Some facts about arachnophobia and related concerns:

1) While a mild wariness of potentially venomous creatures may be innate, the argument that arachnophobia is instinctive is doubtful at best. In most cases, a fear of spiders is learned through cultural perceptions, or by observing family members displaying such fear. Places that have more spiders typically have an overall calmer view of them. In some cultures, they are even considered a delicacy. Inversely, areas that have fewer spiders tend to have more arachnophobes.

2) Spider venom is rarely dangerous. In most cases, spider venom will only cause severe reactions if the bitten person is allergic or has some other underlying condition. Even the most potent venom can take hours to cause a fatal reaction, usually enough time to get medical attention. See this for more detailed information.

3) Most spiders are shy, and will only bite when hunting or out of options for defending themselves. Even then, they will seldom inject venom, as wasting such a valuable substance can be costly to the spider's long-term survival. In most cases, spiders prefer to run when confronted with an enemy.

4) Overall, the existence of spiders is beneficial to humans. They make the planet more liveable by controlling the population of other insects that could cause much greater harm by damaging crops and spreading disease. They are, arguably, one of the most useful and helpful kinds of arthropod.

I know they're mostly nice and beneficial, but they still squick me out!

I can understand that they are beneficial but I am terrified of them. I blame it on finding a gigantic spider on the wall when I was just a little kid, now even ones that are tiny scare me.

I know they are extremely beneficial, but I wouldn't say that I love them. I do not have an unnatural fear of them either.

I used to have a friend who had 2 scorpions as pets. They aren't spiders, but they are in the arachnid family. I held them and petted them. They were very docile and pleasant, even though I accidentally poked one in its eyes without knowing any better.

Spiders do not bother me at all, but my husband is deathly scared of them.

I hate spiders. I scream like a little girl every time I see one, and make my hubby kill them. Eh. I like spider man, though!

I absolutely understand that spiders are generally harmless, but I do have a serious phobia. Just imagining a spider crawling out at my across my desk right now makes my heart speed up and breath shorten. Total physical freak-out reaction. They aren't evil, for sure, but they do scare the fuck out of me, haha

I'm indifferent with spiders...unless they're in the shower above me. If something is seeing me naked with 8 eyes, there's something wrong about it and it must go down the drain. No smashing, just water slide fun

my love for spiders goes as far as the man

Scared shitless of them, borderlining arachnaphobia, as they've sparked me to have Sleep Terror Disorder, but I still think their faces are cute.

I just realized two things: first, one of my poll options is redundant - I meant it to say, "Indifferent: I don't like them, but I don't mind that they're there." Second, I accidentally mentioned spiders killing other insects, implying that spiders themselves are insects, which they are not.

D'OH!

This? Is so me

I have been terrified of spiders since my parents took me to watch Arachnophobia in a drive in when I was 3. Recently it hasn't been so bad because I have been forcing myself to either touch or look at facts ones. I have even been able to catch and release them.

I blame the movie Arachnophobia. I saw it when I was young and haven't been able to really deal with spiders ever since. It's so bad I can't even touch a picture.

I don't like very small spiders, but tarantulas I'm fine with. Is that strange? Probably.

I'm terrified by them. I like tarantulas though cuz' they're fuzzy. It makes no sense.

I know they cant hurt me but I am scared from the crawlies.

i actually majoring in arachnology and have a immense love for the little critters.

did you know that in north america there are only TWO deadly spider varieties?

1. Black Widow
2. Brown Recluse

as stated in the first post, they are rarely deadly. the only time they kill people is when ZERO medical attention is administered until it is too late (5+ hours after bite)

Not my fingers

isnt genetic diversity fantastic>

dont look down...

I'm okay with them in a controlled environment, and I've been on and off considering a tarantula terrarium (I have an empty 10 gallon tank).

Something about big fuzzy tarantula's scares me less than tiny unexpected spiders.

I think it's really the fast-moving and tiny part I can't deal with, not the "spider" part. I admit, I'm a bit picky about "keeping track of things" and having a spider I KNOW is in my bedroom, but not knowing WHERE drives me crazy.

I think it's really a control issue - knowing they can sneak up on me without my permission. I actually remember having a conversation that went that direction - about a fear of small things like that being related to control and feeling violated more than the creature itself.