Animal phobias can affect the body both physically and psychologically. Physical effects include sweating, trembling, hyperventilating, heart palpitations, chest pains, nausea, and dizziness.
Psychological effects include avoidance of the feared animal, inability to participate in normal activities because of anxiety about the feared animal, and feelings of terror, dread, and panic.
Although these symptoms may be a normal response to a genuine danger, in an individual with a phobia, the response to the feared animal is extreme and irrational.
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