Spider phobia (arachnophobia) is one of the most common animal phobias. Although many people are disgusted by the eight-legged animals, people with a pathological fear of spiders hardly bear the sight of spiders. They react to them with anxiety or even panic, often accompanied by tachycardia, sweating and breathlessness. Read here how an arachnophobia arises, how it expresses itself and what you can do about it.
What is arachnophobia?
Arachnophobia or spider anxiety is one of the so-called specific phobias. It is widespread in Europe. About 35 percent of people here suffer from a pathological fear of spiders.
Those affected are inappropriately anxious about spiders. The closer they are to the animal, the greater the fear and disgust. Already a picture or the pure idea of a spider can trigger fear reactions with them.
Spider phobics are aware that their fear is exaggerated – especially since none of the spiders native to Germany can really harm a person. The domestic spiders in our temperate latitudes produce poison that is quite weak for humans. So the bite of a spider does not hurt more than a mosquito bite. Yet, some people with arachnophobia face fears of death when confronted with a spider.
Surprisingly, the arachnophobia is unknown in some primitive peoples, although some of them live in regions where the spiders are more dangerous than in this country. The fear that spider phobics suffer is therefore not related to a real threat.
Arachnophobia test
Those who are not sure whether they suffer from a spider phobia, can perform tests on the Internet, which allow a rough assessment. For self-assessment, for example, there is the Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPF).
However, for an accurate diagnosis, the person should consult a doctor or psychotherapist. The doctor or therapist can use certain questions to determine the nature and intensity of the phobia. In addition, the person concerned receives a suitable treatment offer.
How does an arachnophobia develop?
Why some people develop arachnophobia is not clear yet. A role could be played by the rapid, scurrying movements, the hidden lurking and the sudden emergence, which is unpredictable and thus threatening to people with arachnophobia.
In addition, spiders in Europe are mostly associated with negative associations. Her unusual appearance with the six eyes and the eight hairy legs makes the animals also a popular leading actor for horror films. But that alone is not enough to explain the origin of arachnophobia.
Spider anxiety is often learned. It usually develops during childhood. If the parents react anxiously to spiders, the children take over the behavior. Once negative thoughts and feelings are associated with the sight of a spider, the body responds to it with rapid heartbeats, sweats, or dizziness. The physical reaction acts as a confirmation of the danger and intensifies the fear. The dreaded object will be shunned in the future and fear will become stronger over time.
Arachnophobia: treatment
Many sufferers come to terms with their spider anxiety by avoiding contact as much as possible. This avoidance strategy usually hardly affects those affected in their everyday lives. Therefore, only a few go into treatment. Nonetheless, the arachnophobia cuts the victims in their freedom. Some do not dare to go to the store or the basement. The fear of meeting spiders is a heavy burden in the long run.
In addition, people with a phobia of spiders in society are often not taken seriously. In other people, those affected with their panic often meet with incomprehension. The call to pull together does not help the person concerned. Since it is a mental disorder, a therapeutic treatment is necessary. The therapy of arachnophobia has good chances of success. If the phobia is mild, only a few hours can be enough to overcome the fear.
The expertly recommended spider phobia therapy is the so-called exposure therapy. It is a behavioral approach that exposes the patient to the anxiety-causing object or the formidable situation.
For people with arachnophobia, for example, it is initially inconceivable to touch or hold a spider. Together with a therapist it becomes possible to overcome this fear. The positive contact with the dreaded animal means that those affected revise their previous assessment. Some people with arachnophobia even succeeds in seeing the spider after the therapy no longer as an enemy, but as a friend and useful flypaper.