Well if it's a movie about spiders, and if someone's so deathly afraid of spiders, they might not even be able to pick up the dvd box if a spider is pictured on the box itself. And yes, this level of arachnophobia is entirely possible. There are people so deathly afraid of spiders they can't even go within an arm's length of a PICTURE of a spider.

That used to be me. When I was younger, I would totally lose it when I saw even a daddy longlegs or one of those harmless little black spiders. Today, my arachnophobia is a bit better, though even a picture or video of a giant tarantula will scare me like absolutely nothing else in the world can scare me. Literally. Whenever you see a picture of a big hairy tarantula, and especially a video, you automatically brace yourself and get really jittery and practically cry. Curiously, though, I have never, ever found black widows scary. Even at the height of my arachnophobia, I found them a bit cute. So yes, the fear is pretty irrational.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything negative about people who suffer from arachnophobia to that level. I can fully understand it because to a lesser degree I too have arachnophobia. Now, okay I *can* watch movies about spiders, and touch dvd cases or pictures where there are spiders, but if there's a real one in the room with me and I am watching it move around, oh hell no. Nope, I can't deal. And if I step on one barefooted or touch it in any way....I *will* scream bloody murder. But that's my level of arachnophobia, and everyone is different in how far their fear goes, or what they're willing to do to deal with it. Fear of spiders isn't completely irrational either. My dad was bitten by a brown recluse and dealt with necrotic arachnidism, which literally means death to tissue caused by a spider bite. It was awful to see.

You do realize a phobia is an irrational fear, right? People can't help it, it's not like he's choosing to be that afraid of spiders.

Lol.

Sometimes, being a dick is OK man, but do you know what never is? Sharing an opinion that clearly shows you know too less of the subject to even have an opinion

Dude, I understand what phobias are. I am claustrophobic. But guess what? I still get on a tiny little plane even though I'm 6"4 and the flight itself is miserable for me. I take a deep breath and realize it is irrational because I'm a grown assed man. For a man to succumb to pictures of spiders is embarrassing.

Well not only are you a dick but you also need to look up the definition before you start comparing someone to a three year old.

Seriously. Don't be such a dick. It's all about the person's perception.

I would think claustrophobia would pertain to include much smaller areas than a plane, such as a closet or bathroom, which is extremely small on a plane.