Fear of spiders is arachnophobia. According to legend, Arachna was a skilled weaver, of incredible beauty. Proud of her abilities, she wove a veil of the finest threads, it depicted the Gods, fallen into the human passions. Her work was more beautiful than that of Athena. In a fit of anger the goddess turned Arachne into a spider.
What is arachnophobia?
Panic and nervous tic from the sight of a small and harmless, hiding in a corner of a spider - this is arachnophobia. In most cases, children and women are subjected to fear attacks. Arachnophobia, the psychological causes of which are classified as fictitious and unreasonable, cause trouble in adulthood. Fear that the fact that a person in an unknown environment will be attacked by an arthropod interferes with controlling emotions, brings a lot of trouble.
Fear of spiders - psychology
The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud describes fear as a state that has no definition and objectivity, but his sensation is familiar to man. To overcome the fear of spiders by Freud can be, by determining the starting point of occurrence, the moment when the psyche was injured (mostly in childhood) and was not protected (was ignored or ridiculed by parents). Becoming an adult, a person can not properly build a reaction in a similar situation, tries in every possible way to avoid encountering a source of psychological trauma.
Arachnophobia - causes
A man acquires his habits and fears as a child. The behavior of parents at the sight of an arthropod creature is first copied by the child, and over time a habit of reacting to an insect at a subconscious level is developed - to be afraid. The sudden appearance of an insect (and not just a spider) brings the psyche into an excited state. The reasons why arachnophobia is taken, psychologists call factors:
- A person is afraid of an unknown, incomprehensible. Who knows what the spider eats (maybe with the blood of people?), Why he settles in houses and likes to dwell in dark places - in basements where there is little lighting and dampness, where it's scary and without bugs.
- Plots of films where giant spider-like creatures attack people without a cause and destroy everything.
- Genetic memory, transmitted from distant ancestors - the result of evolutionary adaptation. A couple of thousand years ago, a man encountered spiders in the wild, some species of spiders pose a threat to life even now, and then - in the absence of knowledge of medicine and antidotes - the bite in most cases resulted in death.
- Unpleasant appearance - it is creepy and ugly, quickly moves.
- The real story is from experience, when a spider was climbing near a person or on it, and it was difficult to shake it off.
Arachnophobia - symptoms
Meeting with an insect is unpleasant for most people, except for arachnophiles - lovers of spiders, getting sexual arousal from their kind. To distinguish simple fear of an insect from pathological fear, it is possible for a human being. Arachnophobe is afraid of meeting with an insect, avoiding places of its presumed habitat, it reacts painfully to an insect - falls into hysterics. How does arachnophobia manifest its distinctive symptoms:
- the pulse rate increases;
- the orientation in space is lost;
- there is a state of retardation;
- the person pales;
- there is a cold sweat;
- trembling hands and feet;
- there is a desire to escape without looking back or kill an insect.
How to deal with arachnophobia?
Panic fear of an arthropod creature in an adult can not be ignored. It can develop into more serious pathologies - schizophrenia, provoke a heart attack or stroke. You can try to overcome the fear yourself, in the absence of successful results, you need to contact a psychologist. How to get rid of arachnophobia, control your emotions of baseless fear:
- Find the reason that triggered the phobia.
- To study the way of life of an arthropod, learn more about it from the fact that he does not attack a person, learn about dangerous species (most of which are on the brink of extinction, listed in the Red Book), a spider's bite is a way of protection and not an attack.
- Visit the terrarium.
- Play a computer game - kill spiders, destroying your own fear.
How to recover from arachnophobia?
Psychologists note that the fear of spiders is developed in people in those regions where there are no poisonous and dangerous species. It is very difficult to meet a tarantula in a large metropolis of a multi-storey building or a neatly tidied up office, but fear among residents of cities is common. In traditional kitchens of different nations, insect dishes are prepared, even the real history of an insect bite does not cause phobias in such people. Arachnophobia is a disease that experienced psychologists treat for several sessions. The most effective method is called "behavioral therapy" - it is necessary to approach fear for the meeting in stages:
- Formulate the cause of fear.
- Observe the insects from afar.
- Go to him a short distance.
- Closer close and consider (try to pat).