According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), phobias are one of the most common mental disorders in the U.S. Roughly about 9% of people in the country have specific phobias but it's possible that in reality, this number is even higher because mental disorders are often under-reported in the States due to the stigma surrounding them.
Arachnophobia, or the fear of spiders and other arachnids, is one of the most prevalent phobias. Just the mere sight of a spider can trigger a fear response, and in some cases, even an image of an arachnid or the thought of a spider can lead to feelings of overwhelming fear and panic.
But spiders can creep out regular folks too. Especially when they are caught by surprise.
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Spotted A Spider On A Traffic Light The Other Day And Decided To Snap This Cool Pic
There's a number of explanations for why phobias develop, including evolutionary and behavioral theories. One of the most common ones for this and similar animal phobias is that such creatures once posed a considerable threat to our ancestors — they lacked the medical know-how and technological tools to address injuries from animals and insects so as a result, evolution contributed to a predisposition to fear these creatures.
But even though there are an estimated 35,000 different species of spiders, only around a dozen pose danger to humans. However, they bring many benefits, too.
"Spiders play an essential part in maintaining ecological balance on earth," Tea, a spider enthusiast and advocate who runs an online project called scienTEAfic, told Bored Panda. "They form a vital link in the global food chain by preying on other invertebrates and small vertebrates, and also providing food for the animals that prey on them as well."
This Spider Hiding In My Garden
Perfectly Camouflaged Spider On My Cannabis Plant.
To be blunt, looks like he broke the grass ceiling and moved up to a higher life.
Currently Renovating Our Floors. Seems Everyone Has Come Out Of Hiding
To put it into context, without spiders, "we would experience insurmountable problems with agricultural failure and disease, to give two high impact examples. Not only this, but spider venom and silk proteins are extremely valuable in medical and technological research and advancement, which is pretty cool!"
In fact, spider silk is the first thing that comes to mind when Tea thinks of these creatures. "The fact that spiders are capable of producing a material so strong and so flexible, and using it in so many ways continues to blow my mind every day!"
"Some spin huge round orb webs that they sit and wait for prey to become ensnared in, some craft nets that they will hold with their feet & grab their prey in," the naturalist explained.
She's A Model And A Survivor
Jumping spiders are the only spider I can live with. I don't know how but they are so cute <3
Took A Photo For Biology Class, Noticed The Spider Sitting On The Seed After School
Glove Full Of Spiders
That is one of my worst fears - reaching into a glove with spiders inside
"Some spiders have excellent eyesight, but others are almost blind. Even species with such poor eyesight are able to hunt extremely effectively by using silk to amplify the vibrations of passing prey and enable them to pinpoint exactly where to strike! Some use their silk as little more than a safety line whilst they're out hunting, and some will use their silk to bind together debris from around their hideaway and make a seamlessly camouflaged trapdoor that they lie in wait beneath, ready to spring out at unsuspecting prey as it passes by!"
Play It By Ear
Wtf I would be running to a hospital making them get it out asap! Who has time for photos?! Imagine the noise 😨
A Spider Walked Along My Copy Of "This Book Is Full Of Spiders"
This is the rare irony spider, it only shows up if irony is present. As you can imagine, it was not present when Alannis Morisette recorded her hit song "Ironic". However it consented to write a footnote that the song was sung by a woman who doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word ironic ^-^ A fascinating creature indeed
One time I was on my laptop and I felt something weird on my hands, but I ignored it. A few seconds later a spider crawled into my screen and I almost flung my laptop into the wall
Normally I love books, but considering my arachnophobia? Think I’ll give this one a miss! 😂
Heads Up
Personally, Tea believes that arachnophobia is understandable and in many cases unavoidable. But the needless killing of spiders, or indeed anything, is not.
"I understand knee jerk reactions, but I think a lot of spider killing is unnecessary, harmful to the environment and so easily avoided with just a little bit of thought. I think by far the most powerful weapon against fear is knowledge, and it is my belief taking the time to learn and understand more about spiders will go a long way in helping a person no longer be afraid of them."
The Way This Spider Nested In A Beer Glass In My Garage
Went To Brush My Teeth This Morning When...
Got In My Car Last Night, Turned Around And Saw This. Australia’s "Huntsman" Spider. A Big One
According to Tea, spiders are much maligned in pop culture and the media, and that contributes to the fact that people develop fear and mistrust of them. However, if you give spiders the benefit of the doubt, you realize that they really are quite delightful, charismatic, and fascinating little creatures.
