F40.210
BillableArachnophobia
HCC Category Mapping
RxHCCHCC 133 — Personality Disorders, Anxiety, and Other Specified Mental Disorders
0.000What This Code Means
An intense, irrational fear of spiders that causes significant anxiety and avoidance behavior.
Coding Tips
- •This is a specific phobia under the animal type category
- •Document severity and impact on daily functioning (e.g., avoidance of certain locations)
Clinical Significance
Arachnophobia is a specific phobia involving an intense, irrational fear of spiders. While it is one of the most common specific phobias, it is rarely clinically significant enough to warrant dedicated medical coding unless it causes marked functional impairment. It does not map to any HCC and carries no risk adjustment value.
Documentation Requirements
- ✓Marked fear or anxiety specifically about spiders, disproportionate to actual danger
- ✓Phobic stimulus consistently provokes immediate anxiety response
- ✓Active avoidance of spiders or endurance with intense distress
- ✓Duration of 6+ months
- ✓Clinically significant distress or functional impairment
- ✓Current treatment approach if applicable (e.g., exposure therapy)
Commonly Confused Codes
F40.218 (Other animal type phobia) — Use F40.210 specifically for spider phobia; use F40.218 for fear of other animals (snakes, dogs, insects other than spiders)F40.298 (Other specified phobia) — Use for phobias that do not fit into animal, natural environment, situational, or blood-injection-injury subtypesF40.9 (Phobic anxiety disorder, unspecified) — Use specific phobia codes when the phobic stimulus is identified