Begging for an arachnophobia filter

[Ankhira]

You know they're just polygons on your monitor right? They're just a bunch of 0's and 1's with a hissing sound effect, they can't physically harm you, they can't touch you, and they can't jump out of the monitor and attack you.
You're aware that a fear is just an irrational mindtrick right?

Remember, you're several thousand times larger than ANY other spider species in the world, and it's probably more scared of you, than you of it.

Phobias aren’t cured by condescension. Telling someone their fear is ‘just a mind trick’ ignores the reality of how trauma and neurology work. You don’t get to decide what’s irrational for someone else’s brain.

[Iscah]

To me they are. It’s easier for me to call them things like that because genuinely the word can trigger me if I’m talking about them. I know I’m weird, especially if I can talk out the superhero. I don’t get how it works but it’s just how I see them and it helps to call them creepy or evil things.

But by calling it a "creepy evil thing" you reinforce in your mind that it is a creepy and evil thing, further associating it with negative feelings.

Call it a thing, call it a bug, call it something neutral – and maybe it will become easier to think of it as something that means you no harm.

[Alicat]

But by calling it a "creepy evil thing" you reinforce in your mind that it is a creepy and evil thing, further associating it with negative feelings.

Call it a thing, call it a bug, call it something neutral – and maybe it will become easier to think of it as something that means you no harm.

I have code word I’ve just not used it here as people won’t understand what I’m referring too. And considering there’s people that say just get over it I’m not gonna add fuel to their argument by giving out my code word. Hence the evil creepy thing as at least people will know what I’m referring to.

My code word doesn’t make a difference to how scared I am. I don’t get you people not actually understanding what a phobia is and I can just turn it off at will. That’s not how this works. I know most of them mean no harm and are likely more scared of me but we are dealing with an irrational fear here. I don’t get why so many of you can’t grasp what a phobia is.

[Alicat]

My code word doesn’t make a difference to how scared I am. .

Adding to this is the word its self can and does send shivers down my spine that’s how bad it is. Yes I know the whole Hermione Granger quote of fear of a name thing but that doesn’t matter in my head.

[Ankhira]

But by calling it a "creepy evil thing" you reinforce in your mind that it is a creepy and evil thing, further associating it with negative feelings.

Call it a thing, call it a bug, call it something neutral – and maybe it will become easier to think of it as something that means you no harm.

This isn’t how phobias work. Telling someone to ‘just use neutral language’ doesn’t undo a deeply wired fear response. Phobias aren’t maintained by words, they’re triggered by sensory input and past trauma. You might mean well, but minimizing someone’s experience by suggesting it’s just a matter of word choice is not helpful. It’s not that easy, and pretending it is only adds shame to fear.

Phobia's are survival systems misfiring and just like anything to do with brains, we have very little control over it. I don't have arachnophobia so I have no stakes in this, but the amount if dismissal OP is receiving for having a condition that they can't help is upsetting to see. I hate spiders, they freak me out, that doesn't translate to me in a video game, but it does to OP and they are valid for that. Can you imagine the worst thing you're scared of, and that fear coming to you in the form of any entertainment even though you KNOW it won't hurt you, the fear is still real, its NOT a good feeling.

Just have some empathy for OP's situation instead of pretending its "so easy" to get over it. It's not.

[Asari5]

how does a code word help? you still mean the same thing. if you call that evil creepy thing cat its still an evil creepy thing. and when you talk about it no matter how you call it you still think about that thing, no?

even worse when you talk about real cats but that word is suddenly connected to an evil creepy thing

[Alicat]

how does a code word help? you still mean the same thing. if you call that evil creepy thing cat its still an evil creepy thing. and when you talk about it no matter how you call it you still think about that thing, no?

even worse when you talk about real cats but that word is suddenly connected to an evil creepy thing

Because it does. I shouldn’t have to justify why a word and in this case it’s kinda an accessibility adjustment to use it.

You don’t ask why someone needs an adjustment if it’s as simple as say a ramp for a wheelchair user or in my case a word. Maybe the code word helps as it’s also got a different meaning and when people use it for me I think of the other creature and not the creepy and evil thing.

[Alicat]

Phobias don’t make sense. Regardless of it being pixels on a screen or a word or the real thing. It doesn’t matter. It’s a phobia.

I am well aware my phobia is irrational but that’s what makes it a phobia.

I had a great aunt that had a phobia of rats, she was like me couldn’t look at real or fake or cartoon (so Remy was terrifying for her) we couldn’t say the word around her or even words like associated with rats like squeak.

[Valence]

Now I'm truly starting to wonder what agenda all those trolls showing up are trying to push here genuinely, what are you trying to achieve with this?

[Ankhira]

What I don’t understand is the pushback against requesting an optional feature... one that harms no one and helps those who need it. It wouldn’t change your experience or your game play at all. But it could make the difference for someone who needs it. So what’s the issue that people are having with OP's reasonable request?