"I would like to add that for anyone who is afraid of spiders, there is a large community of spider enthusiasts on most social media platforms who would be only too happy to help them find resources to dispel myths and educate them on what spiders are really all about. Lots of cute pictures showing them in a completely different way to that which most people are used to seeing them, too!"
In fact, scienTEAfic is one of these places. Feel free to check it out on Instagram, Twitter, and Patreon.
There’s A Spider In My AC
My Biggest Fear When Sitting Down On The Toilet...
This Spider On My Back Porch Disguises Itself As A Stick To Fool Prey
Spider In A Snow Globe At Target
Cookie Monster
Have Some Extra Flavor
The coffee guaranteed to keep you awake, possibly for the rest of your life
Thanks I Hate This Cluster
Another Spider In The Car. Passenger Nearly Swung The Door Off
I’m Not Going Into The Kitchen Today! Ask Him To Make You Something
Woman Finds Black Widow Spider In Bag Of Grapes From Troy Walmart
Went To Take A Drink Of Water From My Cup And Saw This
This Huntsman Spider Was Trying To Connect To The Web
Yep. That Is Your Drawer Now. Wolf Spider Is Harmless But He Mentally Kicking My Butt
In Case You Couldn't Tell How Big The Spider Is
Held Hostage By A Giant Spider...
So I Found A Massive Rain Spider In My Bathroom
They May Be Sans Pepins But They Ain't Sans Spider
Big Spider Hiding
Sour Grapes
Found A Dead Spider Inside My Orange
Went To Go Take A Sip Of My Tea...
Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
Great, awesome. Thank you so much. Now I am checking every inch of my desk for "surprises"!
I will have nightmares tonight.... i need a post with kitties to calm myself down
Load More Replies...I have failed you then. Made it past the first 4 and was done. Don't know why I even started this post with a mild case of arachnophobia...
Load More Replies...As long as I know they are there, me and spiders can be bros till the end. They do thier thing and I do mine and alls good. But when they get sneaky and hide in wait to scare me into crapping myself, the lil bastards gotta go.
Yeah! You'll have to remove the spiders and all animals from the houses first before setting them on fire.
Load More Replies...Thank you bored panda! Now I’m never gonna be able to sleep again! <3
Here's a spider we had at our camp in NNY- that's a 2x6 she is on. spider-201...c54e7e.jpg
I'm arachnophobic, and I once discovered a spider in my exfoliating glove. I was in the shower when I spotted a spider's leg on my shoulder. Just a leg. Unmistakably from a spider. Bad news. Looked everywhere around me, no spider to be seen. Then it dawned on me. I remember my gaze slowly diverting to the glove itself, in what was probably a milisecond, but it seemed to take ages, and realising there was a large dark spot at the end, where my fingers where as well. Never chucked anything away that fast or put on a towel that fast ever again. I RAN out of that shower crying.
When I go camping I take my kids spider spotting at night. We have our head lamps on and scour the area to see who can see a sparkle first (reflection from the spiders eyes). You would be amazed at how many spiders there are in such a small area. First time I saw the sparkle, I thought ooh, someone must have lost some jewellery but when I went to pick the sparkly thing up, it moved and realised it was a spider.
Am I the only one who's cool with spiders? I mean, they do have very cute fluffy paws
I should not have come here with my arachnophobia (Every time I see even a tiny spider I start panicking). Now I'm never going to be sure anywhere I go is spider free.
I had a spider crawl out of my sink, it wasn't small either, all I wanted to do was take a brush my teeth after taking a shower. I also know I have arachnophobia so I shouldn't have read this article :) now I'm going to have nightmares.
Talking about burning and killing spiders really needs to stop. It's really toxic. People need to start respecting other living creatures, and not only those that look good or are beneficial to humans... Also, we have so many insect species about to extinct, and it's tragic.
Once in my brother's room, there was a huntsman spider that was about the size of my dad's hand. Also, i was always afraid to go near the old barbecue because there was a giant spider that lived behind it... Australia is full of them, i swear..
So I was visiting my cousins in India, and there was a big ass spider chilling inside the bathroom mirror. I don’t have a fear of spiders but my sister does.
Was about to car-camp for the night during a trip across California, when I looked up and saw about a 3cm spider in the ceiling grip handle. I have obviously never forgotten it.
Sped through all the above to post that I use to go camping on the Merced River in California. One time I was washing my hair in the rapids and was joined by a tarantula who decided to do a little white water rafting without a raft. First time I experienced a swimming spider and it was way faster than I was trying to scale slippery rocks with a head full of suds.
