Arachnophobia Is The Fear Of Spiders English Literature Essay

Many people have a particular fear of something; whether if it’s when they encounter certain objects or situations; people become dreadfully upset or frightened. It’s quite irrational that they experience extreme terror or panic. This awful fear is accompanied by disabling physical symptoms. People who often get these symptoms are suffering from Phobias. Their phobic attacks are sparked off by simple things, things that some wouldn’t be bothered by. Many are reduce to a state of quivering dread if they encounter spiders, cats, needles or other sharp objects, or even the number 13. Seems daft to me, but be aware that anyone can be hit by a phobia. We should all be familiar with the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet.” Many people will continue to act like Little Miss Muffet and just flee in the presence of a spider, or whatever phobia their facing instead of actually facing their phobia. A phobia such as Arachnophobia can’t be understood simply, but if you go about it the right way, it’s actually quite simple to get over it. If you or someone you know suffers from Arachnophobia, know that assistance is available to you or for them. The truth is, a spider has many enemies due to their size, and humans are one of them. So really, spiders should fear humans more than humans fear spiders.

We were all taught the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet.” This nursery rhyme is about a little girl whose first name is actually Patience. She was the child of Dr. Muffet, who was known to study insects. One morning, as little Miss Muffet was eating breakfast, she saw a spider; her father was observing, and not only was she very terrified, she fled from it. Spiders are arthropods; an organism, terrestrial mainly, from the class of Arachnid, order of Araneae. The word arthropod is derived from the Latin word Arthropoda; arthropoda is derived from the Greek word arthron; and arthron is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root ar-, using the new suffix -poda, Latin prefix arthro- and Greek prefix pod-; found in Modern English. Spiders are commonly mistaken as insects. Arthropods are known as a predatory invertebrate, an animal with four pairs of legs and two bodies; Cephalothorax and an unsegmented Abdomen. Their Spinnerets is used for spinning webs that serve as nests and traps for their prey. Even though spiders can spin silk, some are not able to spin webs. The spider that spins silk makes webs with the silk to catch insects for food. Spiders that can’t spin silk, to make a web, catch their food by jumping on it. Spiders also have hollow fangs and their fangs come in handy when the spiders inject poison into their prey. Insects, tadpoles, fish, frogs, and mice are what spiders often eat

Mating can be difficult for the male spiders. Some spiders; such as female Redback spiders, often eat the male Redback spiders, because their size is a lot smaller than that of the female Redback spider. The male spiders have to work hard to prove their worth and identity to the female spider or the female spiders will end the male’s life right then and there. After a female spider signifies that she doesn’t want to eat the male spider that approaches her, she will then mate with the male spider, the female will lay eggs. Depending on the female spider type, a female spider can lay 2 to 1000 eggs. The female spider wraps her eggs inside a sac made of silk. Some spiders hide the egg sac, while other spider’s carry theirs. After a female spider lays her eggs, she may or may not die. It doesn’t take long for her eggs to hatch. “Many arthropods change dramatically between the time they hatch and the time they reach adulthood (Arthropods, 2007).” A baby spider may be shaped like its mother, but the baby spider is much lighter in color at times. Baby spiders; or spiderlings, learn on their own when it comes to spinning their web and capturing their food. It’s very natural to them. When a spiderling transform into an adult, it must molt, or (shed) his or her skeleton. “Having a hard exoskeleton provides good protection, but it can be a disadvantage when an arthropod is growing. Arthropods must shed their exoskeleton and grow a new, larger one. As an arthropod grows, its exoskeleton splits along the back of the thorax. The arthropod can then crawl out of its old exoskeleton. It can take several minutes or up to a few hours for the new exoskeleton to harden. During this time, the arthropod is without its “armor” and can be attacked easily (Arthropods, 2007).” When it grows hard, the baby spider will be an adult. Due to a spider’s size, spiders are also known to have many enemies. Large animals; monkeys, birds, toads, and lizards, and small creatures; like tics, often eat spiders to survive. Spider Wasps are known to be a spider’s worst enemy. They hunt spiders in order to feed their young larvae. We’re even a threat to spiders, because we can harm or kill a spider by even swapping or stepping on one; even, the pesticides we used to control other insects will also kill spiders.

