Meleagrisphobia

What would you do if a turkey just started running up to you with its sharp beak? Most people would naturally get scared and nothing much more than that. But some people would get so scared they would give a response such as an extremely rapid heartbeat or just freeze in place while staring at the turkey. People who get this scared have something called meleagrisphobia. Meleagrisphobia is the extreme fear of turkeys. This is usually caused during a young age. You can either freeze or increase in heartbeat during this fear. Finally, there are two different ways to conquer or overcome it that are mainly known to the community and the internet.

To start, tryptophobia is the fear of turkeys. According to the Phobia Wiki, “meleagrisphobia is when you are very scared of turkeys usually for  reasons coming from early childhood. Meleagrisphobia is called this way because meleagris means turkey and phobia means ‘the fear of’ ”There is usually only one way to get this phobia. It is called so because meleagris means turkey and phobia meaning an extreme or irrational fear, making it an extreme fear of turkeys. This fear really never occurs naturally, but instead caused by one or more series of traumatic or scary events. Of course, it has several symptoms, or effects when experiencing a turkeys presence. Even though these effects can be different depending on the person, it is usually about the same thing with humans. Turkeys can also sometimes look scary, but they are really no danger, and it is just the idea that they can attack you that causes you to be scared of the turkeys when having or experiencing the effects of meleagrisphobia.

There several different symptoms you can experience when having meleagrisphobia, or the fear of turkeys. Or more specifically, there are two ways known to the public. One of which is our body freezing, or just suddenly not moving. For people with meleagrisphobia, freezing up for a moment usually doesn’t occur when you just see a turkey on Google, Youtube, or other ways on the internet. Your body only responds by freezing for a moment if you really see the turkey, and are just too scared to move. When people with meleagrisphobia see a turkey in real life, it is the worst thing that could possibly happen. The reaction to seeing one out in the open would be fairly tragic, since you wouldn’t be able to move and the turkey could easily hurt you, but for a person with the phobia to see a turkey once again in the open would just be very scarce. The second and more common effect when experiencing meleagrisphobia is a much increased stress rate and a rapid heartbeat, at the same time. This usually happens when you just see a turkey, either from far, on television, or even on the internet. This fear is pretty extreme, so even just seeing it can cause you to panic.

To begin, there is usually only one way for people to get meleagrisphobia, or the fear of turkeys. This is almost always because of a traumatic event, like many different types of phobias, but this one usually occurs during somebody’s childhood. Humans aren’t programmed to be afraid of turkeys, and this is because they don’t pose a very large threat to the human body, and can definitely not cause death. The only way people become scared of turkeys is when they are previously attacked by a turkey, or sometimes even a chicken, at an early point in life. This happens because as a kid, your body is more vulnerable,  and becoming attacked by a turkey at a young age leaves a scar in you forever. Not many people experience this phobia, but those who do mostly gained the phobia in the same way, proving it uncommon to get this phobia as a young or grown adult, but it is still probably possible for it to happen.

As well as the amount of symptoms that can occur when experiencing meleagrisphobia, there are also two mainly known ways throughout our community to overcome it. These ideas were inspired by the fact that you are scared of turkeys because your head is stuck with the idea that they are highly aggressive. Therefore, people tried finding ways to bring your mind to think the opposite, that they aren’t posing a threat to you. The first and more common way to do this, is to go to the zoo or safari where humans are protecting the turkeys and keeping them calm. This gives your brain the idea that turkeys won’t attack you, and that they are calm creatures, therefore allowing you to stop being extremely scared of them, but you will probably still prefer not to be around them. The less effective way that people try is to make the turkeys look weak. Humans do this by hunting the turkeys. This shows the brain that turkeys should be afraid of you, and that you are more powerful than they are. This can also sometimes make you not scared of them.

In conclusion, even though most people are still scared of turkeys, it isn’t very severe. On the other hand, people with meleagrisphobia think and act differently. This phobia has a lot of information that people need to know in order to fully understand what meleagrisphobia actually means. The ways to overcome the fear, the causes of the fear of turkeys, what the fear is, and the symptoms or effects that can occur during the experience of this fear or more specifically seeing a turkey. One of the most important things you need to know about this fear is that it never occurs naturally, therefore you can’t be born with it. Of course, there are several ways to overcome meleagrisphobia, or the fear of turkeys, and the causes are simplistic and easy to understand. Overall, it is a pretty basic yet interesting phobia.