Do you have a Spider Phobia?
Spider phobia is also called Arachnophobia and it implies a severe fear of these animals that trigger physical, emotional and behavioural reactions.
Does your stomach crunch when you think about spiders?
Do you panic when you see a spider?
Do you avoid places or activities for fear of spiders?
How does it feel to have Arachnophobia?
Jane was painfully scared of spiders. She looked under toilets before using the washroom, checked the ceiling and corners of a room before she could sit, and checked under her bed before going to sleep. She always worried about having a spider crawl on her or about accidentally touching one. In the summer, she spent time with her family in a nice cottage by a lake but she couldn’t really relax and enjoy her time like everybody else. She got very anxious about spiders and would not sit on the outdoor chairs, go on canoe trips or have lunch with the rest of the family on the backyard picnic table. This was no fun for her or her family. She also could not go camping with her friends because of her fear and was missing out on the active life and time with friends that she loved. She had a sense of fear, panic, and helplessness just because of the spiders. She realized that this fear was affecting her family and social life.
What to do if you have a spider phobia?
If a spider phobia or another phobia is affecting your life you can create a plan to tackle your problem.
Here’s an exercise that you can use to deal with your spider phobia:
- List of the things that scare you about the spiders.
For example:- looking at a spider, sitting on a bench, touching a spider web.
- Rank them in terms of the fear they cause you.
- Take one step until your anxiety goes down.
Then continue with the next step on your list:
- Face your fears! As you expose yourself to your fears, one by one, these will start to fade. It sounds hard to believe but you have to live it to believe it.
The video below is showing people with arachnophobia being exposed to spiders. In the beginning, the participants say how scared they are of spiders. Then, they are exposed to their worst fear and have the spider walk on their bodies. After this, they feel that their fear of spiders is lower than before. Only after spending a few moments in contact with a spider, their fear goes down significantly.
Spider phobia and other phobias limit the quality of life for the sufferers. The treatment is not complicated, it only requires the motivation to follow the guidelines. Those that are able to expose themselves to their fear, notice how it disappears as they practice. There are different ways to practice exposure, either all at once or in a gradual fashion, from less fearful activities to more fearful. People can choose what they prefer.
At CBT Psychology for Personal Development, we have helped many people overcome their phobias, not only arachnophobia but also phobia of bees and bugs, emetophobia which is the fear of vomiting, dog phobia, fear of flying, fears of blood and injections and others. We provide CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) which is the most effective and fast treatment for phobias. The effectiveness of this treatment has proven to be of help for thousands of people around the world. Our therapists are highly trained in CBT for spider phobias and anxiety disorders.
If you want to overcome a phobia contact us at info@cbtpsychology.com or call 905-597-4404.
Written By: Dr. Silvina Galperin PhD, C. Psych.
