Snakes make my blood crawl
THE EDITOR: As a young person who suffers from ophidiophobia, I have observed an unsettling trend in the media over the last few years that I find quite insensitive. Some people take extreme joy showing individuals with the abominable snake coiled around their arms, draped around their necks, or cuddled like a baby. As an ophidiophobic these images gravely upset me as much as if I were seeing the same thing in real life. I become nauseous and nervous, my heart rate rapidly increases, and I cold sweat while my mouth becomes dry and parched. It happens every time I behold these pictures of humans passionately and I dare say intimately entwined with a snake. The wave of fear that encompasses me is uncontrollable and instant. It is not that I am a coward, which is the first ignorant comment that snake lovers throw at ophidiophobics, because I have accomplished much in my young life and undergone and survived many an ordeal. I am sure I have done things which will make any snake lover cringe and tremble (bungee jumping and white water rafting in Colorado, USA). I have no fear of spiders at all and I long for the day when I can take my first parachute jump from a plane. Please spare us ophidiophobics the ordeal of being suddenly confronted with these obnoxious creatures. MARINA RAMPARTAP San Fernando
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"Snakes make my blood crawl"