Can I cure my fear of spiders?

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Can I cure my fear of spiders? Thanks for asking.

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If just thinking of spiders is enough to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, or you jump anytime you see one, the chances are you suffer from arachnophobia. It affects up to 15% of people according to the Cleveland Clinic, making it one of the most common phobias out there. I just can't help being afraid of them, even the tiny ones.

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As it turns out, human fear of spiders may well be down to evolution.

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Researchers from Germany, Austria and Sweden looked into the question in more detail for a study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2017. To understand the phobia, they exposed six-month-old babies to images of spiders and snakes. The babies' pupils dilated five times more than when shown control images of flowers and fish.

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Dilated pupils are associated with a heightened state of arousal and mental processing. This may be because such creatures have historically provided a threat. Some other studies have also backed up the idea of an inherited fear of spiders.

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But my friend keeps spiders as pets. Why doesn't she have the same fear as me?

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While arachnophobia may be innate to some extent, it's still possible to become desensitized. As children grow up, they learn about their natural surroundings. Parental reinforcement can also have an impact. For example, if a mother or father is shocked and terrified when their child is bitten by a spider, the child may well go on to associate spiders with danger.

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According to the Mayo Clinic, most specific phobias such as arachnophobia develop by the age of 10, but they can also occur at any point in life. Generally speaking, a negative experience with a spider is often the root of the phobia.

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So can it be cured? The only real treatment option involves different forms of therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy or exposure therapy, which is specifically designed for phobias. It generally sees a patient gradually exposed to a stimulus in a safe environment.

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For example, you might start by simply discussing spiders with your therapist, then looking at cartoon drawings, realistic drawings and real photos. The final steps would involve being in a room with a spider and then holding one in your hand. This happens over a number of sessions and you only move from one step to the next when you're comfortable.

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The time that takes varies depending on the level of phobia the patient has. And in fact, new technologies have brought along new ways of defeating a fear of spiders. Patients can learn to control their reactions through use of a virtual reality headset or augmented reality. In both cases, the results have been impressive.