Anyone successfully conquered arachnophobia?

[Seziah]

Just back from a few days in the countryside and the Airbnb was absolutely full of spiders. Most were small but I came down the first morning to two giant thick whoppers and barely slept after that.

I tell myself they can’t hurt me, they’re more scared of me etc. but it just doesn’t make any difference. Completely irrational, and hard when you live alone.

Has anyone tried any therapies to get over the fear? I’ve heard of the spider programme at London Zoo but there doesn’t seem to be any availability, it’s a bit of a journey and not sure if it truly works

I’m interested in whether the therapist said anything about intrusive thoughts because to me this seems more like that than straightforward phobias. (Obviously I’m not asking you to disclose what you and the therapist discussed!)

Snow leopard for example would be a very easy trigger to avoid. I can’t remember the last time I randomly saw a picture of one or saw one on telly, or even heard the name. So that made me wonder if it’s something that randomly pops into your head to torment you, in which case it sounds like an intrusive thought (which I think is often linked to OCD or other MH conditions).

I lived in a flat when heavily pregnant with DD and up until 3 months old, it was overrun with huge spiders. We’d be sat at night watching tv and we’d see at least 2 huge ones scoot across the floor, or over us on the sofa, or the worst one was when I was putting laundry away and one ran up from the top I was holding up onto my neck, I grabbed it and threw it in shock and pulled my necklace off and broke it. It was a gift from my husband for the birth of our DD.

I ended up hearing about Ardap spray and now from May-end of Oct I spray all window frames and haven’t had a big one in my new place in the 2.5 years we’ve lived there.

I didn't want to pass the fear on to DD so when we see spiders in zoos/outside etc we say “hello mr spider” and she actually really likes them. My body literally goes into panic mode but I keep my cool in front of her.

My neighbour has a jumping spider, my daughter wanted to meet it so I braved it and dare I say, I actually found it very cute. A tiny little fluffy thing with big eyes and I’ve considered getting one but DH is a firm no (he’s worse than me and he said if it escaped he’d have to get a hotel until it was found) 😅

I did this too! I went in a real skeptic, but at the end I let a huge house spider run across my hand. Afterwards, I was able to remove spiders from the house - previously I would have run out the room screaming.

I also don’t “see” as many spiders in my house since doing the course. I am sure we have the same number as before, but the course leader explained that when you are not as scared of them, your brain ignores them more, if that makes sense.

However, after 11 years I think the effects have worn off a bit, and I was actually thinking of repeating the course 🤔 🕷️

I've worked with several people with arachnophobia; like most things it starts in childhood and is relatively easy to resolve once the emotional part of the mind realises there's nothing to be scared of.

Interestingly I learnt from one client that the reason spiders stop after they've run really fast is that their out of puff! They have teeny-tiny lungs and need to get their breath back. So give them a chance to escape before you kill them.

Yes I got a cat, it brings mice and rats home. The spiders are now not as scary.

Is your cat as useless as mine is with spiders? She’s brought bloody snakes home I assume
she’s killed, but will not touch a spider in the house.

After holidaying in Australia and seeing their HUGE Huntsman spiders, and always on the lookout for the black widow, British spiders no longer scare the living daylights out of me. I currently have several in the corners of the rooms, small whispy types, I leave them be, although I’m constantly using the feather duster on the cobwebs, it’s like Halloween.

As for the big spiders, if they’re not too close to me I can tolerate them. Otherwise I’m afraid I have to vacuum them up. One of my dogs loves chasing them and eating them, disgusting 🤮

I used to be absolutely terrified of them. I would be physically sick if one touched me. It was having my daughter and being a single parent that did it for me in the end, because there was no way I was letting her grow up frightened of something so little and there was nobody else to do it for me! I had to just do the fake it till you make it bit.
I picked one up in my hand to move it today. I couldn't have looked at a photo 8 years ago.

It was when I had kids. I knew I couldn't show them my fear, and if I couldn't 'protect' (remove) them from a tiny spider who the hell would?

I did it too and feel the same. Don’t like them but can leave small ones and can deal with larger ones if I have to. Well worth the money.

I just decided to try and reduce my fear.

I was really bad at one point I can remember planning to put the bed feet into bowls of water so they couldn't get to me. I used to have terrible nightmares as well about spiders.

