Fear is a basic emotion. It was thanks to him that humanity managed to survive as a biological species, because fear kept our distant ancestors from actions that could harm them. Since ancient times, some animals and insects have posed a danger to humans. Therefore, many psychiatrists are of the opinion that zoophobia (fear of a certain group of animals) is of genetic origin. Among zoophobias, insectophobia occupies a special place.
It is one of the specific phobias, i.e. limited to strictly defined objects or situations. This phobia is associated with the fear of insects and affects people of all ages. More often than other types of insects, bees and ants become objects of fear during insectophobia.
Fear of spiders, as they call it, general information
Many people are afraid of spiders, but few people know what this phobia is called. The teaching calls this problem arachnophobia, which the world's leading researchers are studying and eliminating.
Let's take a closer look at what is meant by the term arachnophobia. The disease mainly affects women. Only 10% of those who are afraid of spiders are men. Fear prevents people from going out into nature and entering dilapidated buildings. Those who are afraid of spiders are called arachnophobes.
Arachnophobia is the fear of more than just living insects. People panic when they see images of spiders and their webs. The main reason for the development of the disease is the fear of a fatal insect bite. However, there are other reasons for the development of a phobia.
What is arachnophobia?
Nature has genetically implanted mechanisms in humans that protect them from dangers in order to preserve life. One of these is the feeling of fear. There are no fearless people. Fear is the driving force on the basis of which an individual begins to take measures to eliminate or avoid a dangerous factor. Therefore, it is completely normal that we sometimes experience a feeling of stiffness, increased heart rate, and a surge of strength when we see an object that threatens our safety. The topic of fear is covered in more detail in a separate article here.
Some animals pose a huge threat to people. Sharp fangs, saber-shaped claws, highly toxic poison - all this forces a person to avoid contact with a dangerous object.
Most arthropods have a characteristic appearance - a chitinous, jointed body, up to six pairs of limbs covered with small hairs, small fangs, and four black eyes. All this evokes mixed feelings - from tenderness to disgust and terrible fear.
Arachnophobia (from the Greek “arachno” - spider, “phobos” - fear) is a special case of zoophobia, characterized by an inexplicable fear of spiders. Most people experience fear at the sight of not only huge, hairy, but also small, harmless chitinous creatures. Such people are called arachnophobes. A true spider-phobe will not be able to answer the question of what is the reason for his fear. On a psychological level, he set himself the following attitude: “I’m very afraid of spiders, but I don’t know why.”
Symptoms and signs
How does an ordinary person feel when he sees an angry German Shepherd running towards him? Arachnophobes who discover a spider crawling next to them experience the same sensations:
- increased heart rate and pulse
- trembling and numbness of the limbs
- stiffness followed by a sudden surge of strength
- obsessive fear and concentration exclusively on the object.
Why does arachnophobia develop?
Arachnophobia is called a psychological disorder that has many causes. Genetic determination, upbringing, testing “in one’s own skin” - all of this together is a stimulus for the development of arachnophobia.
What dangers are there in fear of spiders?
A constant fear of spiders affects the general psychological state of the body. Regular obsessive thoughts and animal horror at the sight of small chitinous creatures lead to neuroses. Neurosis is a serious pathology that manifests itself as insomnia, apathy, and increased irritability. With such symptoms, a person cannot function normally and interact with society.
In simple words, an arachnophobe, seeing that a cobweb has appeared in his chest of drawers, will most likely want to throw out the entire closet to make sure that there is no arthropod.
For what reasons can a phobia appear?
Research has shown that those individuals who experience fear of arthropods do not know the mechanism for the development of arachnophobia. Let's look at the main reasons why people are afraid of spiders.
Personal experience
Fear of arthropods is often associated with an unpleasant personal experience when meeting a spider for the first time. Parents try to limit the child’s contact with insects, as a result of which the baby develops a dislike for these individuals.
Gradually, the feeling of hostility develops into a fear of spiders and even into a phobia . A negative attitude towards spiders also appears among those people who have suffered from a bite in the past.
Genetics
Psychological disorders are transmitted from parents to children. If one of the adults suffers from arachnophobia, then there is a high probability that the disease with genes will be passed on to the child.
Such fear will control the baby throughout his life, causing him to show a violent reaction to spiders. This fact is confirmed by the fact that arachnophobia is a problem common in certain regions of the world.
Congenital feature of the nervous system
Individuals with psychological disorders have several phobias. Activation of panic attacks occurs when an arthropod suddenly appears before a person’s eyes. Very often, people with a disturbed nervous system perceive the animal’s movements as attacking actions.
