Eight-legged Freaks
According to recent news stories, we are about to see an increase of giant, biting, false widow spiders in our homes as wet weather sets in. Rest assured that false widows are no bigger than any other house spider. They are not aggressive and certainly not deadly.
Nevertheless, a fear of spiders, even tiny ones, can be very controlling. For some people it can make them afraid to go into a room or, in extreme cases, their house, if they believe a spider to be present.
But why?
So why is this fear so common? It helps to look at the origins of phobias. Generally phobias arise from two causes:
The first is from a traumatic experience early in life, a sort of one-stop learning; my big brother had a phobia of wasps after being stung on the tongue at the age of two, on two separate occasions!
The second is learned behaviour from someone influential during our childhood who already has a phobia. Upon seeing their response our clever brains assume that it would be beneficial to be afraid of this obviously dangerous thing; I developed a phobia of wasps after seeing my brother’s reaction to having one nearby, even though I had never been stung myself.
I believe it is this second cause that results in phobias being passed on from parent to child. We learn so many crucial life skills from our parents that keep us safe. How does our brain keep us safe? It makes us fear something so much that we would never put ourselves in a situation whereby we had to face it. It is very effective, but sometimes too effective.
So, what can we do about it?
Hypnotherapy is a powerful and rapid tool for helping to eradicate fears and phobias, with results frequently after a single session. With a fear of spiders, just like a fear of needles, or buttons, or flying, this can be life changing.
If you have a fear or phobia that is affecting your enjoyment of your own home, it’s easy to get in touch with us by Messenger, phone, email or WhatsApp, and find out how we can help. Remember, eight-legged freaks only really come out of Hollywood.
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