You don’t have to limit your picture search to the internet. You can also find similar pictures in magazines and pamphlets.
Determine in advance how long you will look at the picture each day. 10-15 minutes seems to be a reasonable amount of time to participate in this daily activity. If you find yourself getting anxious, try deep breathing to regain your composure. [2] X Trustworthy Source HelpGuide Nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, evidence-based mental health and wellness resources. Go to source Sit in a chair that can support your back. Breathe in so that the air moves from your belly to your chest. Count to four as you slowly breathe in. Then breathe out so that you feel the air moving back down from your chest and out of your body. Count to seven as you release the air. Repeat as needed. Try using this relaxation technique as you look at the picture of the cat. After a few days of doing this, the anxiety that you experience should lessen. Be sure to always note where you are on the anxiety scale. Remember, your goal should be to get to a one or two on the scale.
You are slowly increasing your exposure by starting with a picture of one cat and moving to pictures of multiple cats. The goal is to eventually desensitize yourself from cats altogether. However, if you start with multiple cats, it may become too overwhelming, causing you to quit before it works. Therefore, it’s important to start with something that you can handle. [3] X Trustworthy Source HelpGuide Nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, evidence-based mental health and wellness resources. Go to source You may want to hang the collage in an area where you will frequently see it. This can help quicken the desensitization process. However, continue to set aside 10-15 minutes specifically for this activity. Remember, the goal is to reach a one or two on the anxiety scale when looking at the collage.
Watching videos is a great way to prepare you for the transition from looking at pictures of cats to making actual physical contact. It may be a good idea to have a friend preview the Youtube videos before you watch them. This way you can avoid the occasional video that shows an unfriendly cat which could worsen the phobia. Continue to monitor your anxiety scale. When you reach one or two on the scale then you can move to making physical contact.
It may be difficult to get to your friend’s home every day, however it is important to make contact with cats as often as possible. Pick a schedule and stick with it. When you gradually expose yourself to what you are afraid of, the body adjusts and eventually stops releasing stress hormones. [4] X Research source Therefore, the more time that you spend around cats, the quicker you’ll lose the fear of cats. Make sure to select a friend who has a friendly cat. Your friend will probably already know whether his pet is a good fit for this activity or not. However it’s probably a good idea to ask him if the cat is friendly before starting the visits.
Remember, you do not have to touch the animal at this point. The idea is to be near the animal so that you can get used to being close to the cat outside of the carrier. Although this will likely cause some discomfort, if you begin to feel overwhelmed at any point, it is okay for you to discontinue. Always try to end with success. If you feel overwhelmed and decide to discontinue, try asking your friend to put the cat back in the carrier or ask him if he could move away a little. Try to wait to leave until you are no longer feeling overwhelmed. This way you can lessen the anxiety without reinforcing the fear.
Cats enjoy being rubbed at the base of the chin where the jawbone and the skull connect. The base of the ears and cheeks behind the whiskers also seem to be pleasure zones for most cats. Cats also seem to enjoy being gently stroked down their backs with slight pressure being applied when you get to the tailbone. Avoid petting cats on their belly. Although dogs like this, cats feel vulnerable and may not respond well to this gesture.
Going to a pet store when you don’t have access to cats otherwise is a good alternative. This might be especially good if your friends who care for cats are out of town.
Phobias are often learned behavior. [7] X Research source A person may have one bad experience with a cat, he may have subconsciously begun to associate cats with negative things such as illness, or he may have “learned” to be afraid of cats by watching his parents’ fearful behavior around them when he was a child. Multiple brain regions are involved in phobias. Therefore, it will take you some time to retrain your brain to think and respond differently to cats.
Fortune telling is when a person assumes they know what the outcome of a situation is going to be without any true evidence to support it. For example, you may think “This cat is going to scratch me” even though you’ve never had any interaction with that cat before. Overgeneralizing is when a person takes one specific event and generalizes it to all events. For example, you may think “My friend’s cat scratched me two years ago therefore all cats are vicious. ” Catastrophizing is when you predict that a negative outcome is going to occur and believe that when it does, it will result in a catastrophe. [9] X Research source Catastrophizing is when you assume a situation is going to be the absolute worst case scenario. For example, you may think “If the cat scratches me, I will get an infection and die. ”
Focus on replacing the negative thought with a positive statement that helps you emphasize neutral or more positive outcomes. For example, you could replace the thought “This cat is going to scratch me” with a statement like “Many people interact with cats every day and do not get scratched. ” You can even begin by using statements that are less negative then your original thought. For example, you could replace the thought “If the cat scratches me, I will get an infection and die” with the less negative statement, “The worst thing that could happen is that the cat scratches me and runs away. I’ve been scratched before and it’s not so bad. I won’t likely get an infection. ” Eventually you can replace the less negative thought with something even more positive. Try to do this whenever a negative thought pops up. Eventually you’ll begin to think more positively about cats.
