Fear of spiders spider anxiety

Scared of spiders; arachnophobia

The fear of spiders is one of the most common phobias and is also widespread in this country, although no danger threatens to fall victim to a wild poison spider. Rather, spiders are harmless and useful animals that make an important environmental contribution. The spider appears in ancient myths again and again in the context of female deities, with spinners of magic and fate and in the Middle Ages she was even associated with witches. Today, especially women are affected by the fear of spiders, which often arises in childhood.

The psychotherapeutic treatment is usually carried out by behavioral therapists and psychoanalysts, which is not least due to the reimbursement practice of health insurance companies. However, more and more often alternative treatment methods are used, which expand the treatment spectrum against the fear of spiders, for example in the form of hypnotherapy, palms technique or knock acupressure.

contents

• Scared of spiders; arachnophobia
• Symptoms of fear of spiders
• Trigger of spider anxiety
• Therapy of spider phobia
• Behavioral therapy for fear of spiders
• Depth psychological procedure in spider phobia
• Therapy in hypnosis and fear of spiders
• Palm therapy against spider phobia
• Knock acupressure in anxiety therapy

Symptoms of fear of spiders

The physical symptoms associated with spider anxiety are similar to those in other anxiety states. These include shaking hands and legs, a dry mouth and sweats. Nausea, which is sometimes associated with nausea and vomiting, is often described. A lump in the throat and chest tightness that may be accompanied by respiratory distress and hyperventilation. Dizziness, unreality, heart palpitations or even tachycardia sometimes lead to panic attacks in addition to the other symptoms. Sufferers report that fear-inducing situations (thinking, imagining, photos, or real seeing spiders) causes them to feel helpless and uncontrollable. The fear of spiders becomes problematic only if it leads to an avoidance behavior that has a restrictive effect on the way of life. At the latest when certain places (rooms, places or cupboards) can no longer be visited or the stay in your own apartment without a companion is impossible, professional help should be used.

The sight of spiders causes some people panic, which can also bring about physical symptoms. (Image: butterfly-photos.org/fotolia.com)

Trigger of spider anxiety

While the assumed causes vary according to the psychological school, the triggers of spider anxiety are always associated with (supposed) encounters with the eight-legged animal. From real or imagined bites, encounters and touches with spiders over spider pictures and movies, even a plastic spider or just the word "spider" can create anxiety with all known symptoms. Although the fear of spiders often starts in childhood, a spider phobia can develop even in adulthood due to triggering events (for example, spider settles on the shoulder).

Therapy of spider phobia

The therapy of the spider phobia usually takes place psychotherapeutically according to the image of man and the assumption of the cause of the respective therapeutic orientation. Because until today in Germany only the behavior therapy and deep psychological procedures are recognized and financed by the health insurance companies, these methods are of course frequently used. Alternatively, however, in the fields of naturopathy and energy medicine, other methods have long since been developed which, due to their effectiveness, are no longer used by alternative therapists alone.

The fear of spiders is still widespread today, with the domestic specimens in Germany actually no reason to fear. (Image: lassedesignen / fotolia.com)

Behavioral therapy for fear of spiders

Systematic desensitization is considered to be one of the oldest and most effective forms of treatment for specific phobias, and therefore also for fear of spiders. It is performed individually or consecutively in the imagination (in sensu) and in reality (in vivo). In this method, which derives from behavioral therapy, it is generally assumed that the fear of spiders has been learned and can therefore be unlearned again.

For this purpose, all anxiety-triggering moments are initially set up in a so-called fear hierarchy by being assigned to an anxiety scale. In this case, e.g. the number 0 mean "no fear" while the 100 represents the "biggest fear". Such a list begins, for example, with the appearance of a spider web as the weakest Angstreiz and leads to the panic-producing idea to run a spider over the arm. Furthermore, a relaxing rest picture is developed.