Miseducation in childhood
Common reasons for the development of arachnophobia in children include: watching horror films and reading books in which spiders were the main characters. Teachers' stories about ancient species of arthropods, distinguished by their gigantic size and deadly bite, can serve as an impetus for the emergence of fears.
Modern biologists have proven that in the process of evolution, arachnids have not become more dangerous. There is no scientific evidence confirming that giant spiders remain on earth.
Suddenness
The sudden appearance of spiders can cause a panic attack in a person. Because of this, his pulse increases or his blood pressure increases. Persons who did not notice the approaching insect experience severe fear.
Anxiety is caused by the structural features of the spider's body .
A small body combined with long and numerous legs causes arachnophobes to panic.
Fear associated with the past
There are many different assumptions about the causes of arachnophobia.
Fear is an integral part of the survival instinct, but what is arachnophobia and why does natural fear turn into obsessive anxiety? Few individuals can harm humans. Only a few species in the world have a deadly bite. However, people are afraid of these creatures. Everyone has their own reasons:
- Some people take on fear from others.
- Suffering from trauma inflicted by an animal they fear.
- They are afraid of spiders, which are unpleasant to them.
It is believed that most of arachnophobia was inherited from our ancestors. Perhaps ancient people noticed the habits of spiders, which seemed threatening to them. The fact is that spiders are carnivores, they set insidious traps, rushing at the victim from ambush. And some individuals devour their own kind or small mammals. The ancient Greeks were able to give their interpretation of arachnophobia. There was a beautiful legend about Arachne, who knew how to skillfully spin clothes. One day, having come to the temple of Athena, Arachne challenged her, for which the great goddess turned the craftswoman into a spider, not depriving her of the opportunity to weave a web. The legend is dedicated to the irrepressible pride of man, and arachnophobia is the payment for immoderate ambitions.
Closeness to people
The spider’s desire to settle closer to people led to reproaches from relatives about the woman’s lack of housekeeping and untidiness. If a small child was present and heard that a spider is bad, he begins to be afraid. Such situations in human society and the proximity of arthropods to human habitation give rise to unfounded fears.
Around this creature, people have invented not only a lot of legends, but also practical events. Due to the weakness of ancient medicine, arachnids were used for medicinal purposes and rituals. One method of treating fever used a live spider placed inside an amulet. Superstitious people assumed that the spider, dying in a pouch on its neck, took away the disease. In the Middle Ages, people associated the time of plague with two creatures: rats and spiders. Arachnophobia, rooted in medieval experience in Europe, grows through generations and settles in modern society.
How to stop being afraid on your own
There are psychological trainings that teach how to get rid of arachnophobia yourself. The most effective behavioral technique is to approach a person with an object of fear.
Habituation begins with small individuals and ends with large-sized exotic animals. Those individuals who can overcome their fear will forever get rid of arachnophobia.
Keeping a spider in your home and caring for it will help a person cope with the problem on his own. In this case, the body turns on the mechanics of overcompensation, which completely frees the subject from the negative feelings he had towards insects.
Another good way to independently suppress a phobia is computer games that simulate the behavior of fearful people in virtual reality. Scientists have proven that the effectiveness of computer games will increase by 2 times when a person touches the monitor with his hand.
Symptoms of fear
Each person experiences symptoms of fear differently. Some people experience pronounced palpitations, others are prone to dizziness and accompanying bodily weakness. The most common reactions to the emotion of fear are:
- dry mouth;
- noise in ears;
- sweating;
- heat, rush of blood to the skin;
- constriction, lump in throat.
During times of stress and fear, the body tries to distribute resources in such a way as to mobilize its abilities to get out of danger. Symptoms of an anxiety disorder do not occur in isolation.
Training
The training includes exercises aimed at combating arachnophobia. They can be performed under the supervision of specialists or at home. Let's take a closer look at how to get rid of arachnophobia yourself.
Exercise to distance yourself from fear
To suppress fear, you need to master relaxation techniques. The exercises involve complete detachment from the object of the phobia and denial of its significance for the individual. To do this, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the human psyche.
People suffering from a phobia of spiders are more afraid of spiders in their own apartment . Fear is often associated with embellishing reality for various reasons. A person can cope with arachnophobia by mentally shrinking an insect to a small point.
Exercise getting rid of your spider
A popular method of treating arachnophobia is a graphic image of an insect. A person who is afraid of spiders is asked to draw a large specimen on paper and destroy the drawing with his own hands.
After this, the individual needs to draw small individuals. Training therapy continues until the person gets rid of his fears.
