Can anyone tell me why, medically or psychologically speaking, alcoholics in withdrawal see spiders?

Question

I mean, what causes it, and why is it spiders? Versus, say, flowers or puppies or snakes or anything else it might be?

Answer 1

I don't know for sure but I am guessing that it is a combination of paranoid delusions and the feeling of their skin crawling.

For instance, they think they see something across the room moving and it was on the wall--they suppose it was a spider?

I say all this because when I have really bad insomnia I start seeing things move out of the corner of my eye and I think it is spiders. I have dozed off after really bad insomnia and if I wake right back up I usually see something in mid air and sometimes it is a spider. Another time it was a huge hovering butterfly, but mainly spiders. I also feel like something is crawling on my skin but I am looking at my skin and nothing is there. These things only happen to me when my insomnia is extremely bad and I haven't slept for about 2 days or more.

I have never suffered withdrawal of anything other than sleep so I cannot speak for recovering alcoholics. But, maybe if you are delusional and feeling bad you see bad things, not nice things.

Answer 2

When the person is withdrawaling from alcohol--detoxification--there are many chemical events that occur within the brain. Sometimes these chemicals can cause hallucinations. It isn't always spiders (a lot of people are afraid of spiders so it seems like that's what we're always told happens). Sometimes it can be odors, sounds, sensations. These normally go away once the body and brain have rid themselves of the alcohol.

Answer 3

It's called delirium tremens, and it's a physiological reaction to withdrawal from heavy and chronic alcohol consumption.

Answer 4

I never heard the spider thing. My friend swore she was seeing zebras in the woods behind her house and that her phone was ringing when it wasn't. She checked herself into a hospital shortly thereafter...