Phobias are by their very definition extreme and irrational fears. There are good reasons to respect spiders. Some spiders carry a whopper and can kill a person. Many carry a smaller stick and can inflict a painful bite . In the middle we have the
types that don’t kill the whole person, just portions of them.
Arachnophobia is the extreme, debilitating, and persistent fear of spiders. It is not the rational fear of spider bites, not the sensible caution of avoiding old wood piles where the brown recluse like to lurk, not the refusal to handle a pet tarantula4 …but the panic attack brought on by the thought of spiders, the heart palpitations and trouble breathing experienced when a spider is in the room…an anxiety level that may require treatment in order to function
without debilitating obsessive/compulsive spider clearing or avoidance rituals.
There is a possible cultural basis for the high prevalence of arachnophobia in those of us of European descent. It seems that spiders were erroneously associated with the Black Plague after the tenth century. “In other words, arachnophobia began as misplaced fear during the plague (having historical basis), then was passed down through European families adding a cultural basis.” 1
Some cultures revere 8 the spider as part of their creation myths or consider them good omens or symbols of prosperity.7 Others just eat them. 2
Treatment of arachnophobia usually consists of some sort of desensitizing (gradually increasing exposure to spiders) therapy along with cognitive therapy (learning spider facts). Fruedian type analysis ("who abused me with a spider when I was a child?") is not the usual approach to therapy. A virtual reality simulation called SpiderWorld has been very effective in the treatment of arachnophobia. It combines the use of VR technology with the real world tactile stimulation of a fake spider. At times anti-anxiety drugs are used.
If you or a loved one are arachnophobic enough to interfere with or decrease quality of life I really recommend the resource #6 below. Beware there are pictures of a real tarantula being held by a former extreme arachnophobic and a picture of the simulated VR spider. There is also a link to the researcher and statistics on the remarkable results he has obtained using SpiderWorld. Apparently when arachnophobia is extreme other types of desensitization (liking dealing with real life spiders) is enough to keep many arachnophobes out of treatment. The problem and accompanying OCD like behaviors can worsen over time, eventually becoming quite debilitating. 6
SOURCES:
1 http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/culent/arach/
2 http://wildnetafrica.co.za/wildlifearticles/zoologic/1998/arachnophobia.html
3 www.pbs.org/safarchive/4_class/45_pguides/ pguide_905/4495_phobia.html
4 http://atshq.org/
5 http://insected.arl.arizona.edu/spiderinfo.htm
6 http://www.hitl.washington.edu/research/exposure/
7 http://www.secularhumanism.org/ahal/Myths.html
8 http://wayist.tripod.com/goddess.html