« Visit Fantastic Pest Control
Fantastic Pest control
  • CALL NOW
  • Explore by Category
    • S.T.O.P the Pest
    • Did You Crawl?
    • Local Buzz
    • Pest Peeves
    • Fun with Bugs
  • Subscribe
  • Write for Us
Be the first to get fantastic pest control tips! Curious bug facts, best ways to deal with pests and even special deals. No, Thanks
Home » Overcome Arachnophobia with the Following Tips

Overcome Arachnophobia with the Following Tips

April 4th, 2014 Fantastic Team Pest Peeves
Post Views: 21,593

how to get over arachnophobia

This petrifying fear is a lot more common in Western societies than it is in the East.

It’s likelier for women to suffer from arachnophobia than for men – about 55% of Western women have symptoms of it, compared to 18% of males. Arachnophobia is the most common kind of phobia in the UK.

Table of Contents

  • What is Arachnophobia?
    • Why are we scared of spiders?
    • Do I have arachnophobia?
  • Why Spiders Aren’t Scary (unless they are)
  • How to Get Over Arachnophobia
  • How to Understand Your Fear of Spiders

What is Arachnophobia?

Arachnophobia is the extreme irrational fear of spiders. In each person, it has different intensity and sometimes can surface only in certain situations.

Why are we scared of spiders?

It’s completely normal to see a spider and get the urge to keep your distance. It means you have the right reactions of a healthy evolved human being.

On an evolutionary level, prehistoric people spent thousands of years living in the wild in a spider-infested environment. Many of these spiders were poisonous and many people have died from spider bites.

Instinctive fear from a certain shape of animal can protect us, as it keeps us away from a potentially dangerous arachnid. It’s how every type of phobia evolves.

Do I have arachnophobia?

As you see, just being uneasy towards spiders, is completely normal. In order to classify a certain fear as a phobia, your symptoms need to be a lot more visible.

And, since the levels of intensity of arachnophobia are fuzzy and don’t have certain boundaries, it’s best to test yourself in order to be sure.

Why Spiders Aren’t Scary (unless they are)

We established the fear of spiders is a completely healthy one, however, if this fear is in the way of your daily life, you might need to do something about it.

Knowledge is power, and the easiest thing you can do to overcome your arachnophobia is to educate yourself as much as possible.

Here are a few curious facts about spiders.

  • The venom of some species of spiders is seriously deadly, but if you live in a city – you can be 99.9% certain, you will not find these spiders around you.
  • Even the most venomous spider would not attack you. Have you seen how big you are? A tiny spider would never come close to you.
  • Spiders are not interested in you. Unlike flying insects that would buzz around your head or try to suck your blood, spiders have no motivation to go out of their webs. If you see a spider crawling, it’s only because it probably fell and is trying to get back to its web.
  • Spiders are the best pest controllers in the world – they eat more insects than birds and bats put together. They are used by gardeners to eat vegetable-eating pests, instead of using pesticides.
  • Spiders eat so many bugs a day, they actually decrease insect populations. If it weren’t for them, we’ll be up to our necks in bugs and spiders definitely wouldn’t be the source of your fear.
  • There are also a species of vegetarian spiders.

Knowing these things is the first step to get over your fears. Next, we will list a series of activities you can do yourself in order to “train your mind”.

Check also:

[Quiz] How Much Are You Afraid of Wasps?

How to Get Over Arachnophobia

  • Make a list of activities with increasing anxiety level. One of the best ways to do overcome your arachnophobia is to take yourself out of your comfort zone.
  • Start with looking at a photo of a real spider. Look at it, notice the details of it. Imagine it crawl, and make its web.
  • Watch a video about spiders. Something educational would show you the life of a spider in the wild. It would look like a savage existence, but through the whole video, keep reminding yourself how small these creatures are.
  • Visit a pet store and watch a spider behind glass. Here comes something scarier – a real living spider, right in front of you. Yet, confined by the strong glass, so you are completely safe. Look at it for a while. Spiders in aquariums are usually quite lazy, so don’t be surprised if they barely move.
  • Let a friend handle a spider in front of you. It should be someone you trust, someone who would not mock your fears, or do something you’re not ready for. Watch them hold the spider and see it crawl on skin.
  • Tolerate being around a spider. Let your friend put the spider on a table and sit near that spider. Don’t touch it, just be close to it and watch it.
  • Hold a spider. Finally, the biggest challenge of all would be to let the spider crawl on your hand. You can choose when that would happen. Don’t rush it if you don’t feel brave enough. Focus on the idea that you have more control over the spider’s life than it has over your life.
  • Talk to a specialist. If you find yourself unable to make progress by yourself, yet feel you need to work on your fear, turn to a certified psychologist.

