Arachnophobia

According to surveys, 50% of Americans and 10% of Americans are afraid of spiders. Spiders are more afraid than firearms, cars or planes. ^[one]

Researchers at the University of Sydney have found that arachnophobia, contrary to popular belief, “has little or no awareness of the irrational mechanism of their own fears.” Previously in psychiatry, it was believed that out of a phobic situation, patients with phobias "are able to adequately assess the potential danger of meeting with the stimuli of their phobias." It was believed that they understand how irrational and unrealistic their fears are, and are able to more or less keep them under control. However, doctors M.K. Jones and R.G. Menzies in a study conducted among 30 people found that patients with phobias do not quite understand the nature of their fear, both in the presence of a phobic stimulus and away from it. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct educational work among them and increase their level of knowledge. ^[2]

Children are usually very afraid of spiders. A study of 22 children with arachnophobia, conducted in the Netherlands in 1996, showed that “although 46% of the children claimed that they were always afraid of spiders, 41% admitted that a certain conditioning event served as a cause for fear. Most of these events were confirmed by parents. These facts make one doubt that arachnophobia is non-associative, that is, it is acquired in the complete absence of teaching experience. ” In 1997, the same researchers found the following: “Children reporting low, medium, and high levels of fear were compared with each other by the way their behavior was shaped. In the three groups, no differences were found with respect to the frequency of the modeling or informative method. Moreover, children with a high level of fear reported a conditioning event more often than children with a low or medium level of fear. ” ^[3]

In many manifestations of life, the child focuses on his parents and the people around him. If one of them suffers from arachnophobia, spiders are considered dangerous and avoid them, it is possible that the child will experience this fear, which will subsequently take possession of him. When a child sees a spider, the pulse and heart rate increase - fear develops.

It is believed that the danger of certain species of arachnids (to a lesser extent than the actual creatures called spiders) could contribute to the development of an arachnophobic reaction in the framework of human evolution. The fact that in many regions and cultures the danger from spiders to humans is relative, a significant extinction of such a behavioral reaction could explain both its causeless manifestation and the possibility of successful treatment of this phobia. In some uncivilized peoples, arachnophobia is almost unknown (in some regions spiders are eaten). Cases were also described when preschool children could easily touch very large spiders without fear, and even considered them "pretty."

However, most people with arachnophobia do not at all find spiders "pretty." The most common definitions of spiders are “nasty”, “vile,” etc. The appearance of a spider causes physical disgust. In some cases, spiders are "saved" by superstition. It is believed that killing a spider is a bad omen. But, in another sense, 40 sins will be forgiven when a spider is killed.

As a therapy against arachnophobia, behavioral therapy has established itself well, as with all other phobias. In the first place are the forms of confrontational therapy. The treatment consists in the fact that the patient is directly confronted with the cause of his fear - a spider. He communicates directly with the spider, right down to the touch. Many people with phobias in the past, after successful treatment, keep spiders (usually tarantulas ) as pets (hypercompensation of fear).

American and Spanish researchers have found that treating arachnophobia using virtual reality technology is almost twice as effective if the patient touches a computer screen during a therapeutic session. ^[four]

Arachnophobia in Russia has no practical basis. First, spiders do not behave aggressively towards humans unless they are perceived as a threat. Secondly, spiders that can cause harm to humans mainly live in the south of the country. Many of them are rare and listed in the Red Book .

Some species common in Russia

• Karakurt . One of the most dangerous Eurasian and North African spiders: its poison is 15 times more toxic than rattlesnake poison. Mortality of bites - 6%.
• South Russian tarantula . It is found on the Russian Plain, the Urals, the Caucasus, in Western Siberia, the mountains of Southern Siberia, a frequent species in the Astrakhan region . It lives in the desert, steppe and forest-steppe zones. His bite is not fatal to humans, although it can cause pain and even fever .
• Water spider , or silverfish . In Russia, it is distributed on the Russian Plain, in Karelia and on the Kola Peninsula, in the Caucasus, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. It lives in water bodies and rarely comes into contact with humans. Its bite in severity is comparable to a bee sting .
• Cross spider . A rather large spider (females reach 2 centimeters in length, males are much smaller), whose cheliceurs can damage the skin only in those places where it is very thin. A bite is also comparable to a bee sting.

• Arachnology
• Phobias
• Phobia List
• Fears
• Transformation (story)