I have a spider protocol. If I find it during the day, in the kitchen, sitting still, or on a ceiling (not over my head) it has a 50% chance I'll catch it and relocate it. If it's in the bathroom, bedroom, or I'm naked, mother f****r gotta die. If it startled the s**t out of me by moving suddenly into view during the evening when I'm alone, first I sic my cats on it till I calm down, then I kill it because my cats are useless and never finish the job.
Stop killing spiders for nothing :( poor things crawling to your house by accident...
Load More Replies...Oh my ... I hate to have to do this, but I'd even more hate to not do this despite having to ... anyway, please get over the habit of killing spiders "just because". They're NEVER intending to do you any harm, let alone plot an assassination. Educate yourself about the spiders in your place of residence. Know how to identify dangerous ones. Learn which, regardless of their abilities in harming humans, can pose a threat to your pets. Tarantulas' poison won't do much to a human, but dogs or cats, as predators of the next bigger size, who might try to hunt and eat Tarantulae, are the natural target of their defensive poison. They don't hunt using webs or other traps or by paralyzing their prey, but by wrestling them immobile. But, anyway and especially to my fellow europeans, who don't know dangerous or large spiders from the wild (a body of a human thumb's size is, in germany, considered huge - the spiders we considers small are invisible to Australians, or qualify as aeroplankton, ...), don't kill them, thro them out. Ballistic relocation, this is called, and it has the benefit of neither killing the spider, nor praising a human for executing that atrocious AH-habit. In case you're a genuine sufferer of Arachnophobia - seek help. It's not your fault, but neither the spiders'.
Conclusion- spiders like hot drinks and digital displays🤔 who would have thunk!
Trying again - came out the back door of my garage to find this lady attached to her web on the outside - call her Charlotte. She's a Golden Orb Web spider. 45-Apr-201...a8c1c6.jpg
Oh this reminds me... there's still a decent-sized spider in my laundry room
I tried. I tried to make it all the way through the whole list. . .but instead now I am going to scour my bathroom, do ALL my laundry again, throw out my grapes and might just set fire to my garage to be safe. Cheers!
Where the hell do y'all live that the spiders are as big as your hand?!
Well.... I'm never sleeping again... or eating....or living in my house....anyone else?
A few years ago I go below my car to fix something and found myself with a black widow right above my face, and way too close for comfort. At the same house, I was having a chat and my fingers came across something on the bed, it felt like a piece of lint / thread rolled in a ball which I rolled between my fingers until I realized that it was a brown spider. Since it's SoCal, could have been a brown recluse... I'll never know
Went kayaking with my daughter for the 1st time last week. We were paddling close to shore for some photos, when my face narrowly avoided a whole cluster of baby spiders. Just ew.
God watching this makes me feel sick to my stomach and deathly scared
My husband always comes out with this stupid rhyme: "If you wish to live and thrive, let a spider run alive". I've usually killed the bastard by the time he gets to the second line. Just nope.
Great, awesome. Thank you so much. Now I am checking every inch of my desk for "surprises"!
I will have nightmares tonight.... i need a post with kitties to calm myself down
Load More Replies...I have failed you then. Made it past the first 4 and was done. Don't know why I even started this post with a mild case of arachnophobia...
Load More Replies...As long as I know they are there, me and spiders can be bros till the end. They do thier thing and I do mine and alls good. But when they get sneaky and hide in wait to scare me into crapping myself, the lil bastards gotta go.
Yeah! You'll have to remove the spiders and all animals from the houses first before setting them on fire.
Load More Replies...Thank you bored panda! Now I’m never gonna be able to sleep again! <3
Here's a spider we had at our camp in NNY- that's a 2x6 she is on. spider-201...c54e7e.jpg
I'm arachnophobic, and I once discovered a spider in my exfoliating glove. I was in the shower when I spotted a spider's leg on my shoulder. Just a leg. Unmistakably from a spider. Bad news. Looked everywhere around me, no spider to be seen. Then it dawned on me. I remember my gaze slowly diverting to the glove itself, in what was probably a milisecond, but it seemed to take ages, and realising there was a large dark spot at the end, where my fingers where as well. Never chucked anything away that fast or put on a towel that fast ever again. I RAN out of that shower crying.
