Arachnophobia: why people are so afraid of spiders

Where does arachnophobia come from

Arachnophobia is a strong irrational fear of spiders. Them sufferM. Zvarikova, P. Procop, M. Zvarik. What Makes Spiders Frightening and Disgusting to People? / Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution from 2.7 to 9.7% of the world's population. This problem can appear at any age, but more often occurs in childhood or adolescence.

Scientists still don't know why spiders are so unpopular with humans. For example, wasps or butterflies do not cause such disgust.

The most popular theory isM. Zvarikova, P. Procop, M. Zvarik. What Makes Spiders Frightening and Disgusting to People? / Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution that this fear evolutionarily beneficial: our ancestors learned to react sharply to potentially dangerous creatures, which helped them survive.

However, the reaction to spiders and, for example, snakes is different. Both humans and other primates notice reptiles much faster than arthropods. Moreover, many species of spiders do not pose any danger to mammals at all.

In one scientific work notedb. K. Wiederhold. S. Bouchard. Advances in Virtual Reality and Anxiety Disordersthat people are afraid of these creatures, not so much because of the threat to life and health, but because of a strong sense of disgust.

For example, most of those who observed how tarantula stepped on a pencil in the cage, subsequently refusedWoody, S. R., McLean, C., & Klassen, T. Disgust as a motivator of avoidance of spiders / Journal of Anxiety Disorders take this tool in hand. And only 25% of people with arachnophobia agreedMulkens, S. A. N., de Jong, P. J., & Merckelbach, H. (1996). Disgust and spider phobia / Journal of Abnormal Psychology, eat a cookie that had a spider crawling next to it, in contrast to 71% of those who were not afraid of these creatures.

In one experiment, scientists decidedM. Zvarikova, P. Procop, M. Zvarik. What Makes Spiders Frightening and Disgusting to People? / Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution check out what exactly seems so disgusting about spiders. The researchers took an image of an arthropod and zoomed in on different parts of its body in Photoshop.

Then the pictures were shown to the participants in the experiment. They were asked to rate which of the spiders they find most disgusting.

As a result, it turned out that the abdomen is considered the most disgusting part of the animal. Scientists have suggested that this is due to the resemblance to blood-sucking insects that can really harm.

An individual with large chelicerae was also recognized as frightening and disgusting. Perhaps because these mouth appendages seem like a potentially dangerous arthropod weapon.

The third most disgusting was the hairy spider. Moreover, women did not like him more than men. Scientists have suggested that body hair can be automatically associated with parasites and diseases.

So, people in general don't really like the way spiders look. But at the same time, some may not pay attention to them, while others panic. Perhaps the reasons for this lie in the peculiarities of the brain.

Why are some people afraid of spiders more than others?

When a person is afraid, he are activatedJ. Hinze, A. Roder, N. Menzie. Spider Phobia: Neural Networks Informing Diagnosis and (Virtual/Augmented Reality‑Based) Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy — A Narrative Review / Frontiers in psychiatry brain structures of the "network of fear":

• Amygdala. This part of the limbic system fixes what stimuli to be afraid of, and sounds the alarm when they appear.
• Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) - Responsible for controlling impulsive behavior and unpleasant emotions.
• Islet lobe or islet, - generates a feeling of disgust and sends signals about this to the amygdala.

Scientists have found that people suffering from phobia, increasedSchienle A, Schafer A, Walter B. Brain activation of spider phobics towards disorder‑relevant, generally disgust- and fear‑inducing pictures / Neuroscience letters amygdala activity. In them, it is more excited not only at the sight of spiders, but also in response to other frightening and disgusting stimuli.

In addition, those with phobias watchingLinares IMP, Jackowski AP, Trzesniak CMF. Cortical thinning of the right anterior cingulate cortex in spider phobia: a magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy study / Brain Research thinning of the right cingulate cortex, which helps control negative emotions and affect.

Due to this, people overestimate the possibility of facing a frightening stimulus, as well as exaggerateP. Muris, J. Huijding, B. Mayer. Spider fear and covariation bias in children and adolescents / Behavior research and therapy the consequences of its influence.

Since phobias associated with animals (including spiders), inheritedVan Houtem CMHH, Laine ML, Boomsma DI. A review and meta‑analysis of the heritability of specific phobia subtypes and corresponding fears / Journal of anxiety disorders in 45% of cases, probably, the features of the work of the brain matter. At the same time, environmental factors cannot be excluded.

For example, if your parents were very afraid of spiders, you can adopt this feature from them. But a frightening incident in childhood can also play a role.

How to know if you have arachnophobia

Not every fear needs treatment. If at the sight of a spider you wince in disgust, but you can still cope with the situation - for example, drive the creature away with a mop, then everything is in order.

If you fall into a stupor or panic, sweat, tremble and suffocate, you feel that your heart will now jump out of your chest, and your stomach is twisting in horror, you should be alert.

It is arachnophobia recognizeArachnophobia (Fear of Spiders) / Cleveland Clinic intense fear that does not correspond to a real threat and has been observed for more than six months, interferes with life, absorbs all thoughts and makes you give up some activities for fear of meeting a spider or stumbling upon web.

If you are familiar with this, you should contact a psychotherapist.

Can Arachnophobia Be Treated?

An effective method of dealing with arachnophobia countsArachnophobia (Fear of Spiders) / Cleveland Clinic cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It includes discussing symptoms, thoughts and feelings, exploring the causes and manifestations of the phobia, reassessing events, and changing thought patterns to more positive ones.

In one experimentSchienle, A., Schäfer, A., Stark, R., & Vaitl, D. Long‑term effects of cognitive behavior therapy on brain activation in spider phobia / Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging after a course of CBT, women with arachnophobia began to perceive images of spiders in a positive way. Now they associated the sight of arthropods with the pleasant feelings they experienced during therapy, and the effect persisted six months after the end of treatment.

Also, exposure therapy works well for arachnophobia - a method in which a person meets a frightening stimulus, but does this gradually and in comfortable environment. Exposure may include viewing images of spiders or seeing a live spider in a jar, as well as using virtual reality.

CBT and exposure are especially effective when paired. The first helps to understand the causes of fear, the second helps to get rid of the feeling itself and the automatic “fight or flight” response.