Book tip: put an end to the spider phobia!

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

The irrational fear of spiders is widespread. Around five percent of people know them from their own painful experience. You are not just disgusted with the eight-legged creatures, like many others. Rather, they panic at the sight of them. Some live in constant tension - because spiders can be encountered anytime and anywhere. A spider phobia can be brought under control. How, that explains the book "Don't be afraid of spiders!"

What's the matter?

A little booklet with a potentially big impact - if you dare! Because it takes some overcoming to face your fear of spiders.

The concept comes from exposure therapy. Well prepared, you master increasingly difficult situations in small steps.This starts with looking at a picture of a spider, for example, and at the end it may enable you to maneuver a spider out of the house with your own hands with the help of a glass and a piece of cardboard. It is essential that each participant can decide at each step how far they want to go.

The authors have now transferred their practical experiences from group therapy to overcome arachnophobia into a self-help book.

information

Every exposure therapy starts with information. Anyone who knows how fears arise and what function they have can then better classify and overcome them. And so the book begins with excursions into the psychology of fear, the development of phobias and how exposure therapy works.

There is also a lot to learn about spiders, especially their behavior. This is done with so much respect for the useful eight-legged creatures that maybe even a little sympathy arises. A separate chapter is devoted to common myths about spiders - do they lay eggs under human skin? Do we unknowingly swallow them while we sleep? Can you crawl out of the vacuum cleaner after vacuuming?

preparation

Mental preparation is everything. This includes a list of problems that you have already overcome in life - and what has helped you with them. In addition, a list of specific goals that the person concerned would like to achieve - and which they can achieve if they reduce their fear of spiders. In addition, simple relaxation exercises against rising panic.

confrontation

Finally it’s down to the nitty-gritty: In the "Courage program" worksheet, the fearful of spiders tackles specific projects in which they face their fears. For example, fetching supplies from the cellar. Thanks to an internal script, he has already imagined the process exactly and also played out how he would react if he discovered a spider web or even a spider. Then he faces the situation.

Who wrote it?

The three Swiss authors are extremely experienced in driving out spider fear: the psychologists Ursula Galli and Gianandrea Pallich and the zoologist Leandra Pörtner have developed a group therapy program for spider phobia. As part of courses that take place at the University of Zurich, among others, they have already been able to help many people get their fear of the crawlers under control.

Who cares?

This guide can help people who suffer from fear of spiders. Thanks to the enclosed information and worksheets, you can tackle your fear independently in order to feel and move more freely again. But relatives also learn to understand the fears of their loved ones, which seem nonsensical and exaggerated. They can also encourage them to stop letting it control them - and tackle the problem.

Last but not least, the book offers psychologically interested people an insight into the amazing effectiveness of exposure therapy - and into people's abilities to overcome strong fears.