Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia (composed of ancient Greek ἀράχνη arachne, spider and φόβος phobos, fear. Spider fear), also spider phobia is the fear of spiders. People with anxiety take the image of the spider earlier, longer and thus more dominant true than healthy subjects.
Affected individuals have come to appreciate the following things significantly higher than a non- phobic control group:
- The probability of being bitten by spiders;
- The extent of the injury caused thereby;
- The rational justifiability of their fear.
These negative expectations can also be triggered in isolation from the presence of spiders as a phobic stimulus.
Causes
The cause of this anxiety disorder is often given the following statement: The more an animal or object differs from the human appearance, the more intense, more frequent and more widespread is fear. In the animal kingdom, however, there are many life forms that differ even much more by the human appearance, but less pronounced are the subject of phobias. Another reason for arachnophobia is seen in the fact that spiders are sometimes noticed suddenly and unexpectedly close to the body. In relation to body size - - fast and unpredictable way of moving for fear spiders blamed addition, their will.
Another theory suggests that the dangerousness of certain arachnids, less the actually known as arachnids, for humans the arachnophobe behavior could have funded within the framework of the evolutionary development of man. After all die, even today, every year 1000-5000 people bites of scorpions. Even if today the outgoing of spiders risk for humans is relatively low in most regions and cultures, such behavior could be genetically fixed and remain untouched. The positive significance of the spiders to the ecosystem, such as a natural insect killer is not perceived.
Finally, it could be in the fear spiders but also simply be a learned behavior. A toddler is oriented in many expressions of life to their own parents and other close caregivers. Suffering from one of these persons to arachnophobia, the child experienced this fear and learn that spiders are dangerous. For arachnophobia as acquired behavior supported by the observation that it is common only in certain regions of the world. In primitive peoples it is, however, virtually unknown ( in some primitive peoples spiders are even eaten as a delicacy ).
Treatment
As a treatment for a life -disfiguring arachnophobia especially the behavior therapy has, as with all phobias, reliable; in the first place are forms of exposure therapy. In this case the patient is directly related to his fear and the fearful object, ie the spider faced. He sits there with the spider directly apart, which goes up to the touch of tarantulas or animals of similar size. The important thing is the perseverance, so living through the fear situation. By dodging the phobia can be enhanced. There are always former phobics who after successful therapy itself spiders as pets hold ( overcompensation of fear).