Y


ou’re deep in a dark rain forest. Water


drips down your neck. High overhead, a harpy eagle screeches. Closer by, a monkey cries. Suddenly, something brushes against your


arm. You jump. Phew! It’s only a vine. Nothing to worry about. You take deep breaths and try to slow your


pounding heart. T en you feel something scratchy on your leg. It’s just the vine, you tell yourself. T en you think, It’s moving... You look down—and scream. T at’s no vine.


T ere’s a huge, hairy spider crawling up your leg. It’s a Goliath bird-eating tarantula. T e spider’s eight shiny eyes glare at you.


It hisses angrily and raises its legs. Deadly venom drips from its giant fangs. Forget about eating birds. T is spider looks big and bad enough to eat you! Your fight-or-flight response kicks in. Run!


you scream silently. Yet your brain tells you to freeze. You can’t move. You gasp for breath. Your heart bangs against your chest. Your palms sweat. You feel sick to your stomach. Your eyes dart back and forth, desperately looking for an escape route. You’ve just come face-to-face with your worst nightmare.


orange baboon tarantula


Believe It…


Look at the photo of the green huntsman spider (below). That’s its real size. To a person with a phobia, though, it looks like this (right).


That’s because fear changes our perception, or how we see things. It can make something look bigger or more dangerous than it really is.


4


Frozen in Fear Facing a giant spider can make anyone jumpy.


T is fear is normal. It can come from instinct. T at’s a natural reaction to creepy-crawly critters and other scary things. It can also come from memories. When something bad happens, we learn to be afraid of that situation. For some people, though, the reaction is


much worse than feeling a little jumpy. T ey freeze in fear. T ey can’t move. T ey can’t think clearly. Terror takes over. T ese people have a phobia, or a super-size fear. People with phobias even feel terror when they are in little or no danger. Take the tarantula. It’s scary, but it’s not


deadly to humans. People aren’t even its prey. T ose facts don’t matter to people with a spider phobia. All they see is danger. Just thinking about a spider can make their heart pound. Seeing a photo of one can cause panic. People with phobias go to extremes to avoid


what scares them. T at can be hard. Something scary might be around any corner... or on the next page. Maybe it’s snakes or other creepy critters. Maybe it’s heights or other scary places. If this describes you, stop reading. If not,


read on. You’re about to experience what it’s like to have a phobia. Don’t worry if your skin crawls. Remember, a little fear is normal.


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