Fear of spiders (arachnophobia)
It’s that time of year when spiders seem to be everywhere.
Most of us don’t notice or are not too bothered by them but for those of us who have an intense fear of spiders it can be a challenging time.
Arachnophobia refers to a severe and overwhelming fear of spiders which can often be debilitating and interferes everyday life.
Seeing a spider or even something that looks like one can feel like a serious threat as your mind is giving you the message that you are in danger resulting in a flight or fight response.
This fear can often stem from having had a previous negative encounter with a spider or seeing someone close to you being anxious around them.
If you are finding that your spider phobia is significantly impacting your life, you may consider seeing a Cognitive Behaviour therapist to help you address and overcome this.
The good news is that this is a very straightforward phobia to treat with the aim of reducing your fear and disgust response to seeing spiders enabling you to re claim your life and engage in what really matters to you.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)involves initially exploring the origins of the phobia and understanding how it currently affects you.
We try to show you that constantly watching out for spiders, and avoiding anything that triggers your anxiety or the chance of coming across one increases the strength of your fear and continues to send a message to your brain that a spider is a big and dangerous threat.
Exposure therapy is an important part of the therapy which involves creating a hierarchy of feared spider situations which would be worked through together in a graded way whilst teaching you strategies to manage your anxiety. This often involves starting off with looking at photos of spiders, playing with a toy spider, discussing spiders, before moving further up the hierarchy.
It can be helpful to educate yourself about spiders and dispel misinformation many of us hold.
FACTS ABOUT SPIDERS
- Spider bites are rare as they are not known to be aggressive creatures and British spiders are not dangerous.
- Only 4% of spiders in the world are poisonous.
- Spiders do more good than harm. In the home they help to keep away harmful pests such as ticks, fleas and cockroaches. They also play an important part in protecting our plants.
- In many cultures seeing a spider is a symbol of good luck or receiving money.
TIPS
Have a read or read to a child “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B White. This is a beautiful book about a brave and clever spider who saves a little pigs life.
Go and look closely at a spider web on an icy day when it looks white and frozen. Notice how intricate and symmetrical it is and imagine how hard that spider must have worked to be able to survive.
Within our practice many of our therapists are experienced in working with spider phobia so please do contact us for a free no obligation telephone consultation.