Most people, like “Little Miss Muffet,” have a fear of spiders. Being afraid of spiders has a term known as Arachnophobia. Arachnophobia is not Latin. Arachnophobia is derived from the ancient Greek word arachnid, meaning spider, and the Greek suffix phobia, comes from the Greek word phobos, which means “fear.” Arachnophobia can be identified in Modern English use of language. Certain situations, activities, things, animals or people can lead to a phobia; a very intense and persistent fear. Through bad experiences, seeing or hearing of someone getting bitten by a spider can trigger a person to develop arachnophobia. Most arachnophobics tend to spray their homes on a daily bases, check incoming bags, or containers where spiders may be hiding, and some may even wash all their fruits and vegetables. Arachnophobics will not even go on picnics or an unfamiliar area, such as a hotel or someone else’s house, without being sure that it’s checked through before they even enter. Most arachnophobics have become physically ill at even the sight of a spider. Sweating, clamming hands, increased heart rate, nausea and dizziness are all symptoms of what an arachnophobe would face. If not treated, it will consistently be an impact on their daily lives.

There are many ways a person who suffers from a fear of spiders can be treated. A program known as Cognitive Behavioral Hypnotherapy is one that helps you to acknowledge your irrational thoughts and helps you to understand how your thoughts can easily influence your emotional behaviors. Through Accu-Tapping; it tends to take away your thoughts, that the fear of spiders is a learned process that makes you react to your emotional behaviors, it gives you emotional control techniques; helping you to unlearn that phobia. Many have stated that you need to face your fear by exposing yourself to that fear. Through acknowledging and accepting why spiders are in the world we live and trying to appreciate the benefits of a spider, can help anyone overcome the fear of spiders with perseverance, courage, and patience.

Spiders are very useful, but the fear of a spider is a real condition that many people experience in life. “All phobias represent the unreasonable fear of something. In fact, there are few spiders that are actually dangerous to human beings (Editor 1, 2009)” in the state of Indiana; such as the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow spiders, their known to reside in dark crevices of basements and storage areas, and if you ever come in-contact with their poisonous bite, it may result in scabbing, reddening, and slight swelling at the local tissue, including the possibility of severe muscular pain, stiffness of stomach and legs, difficulty breathing and nausea; but for the Arachnophobics, ” this does not really matter. It is of no use to tell them that the person is in no danger. They have nothing to do with whether the particular spider is harmful or not, they do not understand any logical reason behind it (Editor 1, 2009).” For them, any spider; whether if it’s a Wolf or Yellow Garden spider, or a Brown recluse or Black Widow spider, can harm them. Arachnophobia is a fear that one wish they could get over to return to a normal lifestyle. Spiders are creatures that humans need to endure in their use in the world. “Life on earth would end very quickly without arthropods. They are great recyclers, decomposers, and they are a super food source. Spiders also help pollinate the plants that provide food and keep the air and water clean (Arthropods, 2007).”

Excessive fear can become crippling, and it will affect our daily functioning. Many fear because they cannot control what will happen next. People tend to panic or respond physically to unrealistic and irrational fears whenever there is in fact nothing to be afraid of. Fear is often accompanied by a phobia. This can lead to you having a big effect on your emotional and physical well-being, and even your ability to reach your full potential. Many have wondered what causes fear. While it is important to be aware of potential and real threats, it is just as important to react appropriately to them. Our initial startle response subsides as soon as we realize that there is no actual threat or danger; even though this is not always the case. For many people fear becomes maladaptive, as they struggle with anxiety, phobias and panic attacks. Children are really at risk of overactive fear, as they are not always able to rationalize fears that are unrealistic or unfounded. I often wondered what fear is like for children. Children experiencing fears and phobias feel real threats and parents often have difficulty consoling or reassuring their child that there is actually nothing to fear. Many children will have a negative impact on their healthy development and may predispose them to problems later in life. Regardless of whatever phobia you or someone you know may go through, there are ways to deal with your phobia. Seek professional advice as soon as possible. Little Miss Muffet was a child who fled from her father’s spider because she feared it. Maybe it was due to how it looked. We’ll never really know why. Little Miss Muffet has a phobia known as Arachnophobia. Arachnophobia is defined as an inordinate fear of spiders. This phobia can often be triggered by the thought of or sometimes even a picture of a spider. A serious case of arachnophobia is much different than someone who doesn’t like spiders. Many who are afraid of spiders have feelings of panic entering into a situation where spiders might be present. Even though, we see a lot of scary, leggy, spiders in and out of our homes, spiders should not be considered an enemy to us; as we should be to them, as a threat, but as allies. Spiders are very useful. Observe them, acknowledge them, and fear them less.