INTRODUCTIONHollywood made a pretty bad movie about it Arachnophobia, but for some the movie was excruciating if they even went to see it. The cast certainly was amazing:John Goodman (Roseanne), Kathy Kinney (The DrewCarey Show), and Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber).But it doesnt take a movie to frighten people whosuffer from arachnophobia. Spiders can be anywhere andeverywhere. That fact alone strikes terror into the hearts ofthose who hold this phobia in their minds.This author has never really had a problem withspiders. When I see them, I find the closest shoe and sendthem on to spider heaven. I dont want them crawling allover me, but if I see one, I dont get freaked out. Now showme a snake and its a different story. So I understand!God did not make spiders cute and cuddly. He did notmake them fun or even interesting well, to most people.After all, they just kind of crawl around and lurk in darkspaces occasionally spinning a web for you to get all overyour face if you walk through it. Around Halloween, this canbe great handmade decorations! But at other times, itsjust a nuisance.Then you have to consider those spiders that arepoisonous. Media outlets have made all of us increasinglyaware of the dangers of brown recluse spiders and thephysical damage they can wreak on the human body. Thenyou have to consider the deadly Tarantulas, and otherpoisonous spiders that can be lurking just underneath yourhouse.Perhaps this is why people are afraid of spiders because they can be everywhere. Arachnophobia is a veryreal fear for many people. Almost half of all women sufferfrom a fear of spiders and about 10 percent of men sharethat fear.Fear of spiders, just like other phobias, is a very realcondition for many people. It is one that they often wishthey could get over just for the sense of normalcy. Insteadof shrieking in fright at the sight of a spider, they wish theydo like I do and just grab a shoe sending that spider into thegreat unknown. But theyre not able to do that: at least notyet.There are ways to overcome the fear of spiders. Letstake a good look at why people are afraid of spiders, howphobias develop, and ways to overcome that fear and lead asatisfying life right alongside those 8 legged creatures.WHAT IS A PHOBIA?Phobia comes from the Greek word for fear. It is astrong, persistent fear of situations, objects, activities, orpersons. The main symptom of this disorder is theexcessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject.When the fear is beyond ones control or if the fear isinterfering with daily life then a diagnosis under one of theanxiety disorders can be made.So, in essence, phobias are a type of anxiety disordermuch along the lines of panic and fear. An American studyby the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found thatbetween 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias.Broken down by age and gender, the study found thatphobias were the most common mental illness amongwomen in all age groups and the second most commonillness among men older than 25.Phobias affect people of all ages, from all walks of life,and in every part of the country. The American PsychiatricInstitute for Research and Education (APIRE) has reportedthat in any given year, 7.8% of American adults havephobias. They are the most common psychiatric illnessamong women of all ages and are the second most commonillness among men older than 25.Phobias are among several anxiety disorders, whichalso include panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder,and obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxietydisorder. Such unrealistic or excessive fear of objects orsituations is a psychological disorder that can makes lifemiserable for years.Phobias should not be confused with fear. Fear is muchless dramatic than a phobia. According to the dictionary,the word "fear" denotes a painful feeling of impendingdanger, evil; trouble etcthe feeling or condition of beingafraid. While fear is a consequence of a phobia, it is not thedefinition of it. It is simply a symptom.Phobia is also used in a non-medical sense foraversions of all sorts. These terms are usually constructedwith suffix phobia. A number of these terms describenegative attitudes or prejudices toward the named subject.Some examples include homophobia (fear or dislike ofhomosexuals), xenophobia (fear or dislike of strangers), andeven Christianophobia (fear or dislike of Christians).It is possible for an individual to develop a phobia overvirtually anything. The name of a phobia generally containsa Greek word for what the patient fears plus the suffix phobia as we have said. Creating these terms can become atype of word game, however, few of these terms are foundin medical literature.Still, many people wear their phobic badges aroundtheir family and friends. They may be claustrophobic (afraidof closed in spaces), agoraphobic (afraid of wide openspaces or crowds), hydrophobic (afraid of water), orgenophobic (afraid of sex). The list goes on and on.