Can Arachnophobia develop, rather than be inherent?

[spartan231490]

Hello all you scientifically minded Escapists.

So I'm spending the summer in Erie, PA, to be closer to my fiancee (I myself am British). We don't get much in the way of nasty spiders over in Britain, however America is home to a couple of nasty species.

I did some general research about Black Widows (what I read to be the most common "dangerous if messed with" spider, the brown recluse being second, but only for the south), how to identify one, how to deal with one, etc. And now almost every night I'm checking in and around my bed/shoes/clothes/whatever for these things. I can sometimes get quite scared to even go outside for fear that I run into one and it gets me, and drags my 200lb body back to its nest (may be exaggerating at this point).

Anyway, irrationality aside, does anyone know if arachnophobia can develop out of simply reading about them, rather than simply be naturally pre-disposed to a fear response from birth?

I hate spiders, seriously.

Off Topic:

Captcha is "in the air". Before seeing it, I had in my head the new Thirty Seconds to Mars single "Up in the Air". My next phobia question will be related to mind reading human verification systems.

This doesn't sound like arachnophobia. You have sound reason to be concerned about black-widows, what you're describing doesn't sound irrational enough to be a phobia.

Also, yes phobias can be developed rather than inherent. Actually, I believe there is some debate whether phobias can even be inherent at all or if they're all developed.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

I have no idea what triggered my Cynophobia when I was younger but I would guess that since you can lose phobias over the course of your life you can also gain them.

 

[KalCyan]

Phobias are a irrational fear of something. that is the definition; seriously people can have phobias of shopping trolleys. They usually develop from a single shocking event; doesn't have to be traditionally traumatic. Genetics are apparently a part of developing phobias in general; by having a predisposition to fear responses and over worrying.


as the person a few posts up has said, phobias are characterised by a crippling fear of whatever you are afraid of. If you have a phobia of something and you encounter it, most likely you will run rather than face it; that said phobias do exist on a continuum from panic attacks to fainting on the spot.

If it is starting to impact your life, you may need to look at your reactions more seriously; sometimes phobias are just a short term thing as you learn to cope with a new life. If you've actually got a phobia a good therapist can help (its one of the more common reasons to see one)

Info: psychology major

 

[Akytalusia]

i'm fairly certain they're all developed, and not inherent to begin with. your question might be backwards.

 

[Ratties]

You need to look at pics of spiders. Serious about this. Find out why you are afraid of them. Is it the 8 legs. The way they move. Figure it out. Then try to put yourself in the spiders shoes. Look how weird you must look to a spider? They want nothing to do with you. Keep telling yourself that.

 

[Voulan]

I was apparently terrified of flies when I was a baby. I would scream my head off at them. Now I'm not afraid of them at all. Probably because I can tolerate them if it means that the more flies there are the less likely chance A GODDAMN SPIDER IS IN THE ROOM. I definitely have a phobia of spiders. I won't even go near little ones or even dead ones. One time a particularly big one was on my bedroom door and I ended up stuck in my room for several hours screaming and crying because I couldn't go past it until someone came home and killed it for me. If I see the slightest movement from a small black thing out of the corner of my eye I'll leap away from it. I can't bear to look at pictures of them.

Yeah, I have it bad.

 

[SoranMBane]

Arachnophobia as a whole is an entirely unnatural, learned condition that usually stems from how people see the adults around them reacting to spiders as they grow up. That's why it pretty much doesn't exist outside of most technologically developed Western cultures. It's also one of the easiest phobias to treat if you're willing to be open-minded and take the time to educate yourself a little. For example, even the famously "deadly" spiders aren't as dangerous as you've probably been lead to believe, as most can only pose a threat if you have a weak immune system (like if you're very young or very old) or some preexisting condition (like heart disease) that the spider's venom can complicate. Even then, spiders want absolutely nothing to do with people, and even if one did bite you (which they would only ever do if they felt threatened and couldn't simply run away), there's a good chance they wouldn't even inject venom with the bite, since venom is expensive to produce and spiders can't eat anything as large as a person.

 

[GeneralFungi]

I've always been much more bothered by flying insects then spiders. Butterflies and moths are alright for me since their flight pattern is usually more slow and leisurely but bees and even flies make me recoil if it's moving in my direction. Flies I can deal with, but horseflies scare the shit out of me if I spot it because I fear their bite. I have a similar dislike of bees but most of the time where I encounter bees it's in an open space, and bees are not exactly aggressive so I can avoid them without too much stress.

Wasps are the worst of all, though. I've screeched in fright at a wasp suddenly springing in my face. Unlike bees most wasps can sting multiple times without worry and are much more aggressive then their fuzzy counterparts. The few times I encountered a wasp nest as a child I immediately bolted and never revisited on my own again. I'm dead serious. I'm prone to shouting and dancing about trying to avoid it. I don't have any allergies to stings as far as I'm aware, so besides the pinch that would happen if I ever got stung it's mostly irrational.