When I go camping I take my kids spider spotting at night. We have our head lamps on and scour the area to see who can see a sparkle first (reflection from the spiders eyes). You would be amazed at how many spiders there are in such a small area. First time I saw the sparkle, I thought ooh, someone must have lost some jewellery but when I went to pick the sparkly thing up, it moved and realised it was a spider.
Am I the only one who's cool with spiders? I mean, they do have very cute fluffy paws
I should not have come here with my arachnophobia (Every time I see even a tiny spider I start panicking). Now I'm never going to be sure anywhere I go is spider free.
I had a spider crawl out of my sink, it wasn't small either, all I wanted to do was take a brush my teeth after taking a shower. I also know I have arachnophobia so I shouldn't have read this article :) now I'm going to have nightmares.
Talking about burning and killing spiders really needs to stop. It's really toxic. People need to start respecting other living creatures, and not only those that look good or are beneficial to humans... Also, we have so many insect species about to extinct, and it's tragic.
Once in my brother's room, there was a huntsman spider that was about the size of my dad's hand. Also, i was always afraid to go near the old barbecue because there was a giant spider that lived behind it... Australia is full of them, i swear..
So I was visiting my cousins in India, and there was a big ass spider chilling inside the bathroom mirror. I don’t have a fear of spiders but my sister does.
Was about to car-camp for the night during a trip across California, when I looked up and saw about a 3cm spider in the ceiling grip handle. I have obviously never forgotten it.
Sped through all the above to post that I use to go camping on the Merced River in California. One time I was washing my hair in the rapids and was joined by a tarantula who decided to do a little white water rafting without a raft. First time I experienced a swimming spider and it was way faster than I was trying to scale slippery rocks with a head full of suds.
I have a spider protocol. If I find it during the day, in the kitchen, sitting still, or on a ceiling (not over my head) it has a 50% chance I'll catch it and relocate it. If it's in the bathroom, bedroom, or I'm naked, mother f****r gotta die. If it startled the s**t out of me by moving suddenly into view during the evening when I'm alone, first I sic my cats on it till I calm down, then I kill it because my cats are useless and never finish the job.
Stop killing spiders for nothing :( poor things crawling to your house by accident...
Load More Replies...Oh my ... I hate to have to do this, but I'd even more hate to not do this despite having to ... anyway, please get over the habit of killing spiders "just because". They're NEVER intending to do you any harm, let alone plot an assassination. Educate yourself about the spiders in your place of residence. Know how to identify dangerous ones. Learn which, regardless of their abilities in harming humans, can pose a threat to your pets. Tarantulas' poison won't do much to a human, but dogs or cats, as predators of the next bigger size, who might try to hunt and eat Tarantulae, are the natural target of their defensive poison. They don't hunt using webs or other traps or by paralyzing their prey, but by wrestling them immobile. But, anyway and especially to my fellow europeans, who don't know dangerous or large spiders from the wild (a body of a human thumb's size is, in germany, considered huge - the spiders we considers small are invisible to Australians, or qualify as aeroplankton, ...), don't kill them, thro them out. Ballistic relocation, this is called, and it has the benefit of neither killing the spider, nor praising a human for executing that atrocious AH-habit. In case you're a genuine sufferer of Arachnophobia - seek help. It's not your fault, but neither the spiders'.
Conclusion- spiders like hot drinks and digital displays🤔 who would have thunk!
Trying again - came out the back door of my garage to find this lady attached to her web on the outside - call her Charlotte. She's a Golden Orb Web spider. 45-Apr-201...a8c1c6.jpg
Oh this reminds me... there's still a decent-sized spider in my laundry room
I tried. I tried to make it all the way through the whole list. . .but instead now I am going to scour my bathroom, do ALL my laundry again, throw out my grapes and might just set fire to my garage to be safe. Cheers!
Where the hell do y'all live that the spiders are as big as your hand?!
Well.... I'm never sleeping again... or eating....or living in my house....anyone else?
A few years ago I go below my car to fix something and found myself with a black widow right above my face, and way too close for comfort. At the same house, I was having a chat and my fingers came across something on the bed, it felt like a piece of lint / thread rolled in a ball which I rolled between my fingers until I realized that it was a brown spider. Since it's SoCal, could have been a brown recluse... I'll never know
Went kayaking with my daughter for the 1st time last week. We were paddling close to shore for some photos, when my face narrowly avoided a whole cluster of baby spiders. Just ew.
God watching this makes me feel sick to my stomach and deathly scared
My husband always comes out with this stupid rhyme: "If you wish to live and thrive, let a spider run alive". I've usually killed the bastard by the time he gets to the second line. Just nope.