Went to a zoo and they had a scary animal show everyone freaked out at the rats and it baffled me as I had pet rats 🐀 then the spiders came out and I thought why am I scared of them and decided to hold a tarantula.

Since then I have pushed myself to catch them and can touch small ones, still can't let them crawl on me but I'm so much more at ease.

I even walked in the London Zoo Orb Webb enclosure.

It has taken me years though to get my fear under control and I have passed it onto my eldest two.

I haven't passed my fear onto the youngest child though & he can pick them up and sometimes rescues his older siblings.

I did the London Zoo course too, changed my life completely! If I could only cure my fear of wasps now, that one I'll just have to live with.

I used to be petrified of them, but ExDH made me catch them using the classic glass/card combo. I would sob and beg him to take pity on me, but he was firm (but very supportive and released it into the garden for me once caught). After a few times I think I just got bored of being so scared of something so innocuous...

I guess you don’t see many of those in your kitchen?

I also used to be terrified of them, to the point of almost passing out if I saw one. I couldn’t even look at a photo of one.

While September will never be my favourite month, I am a single parent now and I just have to deal with it. I tend to leave them be (unless they’re in one of the bedrooms), and could never kill one. If one does need relocating it’s a glass and card method, they’re actually incredible creatures and learning about them really helped.

Reading what a PP said about them having to stop and rest after running fast made me laugh, I can relate!

I’m interested in this product but scared to click the link incase there’s a picture of a spider on it! I remember ordering a spider catcher and the bloody insensitive supplier had sent it with one of those plastic black spiders inside to “practice”! Had the fright of my life!

And to answer the OP…my spider fear has lessened since I had a big hairy one crawl up my arm. I think it’s exposure to them that kills the fear.

Oh god, the main thing I worry about is them being on me in bed! That must’ve been horrible

I dealt with a massive one, thankfully only in leg length and not body, because my daughter was scared. I can do anything if they are more frightened than me. She dealt with mice when she lived here. But I live on my own. My son has told me I cam do it so I play his voice in my head and I've learnt that I can stress about it for how ever long but there's only me to deal with them. I have concerns on all the windowsills.

What kind of therapy do you do? Mine definitely started in childhood but not sure why because none of my family is scared of them

Please try EFT, it's free and it works and you can use EFT on anything.

Even better is Faster EFT, you can find so many videos on youtube for it.

I was a Hypnotherapist for 10 years and used EFT with a lot of my clients for phobias because it's so good.

I don’t have kids but I can definitely imagine that would help! A few years away for me though.

I actually quite like jumping spiders, I’m not scared of the tiny ones and you can get the bigger ones as pets. But they look very different to a daddy long legs or house spider. Also what if I get one and I’m too scared to look after it 🤦‍♀️

Sounds like I will have to keep an eye out for availability for the London Zoo spider course. Can anyone remember when or how often they do it?

For anyone very scared, magnetic window mesh has almost eradicated spiders in my house. I haven’t seen a big one for years and I only get a handful of small ones, so I’m not living in fear every summer. But it means you can only open windows with the mesh on when it’s hot. And I now only get exposed to spiders in the garden, so if I do see them or a big one somewhere else I’m still really scared

I just find this absolutely grotesque! (there are not many times I use that word but it describes perfectly what I am feel about people who keep tarantulas as "pets").

We could never be friends! - In fact I could not be friends with someone who was friends with you ! I would need more seperation.I would have to move if a neighbour did this.

NB I am not even as phobic as some on here and I am quite capable of dealing with (capture and release) big house spiders - but a tarantula as a "pet" ? No 😬

Hi op. Not that this will help, but we moved to the countryside, into a thatched house.

I can now deal with the following without flinching (because I'm often the only one around and DC won't!)

Spiders
Earwigs
Beetles
Silverfish etc etc

Mice
Rats
Big brown rats that run over my feet in the chicken coop
Squirrels
Birds that have fallen out of nests and down chimneys - incl. Crows, pigeons and baby sparrows
Slow worms
Weird prehistoric worms that come out of our cobb walls.
Stoats
The smell of dead animals in our forest.

I can deal with all of the above alive or dead. Or dying. Or putrified.

I would totally freak out with an urban fox though! (they run away from you in the countryside).

I think there is a lot to be said for exposure therapy.