Anatidaephobes themselves are usually not amused.
Of all the cases of fear of being chased by a duck, most of them occur in women - they are the ones who most often suffer from this phobic disorder.
Treatment of the disorder
Based on the observed symptoms, treatment for fear is prescribed by a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. The phobia is rarely cured completely; cure most often occurs if therapy was started in childhood or adolescence.
Hypnosis is often used. Using this technique, psychiatrists can easily determine the cause of the pathology. In addition, hypnotic influence allows you to reprogram your consciousness and create an attitude about the safety of ducks and geese.
It is possible to use neurolinguistic programming (NLP).
If persecutory delusions are noted, the psychiatrist selects medications. Sedatives are used. In mild forms of the disease, a person may be advised to take mild sedatives before imminent contact with birds that frighten him. All medications and individual dosages must be selected by a doctor.
You should not self-medicate: incorrectly selected methods of therapy will only lead to the condition worsening.
The scientific name for the panicky fear of a duck or goose that is constantly watching the patient is called anatidaephobia. This word comes from two ancient Greek words: “anatidae” means all waterfowl, “phobia” means fear.
A person with this disorder may be afraid of any waterfowl.
Causes
As already mentioned, there are only a few people in the world with such a phobia, so it is not possible to study the issue globally. The only reasonable cause of mental disorder today, according to experts, may lie in negative experiences with ducks in childhood and adolescence. Most often, the prerequisites for a phobia develop between the ages of 3 and 7–8 years. For an adult, the size of a duck is insignificant. But if a bird rushes at a child, it will seem big and scary to him.
A child could be frightened by a sharply fluttering duck flying past his face, as well as by an annoying bird that did not want to leave behind. Try going to the zoo and feeding the ducks. One of them (or maybe more than one) will definitely follow you, begging for food. She will follow you along the entire fence as long as she can while you are nearby.
Theoretically, an observant child with a rich imagination and excessive impressionability can pay attention to this feature of waterfowl. If the fright factor is combined with such a conclusion, then there is a possibility that the human psyche will fix the relationship - duck-danger-surveillance-pursuit.
Then it all depends on the type of disorder. If the matter is limited to only a phobia, then the fear that a duck is watching will arise when meeting such a creature, when seeing a duck on TV or in pictures. If a manic delusional state is added, in which a person is constantly convinced that a duck is watching him, then this is a more severe mental disorder. Sometimes fear develops against the background of information about fear.
Once upon a time there lived a child who did not know that it was possible to be afraid of a tracking duck. Then he learns about a strange phobia, tries on the sensations of the patient (we all do this subconsciously at any age), and fantasy does its job - a feeling of fear arises. First, a little anxiety, and then a full-fledged phobic disorder, if you couldn’t cope with the low anxiety.
Important! The exact mechanisms of the formation of this phobia, unfortunately, are unknown, so scientists and doctors can only put forward hypotheses.
Treatment
The issues of treating anatidaephobia are as pressing as the issues of determining the etiology of the disorder. It is believed that standard therapy for phobic disorders can help a person; the issue has not been studied in more detail. Considering the mass of “blank spots” associated with this strange phobia, it is believed that it is quite difficult to treat. Self-help and folk methods are out of the question. First of all, it is important to contact a psychiatrist. Not to a psychologist who solves emotional problems, not to a psychotherapist who treats standard phobias, but to a psychiatrist, given that the fear of being watched by a bird may be associated with delusions of persecution.
Diagnosis consists of a conversation, conducting standard tests for anxiety, thinking, logic, and depressive disorders. An MRI or CT scan of the brain may be prescribed to exclude organic lesions of the central nervous system. If elements of persecutory mania are detected, inpatient treatment is prescribed with the use of tranquilizers and antipsychotics, and a long course of psychotherapy.
If there is no delirium, but there is a fear of ducks, it is recommended to immediately proceed to psychotherapy.
