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Phobias and their effect
Phobias and their effect
Phobias and their effect
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Dissecting the Presence of Arachnophobia in Northern Kentucky
Although Spiders provide a plethora of benefits to our community, they continue to be one of the most feared insects not only in the Northern Kentuckian area but also throughout the world. In this project, I will come to a conclusion on why people generally fear spiders, which is an actual diagnosis called arachnophobia. Arachnophobia can be triggered by the mere thought of a spider or even by a picture of a spider in some cases. Some people with arachnophobia will, upon entering a room, search it for a spider. If they find a spider, they will monitor its progress very thoroughly. Often the fear is caused by having an unwanted encounter with a spider earlier in life, such as their childhood. One of the more effective and
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Exposure therapy is based on the idea that a person with arachnophobia believes something catastrophic will happen when they are confronted by a spider, but because they choose to avoid contact with spiders they are never given the opportunity to have a good encounter with spiders. Exposure therapy requires the person to confront the spider in order to grasp that the threat level of a spider is not as big as they once believed. According to the American Psychiatric Association, phobias affect more than one in ten people in the US today. To gather more information concerning arachnophobia and the fear of spiders in our area, I attained a substantial amount of opinions from Northern Kentuckians in the Alexandria area. I asked locals why they might like/dislike spiders and used their words in whole to form an educated and knowledgeable reflection towards the conclusion of my project. I also advanced the interviewing process by providing them with an optional survey, so I could attain as much information I possibly could. One of the many Northern Kentuckians I interviewed on arachnophobia was David Thompson. David
This fear of the unknown is similar to the one shown in Gordon Grice’s essay, “The Black Widow.” In his essay, Grice explains how his fear of black widow made him curious about them. He once feared black widows because most people associated black widows as deadly animals that kill people. However, once Grice said, “I fell, hands first, into a mass of young widows … In about ten minutes my arms carried nothing but old web and the husks of spiderlings eaten by their sibs. I have never been bitten” (47). This revelation for Grice shows that black widows aren’t what he had thought them to be, but in fact mostly harmless to humans. “We want the world to be an ordered room, but in a corner of that room there hangs an untidy web. Here the analytical
Think about a scary moment in your life. How did you handle the situation? How do you feel about how you handled it? Do you regret your actions? Everyone, at some point, is scared of something. Each person has different fears, reactions, and coping skills. Arachnophobia the fear of spiders and/or other arachnids leaves some crippled with fear, making them clam up, people with arachnophobia may avoid any situation where there could be a spider or even be paranoid about spiders under their toilet seat. A crippling fear has the power to alter a person’s life. The Central theme or universal lesson of Ernest Hemingway’s short story “The Short Happy Life of Francis
Throughout history, there have been hundreds of urban legends that have been told over and over again and have been passed down through generations. Over the years, there has also been much debate as to whether or not these legends are myths or if they actually have some truth to them. One legend in particular that there has been a debate on is The Spider Bite legend. This Legend has been told dating all the way back to the 1970’s and has had many variations of the story ever since. There has been extensive research throughout the years as to whether or not this legend is actually possible and although evidence has showed that this legend is most likely just a myth there have been stories in the news that have questioned the validity
Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I'll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I'll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can't my hands are shaking. Don't worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don't care if I spill it, just get some in the engine. Take another look around, is there a dog anywhere. OK, the oils in, now hurry get back in the car. I can't breath. I'm safely back in the car, now just take a minute and breath. When will my hands stop shaking." This is how a person with a phobia of dogs might feel. There is no dog around anywhere in sight, but the thought of a dog running at them barking is enough to cause a panic attack. In "Exploring Psychology" David G. Myers defines phobia as "an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation" (432). This paper will explore the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias.
The concept can be better understood through the example of a woman observed by researcher and psychiatrist Fraser Kent. This arachnophobic woman was so afraid of spiders that she would sweep, dust and vacuum twice a day to make sure spiders never settled in her home. She would clean, and then burn any bags coming from the grocery store to make sure that none entered the house from outside (2). This is an example of a person with OCD and a phobia. The obsessive-compulsive was birthed from her phobia. This greatly altered everyday life for her as she was fearful of leaving her house unless she knew her environment would be spider free. Unfortunately this is not an isolated case; there are many examples of the everyday lives of people worldwide that display the hardships of having a phobia and trying to lead a normal life. There are an estimated 26 million Americans alone living with a phobia. This ...
The ocean is the utmost amazing as well as the most mysterious place in the world, with hundreds of new species being discovered every year, in a place that takes about 70% of the earth's surface. This always makes people consider, “What else is out there?”. Thalassophobia is the fear of the ocean, a fear that countless people in the world suffer from. There is no clear number of people who suffer from thalassophobia, but there are multiple online groups dedicated to the phobia, with one of those having about 80,000 members.
