She needs to do it, video tape it, and post on youtube! I would subscribe you op!

People with phobias can't just "get over it."

Says the person with the username spazz. Lol

15- "Just get over" your pot addiction, Miss 420. It's not like the withdrawal will kill you.

You've misunderstood what a phobia is... It's reacting with intense fear or repulsion to the sight of something. You're not "scared" per se, you don't temporarily get it in your head that the object is dangerous. You just get an extreme instantanous emotional reaction to the image. The fact that it isn't dangerous is completely irrelevant; it's the emotional reaction in itself that's horrible.

The problem with phobias is that people who don't have any, have a terribly hard time imagining what it's like. People without phobias do have fears they can just "get over", so it's easy to say people with a phobia should do the same. The problem with a phobia is that it's an irrational fear - you can't just reason it away.

In Psychology, it's called "stimulus generalization", where anything that resembles that the unconditioned stimulus (spiders) elicits the same unconditioned response (intense fear).... In other words, she can't "get over it"

Everything is all in your head. You can conquer fears. It is impossible for a picture on a phone to hurt you so for this chick to continually keep freaking out is ridiculous. . Use your rational brain. And just because I smoke pot means nothing.

What does me smoking pot have to do with anything??

Just how people need treatment for addiction, people often need therapy for phobias. I'm sure OP knows that the phone won't harm her, but the sight or even the thought of a spider can provoke an intense sense of fear. People can literally end up with a stress disorder because of a severe phobia. It's not "no big deal" and you can't "just get over it" just like how you can't "just get over" addiction. You really need to look up the difference between a fear and a phobia because anything that can require counseling is serious shit.

Not quite a good idea, such a reaction might reassure OP's boyfriend that it was only a joke and he could start a prank war - and next time OP knows, she'll be getting real spiders in her room.

It always is! I use it everyday, almost.....

Look at my post of 19. You can NOT just get over it! Do you have a phobia? If you do you would realize that it is impossible to just get over it

I do have a phobia which is a hell of a lot worse than a fear of spiders. This is still pretty damn funny to me. I guess that makes me a bad person, who knew?

It doesn't make you a bad person! Unless i am one too....

The fact that this verges on sadistic and he seems to be getting a laugh at the expense of someone he supposedly cares about is the issue here. If your significant other screwed with your phone so you couldn't use it or terrified you repeatedly so they could laugh at you, I wonder if you'd be so sympathetic.

Well, then you don't have aracnophobia. You just don't like spiders. There's a significant difference...

Nice one! Wish i had thought of it....

A phobia isn't just a fear of something. It's an irrational fear of something. A picture could be just as terrifying. Don't judge what you don't understand.

Phobias are weaknesses, and in the Natrual world, the weak are picked off and destroyed. It's a damn picture, therefore harmless. I've had phobias, but I've conquered them all. But never in my life have I been afraid of a photo. It's silly and I don't expect the girl to go out and pick up a living spider, but I mean come on, it's ridiculous that you can't allow yourself to access your phone due to a picture

55 there are people with phobias of cotton balls. You clearly don't understand the difference between a phobia and a fear.

#55: Actually, phobias for spiders and snakes are as common as they are because in the natural world, people who are acutely repulsed by the sight of them are quick to react and get away from them - which ensured that the aracnophobes survived before people learned how dangerous those animals were. The reason for avoiding them being rational or irrational, the aracnophobes still survived and reproduced. It's comparable to disliking poo. If you think about it, you don't actually avoid touching it because you know it's full of bacterias; you avoid it because you instinctively find it disgusting. This is evolution's way of ensuring that you don't touch your poo, even if you don't know exactly why.

All of your arguments are fine and well, with some exception to yours 79, as 90% of Arachnids and snakes are actually quite harmless, and even useful. I won't attempt to argue that point as I know in most cases with the misinformed, the point is moot. However, my point in this instance stands that it is a picture inside her iPhone, therefore by unlocking the screen, if she had common sense, she would know she is merely only swiping the screen that she always swipes only with a picture she finds repulsing. Not arguing her right to find the picture repulsing or to be afraid of a living spider, merely arguing the act that she should over come the fact that her phone is indeed still the same harmless phone as it was before the offending picture. Therefore, my argument that she can't unlock her phone and change the picture due to this fact stands that she is behaving quite immaturely as well as silly.

91- What don't you understand about phobias? It's not that hard of a concept to understand. If she has a phobia of spiders, then she has an irrational fear of them. Which means even just a picture of a spider would be enough. Just because you don't have a phobia like that, that doesn't mean it's impossible. I have a phobia of the dark. I can't "get over it." I just have a very irrational fear of it. There's no particular reason. I just do. Just looking outside of my window when it's dark out is terrifying for me. She isn't being "immature" or "silly." But you are being stupid.

You people stink