AILUROFILIA: What is it, Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

The love for animals is something more and more widespread in our society, and the number of people who choose to have a dog or a cat as a pet is increasing. In psychology, we refer to the concept of filia as the fondness or attraction towards certain realities or situations; applied to animals, we speak of ailurophilia when there is a great fascination for cats, something that a priori it can be sympathetic but can nevertheless become pathological if the attraction becomes uncontrollable.

In this Psychology-Online article we explain in more detail what is ailurophilia, what are its main symptoms, its possible causes and treatment indicated in the most serious cases.

Index

1. What is ailurophilia?
2. Symptoms of ailurophilia
3. Causes of ailurophilia
4. Treatment of ailurophilia

To define the word ailurophilia, in the first place, it is important to know its etymology. The term ailurophilia comes from the greek words

Animal paraphilias can become truly disabling in the most severe cases and turn into a mental disorder; in that case, the person can't help but constantly and obsessively think about the animal and presents great difficulties in curbing his sexual urges, in addition to a variety of symptoms that we describe below.

People can present different degrees of ailurophilia, and we can speak of three conditions or large groups of symptoms:

1. Ailurophilia or love for cats

The love towards animals and, especially, the love that many people feel towards their pets is something natural and completely normal. Having an interest and fascination for these animals can be a source of positive stimuli that provide great well-being and this does not have to lead to an excessive attraction. In fact, the great availability of images of cats that we have, both on television and on the Internet, makes that the attraction towards these felines develops faster than it can be towards others animals.

2. Ailurophilia as a paraphilic disorder

A small percentage of people who develop a great passion for cats may end up obsessing over these animals and end up suffering from a mental disorder: a paraphilia, the inappropriate and uncontrollable attraction towards the animal that ends up generating great discomfort to the person.

3. Ailurophilia as a hoarding disorder

This disorder, also known as "noah syndrome"It is a mental disorder that consists of accumulating a large number of animals, in this case cats, without providing them with the minimum care. Animals often end malnourished, sick and with serious socialization problems. People with this disorder are often unaware of the problem and this makes its treatment more difficult.

At present it is unknown what causes ailurophilia, especially in its pathological version. It has been suggested that multiple factors may influence, as occurs in the appearance of the rest of paraphilias: from genetic factors that predispose people to become more easily obsessed and "hooked" on certain animals and situations; traumatic experiences with these animals in childhood periods that later emerge in adulthood; or even factors that have to do with vicarious learning (by observation) or classical conditioning, just as it happens in phobias.

Some research also suggests that there may be factors related to Personality traits and with certain underlying diseases, such as obsessive compulsive disorder or some types of schizophrenia. People who live with cats also seem to be more prone to developing ailurophobia and typical symptoms of this paraphilia.

People who simply have a great love for cats (the mildest cases of ailurophilia) do not require any particular treatment, of course. However, in the most severe cases where there is a Paraphilic disorder or Noah's syndrome, it is important that the person receives psychological help.

Normally, the usual thing is to do cognitive behavioral therapy, which may or may not be combined with medication (generally anxiolytics and / or antidepressants), depending on the severity and intensity of the symptoms. The goal of psychological treatment is to help the person reduce your obsession with cats and to regain control over his behavior, so that he can once again lead a life that is as autonomous and functional as possible.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Ailurophilia: what it is, symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• Johnson, B. M. (2008). Animal hoarding: beyond the crazy cat lady. Journal of Agricultural & Food Information, 9(4), 374-381.
• McManus, M. A., Hargreaves, P., Rainbow, L., & Alison, L. J. (2013). Paraphilias: definition, diagnosis and treatment. F1000prime reports, 5.