I’m 35 and am extremely afraid of dogs. How do I change this?
I’m 35 years old and my whole life I have been afraid of dogs. I never seem to be calm around them. I always get anxious and my heart starts to race. If there is a dog in front of me on the side walk my best choice of defense would be to cross the street to avoid getting near it. I will never pet a dog in fear it’s going to bite and twist my hand off. Does not matter the size of the dog big or small I’m just terrified. I have always been this way I remember being so scared of dogs even at age 5 , I got chased by a little white curly haired dog I screamed and ran through the whole neighborhood . I still remember that day and I will never forget it. I want to fix this because I’m legit afraid of dogs and I notice that when I bring this up in conversation its taken like a joke. It messes with my head because I start overthinking if this comes off as immature and maybe I just have to grow up but when I’m near a dog I just get anxious thats real to me. I feel like this fear is making me miss out on life its the main reason I will never own a dog and it sucks because I love animals. If anyone has or had this problem ?