Definition:
Ichthyophobia is a type of phobia characterized by a fear of fish, The term encompasses fear of fish in general or fear of a specific kind of fish. A phobia is defined as an irrational and intense fear of something or someone.
Treatment:
One of the treatments for ichthyophobia is an unconditioning technique called graduated exposure therapy as proposed by John B. Watson. This type of treatment is based on the assumption that shaming and modeling methods are ineffective in curing ichthyophobia. In the method proposed by Watson, the patient is exposed to fish gradually. The whole process can take days or weeks.
A contrasting therapy is called the radical exposure therapy. As the name suggests, this technique exposes the patient to fish in a more direct and abrupt manner. The method has been shown in the 2007 documentary series called Panic Room.
Symptoms and Signs:
As all phobias, ichthyophobia features irrational and excessive fear of fish – of being around fish or sometime even of eating fish. Some patients are afraid to eat fish because of fear of likely contaminants such as mercury.
Causes:
The cause of Ichthyophobia may be a conditioned fear of fish, particularly gold fish, set during infancy by an adult. Individual who suffer from Ichthyophobia recognize the fear as being intense.
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