There’s a monster under your bed, and there are ghosts in the attic. The Bogey man is in your closet and ravens await your death so they can pick from your rotting flesh. Flowers are ready to strangle you, as pickles prepare to choke you in the night. It’s almost funny to hear of people who actually fear flowers and pickles. But these people have real legit fears of even the nicest of things. Although these fears are horrible, and should not be feared; I think the more we know about them, the more we can be prepared. There must be a deeper meaning of these weird phobias. Is it nature? Or inherited traits of the human body? Maybe they come from past experiences? Even as these fears are quite interesting, but unwanted, I want to know why people acquire these ridiculous fears and how we could stop them.
Almost everyone alive has a fear of something whether it be heights, spiders or even clowns. Some people however have more serious issues with their fears, fears that follow them almost everywhere they go, these fears are called phobias. It is estimated that 4 to 5 percent of Americans have some type of phobia, which is an irrational fear of situations and certain objects. There are over 500 known phobias; a very common phobia is social phobia.
...6. Generalization from the original phobic stimulus to stimuli of a similar nature will occur; 7. Noxious experiences which occur under conditions of excessive confinement are more likely to produce phobic reactions; 8. Neutral stimuli which are associated with a noxious experience, may develop motivating properties. This acquired drive is termed the fear drive; 9. Responses (such as avoidance) which reduce the fear drive are reinforced; 10. Phobic reactions can be acquired vicariously (Rachman 31). These theories are used to identify how people obtain phobias and other situations that may occur with phobias.
Imagine you are sitting on your porch, and suddenly something starts moving in the grass, heading your direction. You lean forward out of curiosity. Then you see it, it stops; it appears to be staring at you. It is a disgusting, slimy-looking creature with fangs that is about to jump at you. Yes, it is a snake! You quietly sidle to the side, so it does not attack for you are afraid of its deadly venom. The feeling of faintness and dizziness overcomes you, which is a sign of anxiety. Moreover, you cry and scream hysterically after moving away from it. If you have experienced something similar, you may have a case of Ophidiophobia, the phobia or abnormal fear of snakes. Not to worry, there are cures for this phobia.
One of the characteristics of a phobia is a feeling that is greater than the fear of a situation or object with an exaggeration of the danger associated with the said situation or even object. This persistent fear often leads to an anxiety disorder that leads an individual to develop mechanisms that ensure one avoids the object or situation that triggers the occurrence of the phobia. Phobias can have highly debilitating effects on an individual including the development of depression, isolation, substance abuse, and even suicide. Many people take phobia for granted however, it is clear that it has the potential to impair the quality of life for both the affected and the people around them. The fact that many of the phobias are manageable using
Arachnida is a subphylum of Arthropoda, consisting of over 100 000 species, many of them being parasites which can carry disease. They are found in all environments, and mostly have eight legs, which is a feature, together with the fact that they do not have wings or antennae, often used to distinguish them from the other subphyla, though there are exceptions. They include spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites. Their bodies are divided up into three parts: the cephalothorax, the opisthosoma and the thorax, and use a type of lung for gas exchange. Most Arachnids are carnivorous, and eat pre-digested insects and other small animals. They reproduce using internal reproduction usually lay eggs, except for the scorpion which bears living young. The word ‘Arachnid’ comes from the Greek word ‘Arachne’ meaning ‘spider’.
...itude towards spiders is favorable… Although many people, especially in the West, feel a high degree of revulsion towards spiders and may in fact be frightened by them” (Mafham 1984). Living in the west, we have always been exposed to a fear of spiders in Hollywood movies or sudden reactions when someone sees one. The most important reason spiders are beneficial to humans is the control of insects. Spiders are huge predators for insects such as mosquitos, flies, and others; some which can often carry diseases deadly to humans. In addition to disease control, spider venom and silk can be used to benefit society. The silk has been used in eyepieces for guns or in an attempt to create textiles. The venom has more potential to reach more wide spread success in biotechnology where research shows it could benefit victims of heart attacks or Alzheimer’s disease.
As time progresses, many changes develop in society. For instance, fashions change, tastes change, habits change, and norms change as well. One of the biggest changes that has taken place over the years is the increase in dependency on technology and cell phones. According to an article, dated from from 2000 to 2004, there has been a 50% increase in the use of cell phones, ranging from 40 million to 60 million (Shuvra Mahmud). That was ten years ago, so the changes now must have increased even more. Similar to the increase in cell phone usage, there has also been an increase in the belief and diagnosis of nomophobia, the fear of being without a person’s cell phone. Although some scholars have argued that nomophobia is merely a high engagement of cell phone usage, various studies suggests that nomophobia is an actual phobia and that company advertisements are a probable cause for it.
In class, my teacher made me get in a group and put together a survey. On the survey we could ask any questions we wanted to, as long as it pertained to fear. Within the 2 days of passing around the survey and getting people to do the survey we ended up received many results. One specific question that shocked me when I saw the answers was“What was your fear, and why?”. Many people answered this question by saying spiders, snakes, drowning, flying, etc….. When I was reading these,I was expecting a different results more a deeper fear that has affected the way you look at that specific thing in life.