One of the most common subcategories of herpetophobia (fear of reptiles), ophidiophobia, is an extreme and overwhelming fear of snakes. Most people fear snakes, but this phobia is so extreme that it hampers an individual’s life, thoughts and normal well-being.
However, this phobia can be treated through several therapies and counselling over time. Navigate through this write-up to learn about the symptoms, causes and treatments of the same.
People with arachnophobia can get frightened in the following situations:
Symptoms of arachnophobia are very similar to symptoms of panic and anxiety attacks. However, these symptoms depend on the severity of the phobia. These symptoms can be of two types, physical and behavioural. The physical symptoms one may have are as follows:
The behavioural symptoms that one may have from arachnophobia are as follows:
The causes of the fear of spiders are still under research. However, some of them have been found already. These are discussed below:
It is proven that phobias come through genetics. So, for example, if one has a family history of phobia or anxiety may likely develop a phobia. That is why if parents have any particular phobia, their children should be treated properly, so they do not pick one.
Another cause of the phobia of spiders is also evolutionary. That means people react to the spiders and become afraid as a natural response for survival. For example, a study proves that 6-month-old kids may get afraid upon seeing the picture of spiders and snakes. So it is a primitive fear that has been continuously evolving among some people.
Sometimes traumatic childhood experience with spiders also grows fear in people’s minds. Thus, for the rest of their lives, they tend to avoid spiders and get anxious at the sight of them.
In many religions, spiders are considered an ominous and harmful influence. So the people believing in these religions may likely develop a tendency to get afraid of spiders. Therefore, culture and religion are triggering factors of arachnophobia.
Some potential risk factors of arachnophobia are as follows:
However, only risk factors dont lead to the extreme fear of spiders. Sometimes, people without these risk factors can also grow a fear of spiders. Further, it has been seen that females are generally more prone to arachnophobia than males. So, it is still under research whether it is also a sex-specific phobia. Researches also prove that there is no age for getting a fear of spiders.
The complications one may have due to arachnophobia include:
Besides, arachnophobia can lead to several other phobias, such as
According to the rules of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for diagnosing phobias, a physician may follow the below-mentioned process to diagnose arachnophobia:
There are both medicinal and psychological arachnophobia treatments available for treating arachnophobia. These are discussed below:
Treating phobia with medicines is a common practice. Some of them are discussed below:
Behavioural issues are prominent for any type of phobia. Thus behavioural treatments are necessary to treat patients. These include:
CBT and exposure therapy can treat patients in the best ways possible. Thus they will learn how to face their fears and respond to them simultaneously.
There are a few strategies that can help one deal with the adversity of phobia symptoms. These are discussed below:
Without treatment, the fear of spiders can last for a lifetime. People with such phobia suffer from the behavioural disorder, relationship issues and low self-esteem.
The factors that point toward your need to see a doctor for arachnophobia are as follows:
Arachnophobia, or fear of spiders is one of the very common phobias worldwide. Thus, the treatment procedures are also pretty available. One just needs to recognise the symptoms at the beginning and seek clinical help. However, there is a high success rate of treating arachnophobia with medicine and therapies. Almost 90% of patients have recovered from an acute phobia within weeks or a few months.
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Disclaimer #2: This information is added only for informative purposes and collected from different sources across the Internet. Digit Insurance is not promoting or recommending anything here. Please verify the information before making any decisions.
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