grimmjowls
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- May 1, 2016
- Messages
- 204
I'm in a tarantula group elsewhere and I saw some people talking about how "arachnophobia is just a lack of understanding/ignorance/etc" and I felt like having a discussion on it and putting my two cents in for people who might not know the difference between arachnophobia and fear of spiders.
I, myself, am arachnophobic. I have been ever since I can remember. I don't know if it started as a fear and developed into a phobia or what happened, but I know it's now a phobia.
Phobias aren't just fears. They're disorders. They're not rational. You can't educate someone to get over their phobia like a fear. If they get over it, it's likely they never had a phobia to begin with.
People use the term phobia so loosely it's a little aggravating for the neurodivergent people of the world.
I have tarantulas. I keep true spiders when I find an interest in one. I like to watch them. I'm not uneducated. I spend hours on sites and groups, reading any sort of information I can get my hands on. I love to learn about them. But that doesn't make my phobia any less present.
Phobias aren't rational. When working with my Ts, it tends to kick up. I start thinking about the things the T might do (probably won't) and definitely will do (impossible). I expect my G. pulchripes to somehow jolt up my arm and bite me and run away before I can even blink. I know they're not that fast, but phobias aren't rational. I think the bite will swell up and just the idea of being bitten is terrifying—again, irrational phobia.
A fear can oftentimes be "cured" by showing the fearful individual how gentle these animals can be, show them a jumping spider, let them hold a docile tarantula. A phobia comes back always. It's often rooted in paranoia, delusions, and anxiety.
So I guess, this is sort of a rant, an open invitation to talk about fear vs phobias, talk about your experience, and educate people on how I experience my phobia? Sorry if it's a little messy...!
I, myself, am arachnophobic. I have been ever since I can remember. I don't know if it started as a fear and developed into a phobia or what happened, but I know it's now a phobia.
Phobias aren't just fears. They're disorders. They're not rational. You can't educate someone to get over their phobia like a fear. If they get over it, it's likely they never had a phobia to begin with.
People use the term phobia so loosely it's a little aggravating for the neurodivergent people of the world.
I have tarantulas. I keep true spiders when I find an interest in one. I like to watch them. I'm not uneducated. I spend hours on sites and groups, reading any sort of information I can get my hands on. I love to learn about them. But that doesn't make my phobia any less present.
Phobias aren't rational. When working with my Ts, it tends to kick up. I start thinking about the things the T might do (probably won't) and definitely will do (impossible). I expect my G. pulchripes to somehow jolt up my arm and bite me and run away before I can even blink. I know they're not that fast, but phobias aren't rational. I think the bite will swell up and just the idea of being bitten is terrifying—again, irrational phobia.
A fear can oftentimes be "cured" by showing the fearful individual how gentle these animals can be, show them a jumping spider, let them hold a docile tarantula. A phobia comes back always. It's often rooted in paranoia, delusions, and anxiety.
So I guess, this is sort of a rant, an open invitation to talk about fear vs phobias, talk about your experience, and educate people on how I experience my phobia? Sorry if it's a little messy...!