Spiders never bothered me though. I wouldn't exactly let them crawl all over me, and of course if I was caught off guard by a sudden spider on my arm I'd fling it off as per instinct, but I can calmly inspect a spider up in the corner of my room with interest and have been from a young age. I'm sure I'd be a little bit put off if I ran into a tarantula in the wild (fat chance in Canada) but I'm actually interested in seeing a domestic tarantula in person. I think it'd actually be rather neat. The research I've done on spiders has always left me interested in them as a species. Spiderman has been my favourite hero from a young age, so there's that I guess.

I was apparently terrified of flies when I was a baby. I would scream my head off at them. Now I'm not afraid of them at all. Probably because I can tolerate them if it means that the more flies there are the less likely chance A GODDAMN SPIDER IS IN THE ROOM. I definitely have a phobia of spiders. I won't even go near little ones or even dead ones. One time a particularly big one was on my bedroom door and I ended up stuck in my room for several hours screaming and crying because I couldn't go past it until someone came home and killed it for me. If I see the slightest movement from a small black thing out of the corner of my eye I'll leap away from it. I can't bear to look at pictures of them.

Yeah, I have it bad.

I literally have the exact opposite feelings as you. I've actually welcomed the presence of spiders in my room. As a kid I would have a cobweb that I didn't tell my parents about. And if I found a dead fly I would actually drop it into their webs sometimes to get rid of them. Spiders are often content with doing their own thing, but flies and other flying insects I have always felt are out to get in my face and my nose and my ears etc. I've dealt with enough flies to get over the biggest parts of my fears for them but horseflies, indoor bees and wasps still do terrible things for my nerves. Centipedes, ants, and even roaches don't get a very strong reaction out of me either.

 

[mad825]

...
...
...
How about we say fear is inherent and the phobia[footnote]Yes, "phobia" means fear. I'm not trying to repeat myself[/footnote] is an extension, an exaggeration of that fear.

I'm feeling mean. There are several poisonous spiders in the UK in which case you also should fear the almighty blackadder!

 

[AuronFtw]

All phobia's are 'developed', not inherited. There is no gene that tells you to be afraid of something as far as I know. Well, there is probably one for you for danger but that's different.

Kind of right. We have built in fears of various things - as part of our danger sense. Snakes, spiders and large animals are more or less "feared" by every human, it's natural to us. If we weren't built that way, we'd go sticking our hands in all kinds of places, or trying to hug bears cos they're soft and cuddly.

Phobias are an irrational fear; not logical or built in. Those are all developed (as far as we know), and come from traumatic experiences - but a lot of people make the mistake of thinking their normal "fear" of spiders is a phobia, and it's pretty much bullshit.

If you're "scared" of spiders, it's normal. So is everyone else. If you even THINK of the idea of a spider and start sweating and get incredibly nervous, it might be a phobia. (Phobias obviously vary by degree - some people have to see a spider to trigger a phobic reaction, but the most severe cases don't require spiders present at all, merely the mention of them or a shadow that almost sort of looks like it could be a spider).

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

All phobias are developed I think.
I'd still like to know where my arachnophobia came from since nobody else in my family is scared of spiders and I've never had a traumatizing incident with one.

Can't cure it either. No amount of actual knowledge about spiders and how they function and their behaviors helps me when I see one slowly climbing towards me.
Or when I see one period.

I pissed myself last week because a spider jumped onto my shoulder for some reason.
Fucking spiders.

 

[mitchell271]

It's the same as any other fear or predisposition: they can/do develop from past experiences. For example, someone who got food poisoning from steak at a young age could unconsciously associate the two and not enjoy the taste of steak.

 

[direkiller]

Hello all you scientifically minded Escapists.

So I'm spending the summer in Erie, PA, to be closer to my fiancee (I myself am British). We don't get much in the way of nasty spiders over in Britain, however America is home to a couple of nasty species.

I did some general research about Black Widows (what I read to be the most common "dangerous if messed with" spider, the brown recluse being second, but only for the south), how to identify one, how to deal with one, etc. And now almost every night I'm checking in and around my bed/shoes/clothes/whatever for these things. I can sometimes get quite scared to even go outside for fear that I run into one and it gets me, and drags my 200lb body back to its nest (may be exaggerating at this point).

Anyway, irrationality aside, does anyone know if arachnophobia can develop out of simply reading about them, rather than simply be naturally pre-disposed to a fear response from birth?

I hate spiders, seriously.

Off Topic:

Captcha is "in the air". Before seeing it, I had in my head the new Thirty Seconds to Mars single "Up in the Air". My next phobia question will be related to mind reading human verification systems.

you can relax
Northern PA- you are fine
Black widows are not around here

there are two spiders you will see, the wolf spider and the common house spider.(and daddy long legs but there not spiders they just look like them)

Wolf spiders are the big(nickle to quarter sized) brown ones-there harmless despite there name(it's just because of the fuzz), you have to mess with them to make them bite you.

