Buzz
Ornithophobia, or the fear of birds, is an irrational and extreme fear related to birds, despite the fact that there is no actual danger involved. This fear can provoke anxiety and often leads to avoidance behaviors. You may experience intense dread or obsession, along with physical symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, and possibly even feelings of helplessness when near birds. If this fear affects your daily routine—such as making it difficult to go to work in the morning or forcing you to take the longest route to avoid seeing birds—it has started to impact your normal life. In such cases, seeking help, such as confronting the fear gradually or pursuing professional therapy, may be beneficial.
Steps
Prepare a strategy to overcome the fear
Learn about exposure therapy. The most effective way to begin overcoming your fear of birds is through exposure. The goal of exposure is to gradually reduce the fearful response through repeated interactions. Research shows that exposure therapy—in various forms—is highly effective for treating phobias. There are several types of exposure therapy, and the typical approach is to start with situations that provoke the least fear. Some exposure techniques to help you confront your fear include:
- Imaginal exposure - This involves closing your eyes and vividly imagining birds or a scenario where you are surrounded by birds in great detail.
- Real-life exposure - This form of exposure requires you to face your fear in real-life situations. In this case, you will need to be around actual birds.
Reflect on why you fear birds. Most phobias are “conditioned responses,” meaning they develop through external experiences. You weren’t born fearing birds. Take some time to explore the origin of your fear of birds.
- Journaling can be helpful, as writing down your thoughts allows you to process information more slowly and thoroughly.
- Review your most recent encounters with birds. Was there a specific experience that triggered your lifelong fear of them?
- Have you always been afraid of birds? If not, try to remember any positive or neutral experiences you had with birds before they became a source of fear for you.
List the triggers of your fear. When you feel uneasy, you won’t be able to manage the stress or escape from it until you understand its origins fully. What specific traits of birds trigger your greatest fear? Below are some common triggers that cause bird phobia:
- Their sudden descent from above
- Their wing-flapping
- The way they move on the ground
- The fear of catching a disease from birds, who may carry illnesses
- The way they approach humans to scavenge for food
Create a hierarchy for your phobia. Establishing a hierarchy will give you a roadmap to overcome your fear of birds. It’s simply a list of bird-related activities, starting with those that scare you the least and ending with the ones that terrify you the most. Your personal hierarchy will be unique, based on specific birds you fear or factors that trigger your anxiety. Remember, you are the expert in experiencing your fear, so creating a hierarchy will be beneficial. This hierarchy also serves as a way to track your progress as you move from one level to the next in exposure therapy. Here is an example of a bird fear hierarchy:
- Draw a bird
- Look at a black-and-white photo of a bird
- Look at a color photo of a bird
- Watch a video of birds without sound
- Watch a video of birds with sound
- Observe a bird in your backyard through binoculars
- Sit outside in an area with many birds
- Visit a bird exhibit at a zoo or pet store
- Attend a bird show or feed birds
- Take care of a friend's pet bird
Familiarize yourself with your discomfort scale for birds. Another useful tool to measure your progress is a discomfort scale. This scale helps track your level of discomfort during each exposure. It gives you a baseline for assessing how each level in your bird phobia hierarchy affects you, and it lets you know when you're ready to move on to the next level. Consider the following discomfort scale:
- 0-3: At level 0, you feel completely comfortable; at level 3, you feel slightly uneasy, but this level doesn’t impact your normal life.
- 4-7: At level 4, you feel somewhat scared, and this sensation starts to make you mildly uncomfortable. At level 7, you are quite scared, and this feeling begins to affect your ability to focus or function in certain situations.
- 8-10: At level 8, you are extremely fearful, and the exposure prevents you from concentrating. At level 10, you are on the verge of total panic, which may result in a full-blown anxiety attack.
Decide on the pace for progressing through your fear hierarchy. In addition to exposure therapy, you can also control the pace of your treatment. Here are two common approaches to pacing your exposure:
- Graded exposure – This method is more common and involves proceeding slowly according to your hierarchy. You can only move up to the next level once the current exposure no longer causes significant fear. You will advance to the next step when your discomfort level is between 0 and 3.
- Flooding exposure – This approach starts with the most anxiety-provoking items at the top of your fear hierarchy. If you’re interested in this method, you should consider doing it under the guidance of a trained therapist rather than on your own.
Get familiar with relaxation techniques. As you progress through your fear hierarchy, stress responses will inevitably arise. These relaxation methods will help you stay calm throughout the exposure process. Keeping your mind relaxed, focusing on your breathing, and concentrating on relaxing your muscles can reduce the panic level to a 7 on the discomfort scale.
- You can find more information on how to maintain calm during exposure in the article about regaining calm.