Gestalt therapy is considered effective, as is cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.
The doctor identifies the events that had such a strong impact on the patient, sometimes for this it is necessary to put the patient into a hypnotic trance.
Then systematically and gradually the doctor replaces erroneous attitudes with more positive ones.
With successful treatment, the intensity of fear decreases after just a few months, and after six months or a year, a person may even be sympathetic to ducks in general. In any case, the offer to go for a walk along the embankment and feed the ducks will not cause fear, panic attack or other manifestations. Sometimes for treatment it is necessary to use medications as not an independent, but complex treatment. , sedatives, antidepressants, and sleeping pills for sleep disturbances may be recommended
Without treatment, anatidaephobia does not go away on its own, it tends to progress, get worse, and concomitant mental disorders are added, so it is recommended to seek qualified medical help as soon as possible.
A long-known problem of the human psyche - the obsession with fears - can become widespread despite the many funny and interesting phobias that surround a person, which few people know about.
These phobias include anatidaephobia. Like any other, it can begin as a psychological syndrome and over time, if you do not pay attention to this problem, it can develop into a serious mental disorder that cannot be cured without the intervention of specialists (psychologists and psychotherapists).
The subtle psyche of a person may not be able to cope with the feeling of anxiety caused by a particular case - a meeting with a duck/goose that caused physical or psychological trauma with its behavior (fright, bite). Anxiety, recorded by a person’s subconscious and “stuck” there, finds its “exit” through the formation of the phobia “fear of ducks.”
Anatidaephobia, if literally translated into Russian from Greek, is the fear of waterfowl, in particular, ducks.
This mysterious term, of Greek origin, consists of two words.
Anatidaephobia is a fear that is expressed in an individual in the obsession that everywhere (every second) he is under the supervision of the all-seeing eye of a duck or goose.
Symptoms and signs
The manifestation of anatidaephobia is not much different from any other phobic disorder. But there are also some nuances, experts say. The whole point is a certain delusional fear, so a person can give the impression of a big eccentric. He is almost always in an alarmed state; he may have the feeling that a duck is somewhere nearby and is closely watching his actions.
A person often flinches at sharp, unexpected sounds, and may experience a panic attack at the sight of a real waterfowl. The release of adrenaline into the blood provokes an increase in heart rate, increased blood pressure, the palms and back begin to sweat, and trembling may appear in the arms and legs. It is difficult to swallow - the mouth becomes dry, the pupils dilate, the skin becomes pale.
In severe cases, a brief loss of consciousness (fainting) may occur. Diagnosis is usually not difficult. Anatidaevphobe willingly talks about what frightened him so much, as well as about his suspicions about the “ubiquitous duck that sees everything.” When a person sees a duck, he tries to run away and hide, or, conversely, freezes rooted to the spot, unable to take a single step.
If a person suffers from this phobia, he will try to exclude any mention of these birds from his daily life. He will not go to the embankment to feed the ducks; moreover, he will always avoid this embankment. He will not buy a toy in the shape of a duck, nor will he watch cartoons and films that contain images of ducks.
And if the phobia is not associated with a feeling of persecution, then it should not cause much inconvenience - we don’t often see ducks on the street. But one cannot get rid of the fear of a spying duck, even if a person understands perfectly well that there is simply nowhere for it to come from nearby.
Symptoms
While normal people may smile or laugh at the thought of being scared by a duck, in anatidaephobia the fear is persistent and constant. Sometimes the phobia is so extreme that it affects daily life. They may even refuse to leave the house due to the possibility of encountering a bird.
Physical symptoms of duck phobia include:
- sweating;
- trembling or shaking;
- dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, or a feeling of choking;
- paralyzing fear;
- screaming, trying to escape;
- fainting, dizziness, crying or embarrassment, etc.;
- chest pain, gastrointestinal disorders;
- thoughts of death, feeling trapped.
Thus, the fear of ducks can completely take over a person's life.