How to Understand Your Fear of Spiders

  • Determine the origin of your fear. In most cases, the fear of spiders is inborn, like we said – it’s a part of our evolution. However, very often an acute feat would result from a personal experience. Very often this experience would be forgotten. It might be in early childhood, or even earlier. The logical memory of the event might be forgotten, but the emotion behind it would stay lingering. And, at some point it gets triggered by the sight of a spider and it re-surfaces as an irrational fear. Try to remember when it first started for you.
  • Dwell on why you are so scared. We often need alone time to think about what happened in our past. Especially when it comes to something that can’t leave us alone even as adults. Think about your fear, remember the first time you felt it and evaluate your state of mind then and now. You will reach a conclusion.
  • Learn more about spiders. Find the positive benefits of their existence and dispel myths and urban legends about them. Learn about their behaviour. Put yourself in their skin and think about “If I were a spider, I would…”. Sometimes, something like this is enough to understand that they’re not born to get you.
  • Use positive self-talk. If thinking all this is not enough for you, try saying it out loud, so you can hear yourself. Make sure you then use only positive words, do not concentrate on the negative things about them (like their appearance).

No fear can be beaten in a day, so take it step by step. Until then, keep Fantastic Pest control on speed dial in order to keep your home spider free.

Image source: Cornel Constantin/shutterstock.com

Spread this knowledge with your friends!
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Buffer this page
Buffer
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Reddit

how to spiders

Sign Me Up for Fresh Updates I want to have fantastic stories delivered straight to my inbox for free.

Be the first to get fantastic pest control tips! Curious bug facts, best ways to deal with pests and even special deals. No, Thanks

Leave a Reply

« Previous post Next post »
  • Top posts

    • how to keep rats away from the garden How to Keep Rats Away fro... Rats are one of the difficult pests to deal with and th...
    • How To Avoid Cockroaches When Moving How To Avoid Cockroaches... Moving out of a cockroach-infested home and wanting to...
    • horsefly bloodsucking vampire how to deal with it How to Get Rid of Horsefl... So, you've built a pool just in time for summer. But wh...
    • holes on wood furniture made by wood boring beetles Stop the Woodworm Infesta... Image by: allispossible.org.uk / License: BY 2.0 Altho...
    • Dispose of a Dead Rat in... This may be an unpleasant and gruesome topic but, at so...
  • Categories

    Did You Crawl? Did You Crawl? Fun with Bugs Fun with Bugs Local Buzz Local Buzz Pest Peeves Pest Peeves S.T.O.P the Pest S.T.O.P the Pest
  • ants bed bugs bees carpet beetles cockroaches comics dust mites fleas flies FPC team guide holidays how to infestation infographic list mice mosquitoes moths pests pets pigeons quiz rats spiders squirrels wasps woodworm

  • NEED PEST CONTROL?

    Your Fantastic Pest Controller will be happy to help you!

    Call now

  • Follow Us

    Follows
    • Facebook
      14.1k Followers
    • Pinterest
      1.5k Followers
    • Instagram
      4k Followers

Copyright © 2016 - 2022 Fantastic Pest Control. All rights reserved.

A proud member of Fantastic Services

  • Home
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • T&C
  • Disclaimer

Need help?

X
  • You have a very specific pest question? Let us give you a pro answear.

    All fields marked with an asterisk (*) need to be filled.

  • You can upload images and files up to 10MB each and 1 video up to 10 seconds.

    0/10 uploaded

    Drag files to upload or

    All your files have been successfully uploaded
    Upload is in progress please wait ...
    0/10 uploaded

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This
  • https://www.facebook.com/FantasticServicesUK/
  • https://twitter.com/FanPestControl
  • https://www.pinterest.com/GoFantastic/