In the second step, it is necessary to train a relaxation method, which is usually the method of progressive muscle relaxation is used. This easy-to-learn procedure is designed to regulate the entire organism via alternating muscle relaxation and relaxation. The actual desensitization now begins with the idea of ​​the least irritant of the list, e.g. a spider web in the garden. After a short while this is replaced by rest and relaxation feeling, so that the fear is superimposed after several passes. Step by step therapist and client approach the ever stronger trigger of anxiety in this way, until the fear of spiders is finally eliminated or at most diminished. At the same time or afterwards, situations are practiced in reality in the same way.

Depth psychological procedure in spider phobia

As depth psychology procedures that are used in spider phobia, psychoanalysis and deep psychological psychotherapy should be mentioned. In both, the fear of spiders is seen as an expression of anguish-inducing or embarrassing infantile conflicts that have been displaced into the unconscious and - in the case of spider phobia - projected onto the animals. The awareness of internal conflicts is the content of the therapy, the purpose of which is to make spider anxiety redundant. It is often worked with free associations, dreams and the relationship with the therapist over several years, without necessarily explicitly to deal with the triggering stimulus (spider).

Therapy in hypnosis and fear of spiders

Also in therapy in hypnosis, the therapists work with the unconscious of the client to treat the fear of spiders. Hypnotherapy as a rather heterogeneous form of treatment in psychotherapy, medicine and dentistry, in each of its orientations, relies on information input that seeks to change the inner judgment and attitude towards the anxiety trigger. On a physical level, the new reactions and experiences that result can be consolidated in the form of altered neuronal structures. The state of consciousness Hypnose is used, which forms the basis for pure suggestive or relaxation therapy, which frames systematic desensitization or provides access to unconscious causal relationships in the life history of the spider-anxiety.
In hypnotherapy, the symptom, in this case the fear of spiders, is also examined for its actual, originally meaningful function for the person concerned. For this purpose, direct or indirect connection to unconscious knowledge is established and communicated and negotiated with body signals, in inner dialogues, symbolic-pictorial or through specific stories and metaphors with the part that produces and sustains the symptom. In addition to the ability to develop the (cognitively unjustifiable) fear of spiders, the knowledge and competence for their (solution) solution is assumed.

Palm therapy against spider phobia

Based on the "Palm Therapy" developed by the physician Moshé Zwang in America, the Swiss hypnotherapist Hans-Peter Zimmermann describes his hand therapy, which can be used against spider phobia and all other specific phobias. Similar to systemic desensitization, the spider-anxious person initially imagines in detail an anguishing situation, which, however, should maximize the values ​​on the previously introduced fear scale. If the symptoms are very noticeable, two specific points on the hand lines of one hand of the client are held by the therapist with the thumbnails for a few seconds. Under distracting conversations, the points continue to be pressed for a few minutes and the success is then checked again with a spider's imagination and fear scale. Only sometimes should several passes be necessary, then the procedure is repeated on the other hand. The acceptance of this therapy method, described as effective, surely suffers from the simple and rapid feasibility and mode of action, which contradicts the current picture of cause-related disorder development and treatment.

Knock acupressure in anxiety therapy

The knocking acupressure, which has been calling attention to itself for several years under various names - not least as anxiety therapy - is based on the Chinese model of energy channels (meridians), which - interlinked - run through the body. Only a free flow of energy ensures health, while blocked energy usually causes mental or physical disorders. Along the meridians there are still important points of energy (acupuncture points) under the skin, which can be easily localized. By tapping or rubbing such points, the free energy flow is restored and the symptoms are reduced or eliminated. To achieve the desired energy balance, relevant points are located by kinesiological muscle testing or tensor testing, which are then treated with tapping technique and other specific techniques. The knock technique is the subject of various Energetic Psychology techniques, of which EdxTM, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Meridian Energy Techniques (MET) are among the best known. The techniques enrich u.a. the conventional psychotherapeutic offer for depression, addiction problems and anxiety disorders, which includes the fear of spiders. (jvs, 15.02.2011)