Creepy Crawlies. What's the Deal with Spiders and Rodents Fearing People?
It is likely that you have many friends, family members, and acquaintances who are strongly against rodents. Many people's reactions vary from fear and fascination to disgust when faced with something like the sewer rat or the wild tarantula. Why is this fear so widespread?
The Human History of a Strained Relationship
Let's be honest, rodents can and do cause problems for humans. Humans have experienced pest control problems in the past with rodents and mice eating crops, food stored for extreme conditions, and even our own food. Rats are often associated with the disease. For generations, rats were blamed for the plague that decimated millions of people in Europe. Emerging research suggests, however, that the real culprits could be human parasites, such as lice and fleas.
Scientists have speculated that spider phobia is the result of genetics. This theory is supported by research that compared infants' reactions when they saw images of spiders or snakes to those of flowers or fish. A significantly greater "fight or flee" response was seen in babies when they saw pictures of spiders and snakes as compared to those of flowers and fish. These reactions could indicate that spider bites can be dangerous to humans and have been passed down through generations.
It started in my childhood...
A lot of phobias can be traced back to childhood trauma. A traumatic experience can have a long-lasting impact and cause anxiety or fear when the victim is around the same thing. If, for example, you were bitten by spiders as a child and witnessed others suffering the same pain, that could have been enough to cause you to suffer from arachnophobia. That is one of my top childhood fears.
Certain phobias can be combined with other ones. People with mysophobia (the fear and fear of germs) might also be afraid of mice and rats due to the diseases these rodents can transmit and carry.
Attack of the Killer - Phobias reinforced by popular culture
"Charlotte's Web," "Ratatouille", and other mainstream entertainment shows that spiders aren't always seen as helpful or friendly. These creatures have long been known to live in haunted and cryptic places and have served as familiars for some dangerous and unusual characters (think Willard). Some of them can even be "supersized", turning into evil-doing, monster-creating monsters such as the giant Spiders in The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. These portrayals reinforce our fear of rodents or spiders.
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