Overcoming fear of birds
Begin exposure to initial goals at the bottom of your fear hierarchy. For most people, the items at the bottom of the fear hierarchy are handled through imagined exposure. Start simply by closing your eyes and imagining a bird.
- Remember, your fear hierarchy is personal. What may be a 0 on the discomfort scale for you with imagined exposure could be as high as an 8 for someone else. For them, they might need to start by imagining a cartoon bird, rather than a real bird, which could induce panic.
Continue with imagined exposure to items further up your fear hierarchy. Begin with simple images of various birds ranging from 0-3 on the discomfort scale, and continue with the rest of the hierarchy through imagination. Additionally, try to describe the scenarios you imagine with words, as this can help create more authentic experiences. You might visualize:
- Birds perched on a telephone wire outside your house or on a fence in your backyard.
- Being in a park with birds about 6 meters away.
- Feeding ducks or geese at a pond with breadcrumbs.
- Finally, imagine taking care of a pet bird for a friend.
- Maintain imagined exposure along your hierarchy until the fear gradually dissipates.
- If in your fear hierarchy, watching a bird video is ranked lower than imagining facing a bird, feel free to follow that order. You don't need to do imagined exposure first if it doesn't fit your hierarchy. Be honest with yourself about the order that works best for you.
Engage in virtual exposure to items higher on your fear hierarchy. For most people, virtual exposure to birds is a step up in the fear hierarchy compared to imagining them. Once you can imagine birds without feeling too anxious, proceed with the next steps in your fear hierarchy. Virtual exposure to birds may involve:
- Drawing birds (start with simple sketches of small birds, then gradually work up to detailed drawings of larger birds)
- Looking at pictures of birds (begin with black-and-white images, then progress to color images)
- Listening to recorded bird songs
- Watching bird videos (begin with silent videos, then progress to videos with sound)
- Remember to take note of the discomfort level for each step on the discomfort scale. Your goal is to reduce discomfort to below a 3 (ideally to 0) for each virtual exposure.
Try real-life exposure to birds. The top items on your fear hierarchy often involve direct, real-life encounters with actual birds. Once you've mastered imagined exposure and virtual exposure, try interacting with real birds in situations that feel like they will evoke the least fear. This could be as simple as using binoculars to observe a bird outside your window (while staying safely indoors).
- As you start to adapt to observing real birds within a discomfort range of 0-3 on the scale, try opening the window and watching them.
Observe a bird from an open door. Once observing a bird through a window no longer feels too overwhelming, take the next step—In this case, step outside. Walk around and observe the birds nearby. Keep in mind that if the distance from the door causes discomfort above a 3, stop there. Stand still and observe the birds until your fear begins to subside, then proceed with further steps. Move closer to the birds while keeping your comfort level in check.
Continue with higher-level real-life exposures in your hierarchy. Essentially, the top items in your fear hierarchy will depend on your specific fears and the levels of anxiety you wish to overcome. Your final goal might be walking past a flock of pigeons without feeling panic, while another person's goal might be to care for a friend's pet bird without feeling anxious. Keep working through the remaining items on your hierarchy with direct exposure until you feel more comfortable, and your discomfort scale reaches a 3 or lower.
- If you encounter difficulties, remember that you can always adjust your fear hierarchy. For example, standing in front of a parrot's cage may no longer cause discomfort, but thinking about handling a larger bird on your own might still trigger a fear level of 8. Consider finding a companion to accompany you to a pet store and care for smaller birds, like a cockatiel.
Consider consulting a specialist in exposure therapy. If you're struggling to navigate your fear hierarchy, unable to find an effective approach, or simply want to try exposure therapy under professional guidance, consider seeking help from a specialist who has expertise in these types of fears. In addition to helping you devise the best strategy for structuring and approaching your fear hierarchy, a specialist can introduce you to 'systematic desensitization.' This process combines graded exposure with relaxation exercises under professional supervision.
- Furthermore, the specialist can guide you through cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques, helping you understand how your thought processes amplify your fear of birds. By becoming more aware of your irrational fear-based thoughts, you'll be better equipped to change them before they trigger a fearful reaction during exposure.
- Studies show that many individuals succeed with self-directed exposure, but the method is more effective when done under professional guidance. One study found that 63% of those who practiced exposure on their own maintained progress, while 80% of those guided by a professional were able to sustain their improvements. Therefore, if you're struggling to overcome your fear on your own, seeking expert support could lead to better results.
Warning
- If your fear persists or becomes overwhelming, it may be helpful to consider meeting with a doctor or talking to a therapist. In addition to guiding you through appropriate treatment methods to help you overcome your fear, specialists can also prescribe anti-anxiety medication to make the exposure therapy process less stressful and more manageable.