Curious facts about arachnids
Most spiders do not deserve to be afraid of them, since they are harmless to humans. Although there are dangerous species in the world, these facts about spiders will allow you to look at these creatures from a different perspective:
- The spider is a useful inhabitant of the planet, which eliminates about 2,000 thousand harmful insects that turn out to be prey per year. Basically, their victims are flies and mosquitoes. Therefore, they perform significant environmental work, protecting agricultural land from numerous pests.
- Tarantula is a genus of large poisonous spiders. Its poison is not dangerous to humans. At dusk, arachnids come to the surface and actively move in search of food. Tarantulas weave nets only for economic purposes - to build a hole and a cocoon.
- The leader in size is the Goliath spider. It is a hairy catcher and eater of birds, rodents, snakes and insects. The hairs carry poison that is not fatal to humans.
- There is only one species of vegetarian spider. The jumping spider Bagheera feeds on acacia leaves.
- Not all individuals make the same silk thread. The strongest is obtained from the Darwin spider. The Kevlar material, known for its strength, is 10 times inferior to Darwin thread.
- Spiders are capable of producing several thousand eggs at a time, but the fate of future individuals is very sad. For every 100 eggs or newborns, only one survives.
- The water spider has adapted to live underwater. To survive, he chooses clear and calm waters. In the underwater space, it creates a bubble of air so that it can breathe. Despite the fact that the venom of the species can be allergic to people, not everyone is able to encounter it.
- The blood of spiders turns blue when exposed to open air and has nothing in common with the blood of mammals.
- Some arachnids are edible. In Asian countries, they are purchased at the market or ordered in a restaurant. Fried spider is a common delicacy and delicacy. Beneath the crispy crust lies tender meat.
- Spiders are not insects, but arthropods. Although the natural design of the Hawaiian arthropod resembles a smiling man. It was not by chance that evolution gave spiders this coloring. It is needed to protect against birds. Hawaiian arthropods evoke positivity and a smile among tourists. No sane person can be scared or kill a spider.
Arachnophobia is a serious disorder where even the picture of a spider causes panic or hysteria, but in fact spiders have more reason to fear a person, and some of them serve for healing, including arachnophobes. Currently, medicine has learned to use spiders for medicinal purposes. Antibiotics have long been produced from spider webs, and applying them to a wound stops bleeding. The venom of tropical tarantulas is used in the creation of sedatives.
How to get rid of a phobia
Before dealing with arachnophobia, it is necessary to determine whether the person really has the disease. Many people dislike insects, but this is not a phobia. A psychologist or psychiatrist will be able to make the correct diagnosis after talking with the patient and collecting an anamnesis.
Medications
The main purpose of taking medications is to relieve the symptoms of a panic attack.
Medicines to reduce anxiety are divided into 3 groups:
- Antidepressants - normalize the general psychological state of a person and normalize the functioning of the central nervous system.
- Beta blockers are used to relieve the symptoms of arachnophobia, manifested by rapid heartbeat, body tremors and fainting. Drugs in this group have a relaxing effect on the human body.
- Tranquilizers - used in severe cases when previous medications do not give the desired result in the fight against arachnophobia. Treatment with tranquilizers is carried out under the supervision of a doctor, as they are addictive with prolonged use.
It is not recommended to independently select remedies to get rid of arachnophobia. Illiterate therapy has a negative impact on the human psyche and can cause the development of an even greater fear of spiders.
Manifestations of the disorder
Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is characterized by numerous clinical manifestations. Arachnophobes begin to have a panic attack, accompanied by symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, heavy sweating, and tremors of the limbs. Pallor of the skin and numbness of the fingertips occur. Chest pain may occur along with difficulty breathing. A person may fall into a stupor or, conversely, run with all his might.
There may be a feeling of unreality of what is happening. A person suffering from this phobia cannot control his fear and its consequences. The danger lies in the sudden manifestation of a phobia, as well as the possibility of a heart attack or stroke occurring against the background of a panic attack.
Consequences of arachnophobia
If you're afraid of wolves, don't go into the forest. A person suffering from arachnophobia is not much different externally and psychologically from a healthy person. But as soon as he sees a spider peacefully moving along the ceiling or floor, all his attention switches only to his eight-legged comrade. Until the arachnophobe is absolutely sure that the insect has left or been killed, his life will not return to normal.
Naturally, spiders accompany people everywhere, and the constant fear of arachnophobes is reflected in the qualitative state of their psyche. Spiderphobia can reach such an extent that its carrier becomes a patient of a psychiatrist or psychiatric clinic. Of course, you can’t live according to this situation, and any illness must be treated
