Fear of mice and rats

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Fear of mice
)
A house mouse (Mus musculus)

Fear of mice and rats is one of the most common

Latin mure "mouse/rat"), or as suriphobia, from French
souris, "mouse".

The phobia, as an unreasonable and disproportionate

contaminate
the food supply.

Cause

In many cases a phobic fear of mice is a socially induced

conditioned response, combined with (and originated in) the startle response (a response to an unexpected stimulus) common in many animals, including humans, rather than a real disorder. At the same time, as is common with specific phobias, an occasional fright may give rise to abnormal anxiety
that requires treatment.

Treatment

Fear of mice may be treated by any standard treatment for specific phobias. The standard treatment of animal phobia is systematic desensitization, and this can be done in the consulting room, or in hypnosis. Some clinicians use a combination of both approaches to desensitization during treatment. It can be helpful to encourage patients to experience some positive associations with mice: the feared stimulus is paired with the positive rather than being continuously reinforced by the negative.[1]

Elephants and mice

There is a common

dou shou qi has the rat kill an elephant, and multiple editions of the rule book mentions that the rat would crawl into the elephant's ears to gnaw into its brain. This is considered to be a folk tale.[2]

Patron saint

Gertrude of Nivelles is the patron saint of murophobia, and is also invoked against rats and mice in general.[3]

In popular culture

Woman displaying musophobia

An exaggerated, phobic fear of mice and rats has traditionally been depicted as a stereotypical trait of women, with numerous books, cartoons, television shows, and films portraying women screaming and jumping onto chairs or tables at the sight of a mouse. Despite this portrayal, murophobia has always been experienced by individuals of both sexes. However, women are twice as likely as men to suffer from specific phobias, such as musophobia.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kraft D & Kraft T (2010). Use of in vivo and in vitro desensitization in the treatment of mouse phobia: review and case study. Contemporary Hypnosis, 27 (3): 184-194.
  2. ^ Bell, R.C. (1983), The Boardgame Book, p. 119. Exeter Books.
  3. ^ "Gertrude of Nivelles". Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. .