Arachnophobia and Fear of Other Insects: Efficacy and Lessons Learned from Treatment Process

Abstract

The pathological fear of animals, spiders, bugs, mice, cats, or snakes, among others, can be severe enough to be considered a specific phobia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and the International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD-10) classifications. It falls under the animal subtype in both classifications. Using data from the Epidemiological Catchment Area Survey, Bourdon et al. revealed that the lifetime prevalence of specific phobias of spiders, bugs, mice, and snakes is about 7 % among women and 2 % among men. Using more reliable estimates from the National Comorbidity Survey, Curtis et al. found a lifetime prevalence rate of animal phobia of 5.7 % and the lifetime of non-pathological fears of animals to be around 25.8 %. Fredrickson et al. reported the point prevalence rate (actual rates of prevalence at the time of assessment) of specific phobias to be 5.5 % for snake phobia and 3.5 % for spider phobia. More recently, a large epidemiological study conducted in the USA reported a prevalence rate of 4.7 % for animal subtype-specific phobia in the general population. Since the large majority of studies using virtual reality (VR) have been conducted on the specific phobia of spiders, the theoretical context of this chapter will focus mostly on arachnophobia. However, VR studies on animal phobia in general will be described here.