Talk:Arachnophobia

Suggestion to remove the spider pictures in the discussion section

Considering the nature of the article, maybe there shouldn't be spider pictures in this discussion section. Just a thought.

Umm.. yes please. I am not aware of how things work on discussion pages (and in editing wikipedia in general) so I won't try it. If this causes problems because encyclopedic content should have pictures, wouldn't a link to spiders with "see images here" somewhere do the job? Are there pictures of murdered people in the murder article/discussion? 70.82.212.148 04:35, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Question

Are there any good guides on how to overcome the phobia? Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by an Unknown User (talk • contribs)

Spiders aren't deserving of such consideration. They should only be squashed! -Northridge, August 18, 2006 12:49 AM Central

Picture

Surely there shouldn't be a picture of a spider on a page about aracnophobia -- visitors with the condition may be looking for information and would not be pleased to be greeted with such an image. -- Oniony

I agree, pictures of spiders should go on spider and related pages but not here. I've removed the picture. --Theresa

Yeah, I was wondering if that would be appropriate. Sorry aracnophobes. --Mr Anthem 01:39, Jun 17, 2005 (UTC) (An aracnophobe with a sick sense of humor)

Seriously, what the hell. Startled me. Why doesn't somebody just remove it? (PowerGamer6 03:24, 23 April 2006 (UTC))

Thanks,I took the precaution of switching images off in the browser. Anyone tries that immersion technique on me will regret it! — Preceding unsigned comment added by PrivateWiddle (talk • contribs)

I deleted the image. Seemed like it was meant to be offensive to arachnophobics. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Panoz (talk • contribs)

I thinking of replacing this picture with | this one. Should I? Josh215 05:36, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm sort of glad I only have mild Arachnophobia. Like I don't have a problem with pictures of them or knowing they're in the same room, but get them any closer than 10 feet and I'd probably try to kill a moose. Stormscape 18:14, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

There is no reason whatsoever for censorship in encyclopedia. Image restored. Mukadderat 21:15, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I think the picture should be removed, not in censorship, but because if someone who is extremely afraid of spiders sees this page that would most definitely frighten them. There is no picture of a snake at Ophidiophobia nor is there a picture of a lizard at Herpetophobia. If it was absolutely necessary that there be a photo, it should at least be a smaller, less "I'm a giant tarantula that's right in your face" photo, possibly of a non-poisonous spider. I am removing it. If it is needed for encyclopedia related reasons, these articles and all the other phobia related articles should have pictures as well. Lizzysama 04:36, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Anyone agrees that the image shoud be permanently removed? It's not like people actually need to see a picture of a spider to know what the article talks about (or, if they really need to, they can always check the link), so it's not for knowledge sake. It's a matter of respect, since the phobia itself comports anxiety by the mere looking at spiders images; don't make me laugh with such a lousy excuse as 'censorship'. I mean, just like others said before me, the article on ophidiophobia doesn't show a photo of a snake, since there's a great chance whoever is looking for informations about a phobia suffers from it.. it's quite taunting to put a detailed tarantula image on a page that should be visited by arachnophobics looking for insight about their fear. Not really something that should happen on Wikipedia, lol. I'm going to remove it again for now, in the name of respect. Siggie 23:47, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

heh

I have to admit, even as an arachnophobic I had to laugh at the "im gonna get you" comment under the picture in the page history.

Even though they were in poor taste, I have to admit it was funny myself. Stormscape 16:12, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Cause of Arachnophobia

"Arachnophobia is, in many cases, the result of a traumatizing encounter with spiders in one's early childhood, though the experience may not be remembered."

Is there any evidence for this? It sounds like simplistic Freudian dogma to me. Perhaps it should be expressed more hypothetically. 195.212.29.83 13:33, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

You're right. It does sound dubious. I always thought it was generally just a lifetime of cultural conditioning and societal influences, but I have no sources to back this up. BennyD 06:53, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Personally my arachnophobia is caused by traumatic experience - however is it accurate to claim that it's the case for everyone?

I cannot personally remember anything that caused my arachnophobia, be it a childhood experience or anything else. But I personally know a few arachnophobic's who' phobia was caused by a traumatic experience. Such as my friend who's father killed a rather large spider on her pillow one night, she woke up to him killing it right next to her face... As for the theory on "Traumatic Childhood experiences" causing phobias, its not so much a "Fredian dogma" case as it seems. There seems to be a high number of cases in which fear is learned through either association with something else that's scary (Such as loud sounds) or more commonly it seems, through learned behavior as a small child or even as a baby. I remember watching a show on The Science Channel about phobias where they took a small child and give him a rabbit, which he played with. Then they held the rabbit to him and made loud noises and scared the child with mask (Note this was an experiment conducted probable before 1950). After they sacred the child with the various things and the rabbit, they handed him just the rabbit, to which he screamed in fear. It also seems phobias are a learned behavior where children will see someone, usually a parent or sibling, react badly to something, and thus see's that thing or object as something bad or to be feared. I assume this is where my phobia comes from, as both my parents did not like spiders, and I am a 5'10" 315lbs guy who screams like a nancy boy at the sight of a spider. So these seem to be the two main causes of phobias for people. Early childhood trauma and Learned Behavior, which the second of the two, seems to have far more evidence. It could be argued that for the case of Learned Behavior, a majority of our learning basic skills is done within the first 3 or so years of our life. Seeing someone older react to something harshly, may trigger a fear. The same can be said for learning a language, babies learn to talk through observation, and the same could be said for a fear. It should also be noted that babies are normally afraid of nothing physical. Place a small child with a snake, spider, lizard, dog, cat, anything, and that child will not show fear, assuming the animal doesn't hurt it.--Azslande 13:59, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Surely you could have a traumatic experience with almost any animal or object? This hypothesis does nothing to explain why a fear of spiders should be so much more common than almost any other fear.

By contrast, people I know with a phobia to dogs remember clearly the incident that caused it (usually involving getting bitten). I'm convinced that the extremely high incidence of arachnophobia requires a far more subtle explanation - hypothecating hundreds of millions of isolated incidences of 'childhood trauma' is at best improbable.

I certainly know my own phobia is nothing to do with conditioning - all I remember is my parents telling me not to be so silly! 23:20, 4 September 2006 (UTC)