Common house spider are less then harmless(there bites are about as bad as mosquito) and again you have to mess with them.


Daddy long legs can't break your skin and they don't have venom anyway they just look like a b-movie mosnter.

 

[Griffolion]

-snip-

Thanks for the reassurance. Yeah, those wolf spiders have a name the level of badassery of which is inversely proportional to their actual being. Should be like, pup spiders.

I remember that myth about daddy longlegs' having venom that can kill a human. But the only reason there have never been any fatalities is because their teeth can't puncture human skin. I think it was disproved; scientists showed that daddy longlegs venom, from a typical delivery, caused unconsciousness in mice that they recovered from. To humans, it caused some nausea.

 

[staika]

Hello all you scientifically minded Escapists.

So I'm spending the summer in Erie, PA, to be closer to my fiancee (I myself am British). We don't get much in the way of nasty spiders over in Britain, however America is home to a couple of nasty species.

Holy shit, I am from Erie! And you really don't have to worry about any big spiders here. You'll see a lot of daddy long legs but I have only seen a Black Widow once in my entire life. It was brought over in a bundle of wood that some workers brought by. Not a lot of things in erie that can kill you, so you don't have to be that paranoid over this.

 

[Griffolion]

Hello all you scientifically minded Escapists.

So I'm spending the summer in Erie, PA, to be closer to my fiancee (I myself am British). We don't get much in the way of nasty spiders over in Britain, however America is home to a couple of nasty species.

Holy shit, I am from Erie! And you really don't have to worry about any big spiders here. You'll see a lot of daddy long legs but I have only seen a Black Widow once in my entire life. It was brought over in a bundle of wood that some workers brought by. Not a lot of things in erie that can kill you, so you don't have to be that paranoid over this.

Haha, nice. It's a nice place. And yeah, not much can kill you, save for that three feet of rain last week, and the tornado that very nearly hit us! Hope no one is the wicked witch of the west...

 

[staika]

Hello all you scientifically minded Escapists.

So I'm spending the summer in Erie, PA, to be closer to my fiancee (I myself am British). We don't get much in the way of nasty spiders over in Britain, however America is home to a couple of nasty species.

Holy shit, I am from Erie! And you really don't have to worry about any big spiders here. You'll see a lot of daddy long legs but I have only seen a Black Widow once in my entire life. It was brought over in a bundle of wood that some workers brought by. Not a lot of things in erie that can kill you, so you don't have to be that paranoid over this.

Haha, nice. It's a nice place. And yeah, not much can kill you, save for that three feet of rain last week, and the tornado that very nearly hit us! Hope no one is the wicked witch of the west...

Oh you'll learn to hate the weather a lot here. Being right on the lake is nice that we have our really shitty beach but it rains a lot because of it. Apparently the tornado was pretty close to my old teachers house, good thing it didn't come anywhere near the city though. The thunder wasn't fun though since my dog is deathly afraid of it, she always cowers to me when it's thundering.

 

[direkiller]

-snip-

Thanks for the reassurance. Yeah, those wolf spiders have a name the level of badassery of which is inversely proportional to their actual being. Should be like, pup spiders.

I remember that myth about daddy longlegs' having venom that can kill a human. But the only reason there have never been any fatalities is because their teeth can't puncture human skin. I think it was disproved; scientists showed that daddy longlegs venom, from a typical delivery, caused unconsciousness in mice that they recovered from. To humans, it caused some nausea.

the problem is there are three things call daddy long legs,West cost is the only one that is a spider.

East Cost US-Harvestmen(Opiliones)- there distant relatives to spiders- no venom and single body section

Spoiler: pic

West Cost- celler spider- can bite(and the thing venom was tested on)
outer- Robber fly/Crain fly-has no venom and is not a spider, yet still has the myth for some reason

 

[Ashadowpie]

not everyones afraid of needles, but if you get sick and suddenly need or see someone need every needle imaginable all at the same time then yah...yah you most likly will have a phobia of needles. phobias develop more than being born with it.

when i was little i wasnt afraid of needles, i cried because they hurt but once i got my lollypop i was fine. after my mom struggled a slow and very needle covered death of cancer for 8 years. i have a medical phobia from especially needles to the building to the doctors, even blood pressure cuffs, and the actual physical hospital bed! im afraid of a hospital bed for crist sakes. all thanks to seeing my mum in incredibly scarring states of hospitalization for more entire childhood.

so yah...you can definitely develop phobias

 

[wulf3n]

I don't know about the brown recluse, but if the black widow is anything like the Australian version (redback) you won't have to worry too much about them being in your house.

Shed or garden maybe, but I don't know of any incidents (personal accounts) where a red back was found in someones house.

Personally I think phobias are developed not inherited, not that that's much consolation