to be really fed up with being arachnaphobic?

[imonthefone]

Grrrrr...... I LOVE gardening; was just having a end(ish) of summer sort out...painting fences, moving sheds, getting rid of all the crap etc etc...

Im 40 years old...Ive always been frightened of spiders. i think Ive got better over the years. I can mostly deal with the harvestmen spindly things and the wolf type spiders if they dont touch me and I dont look directly at them. But what I really really cant abide are the BIG black ones that hang out in sheds....yeuck yeuck yeuck......Just come across 2...fighting, or maybe MATING (shudder) and thats the end of it....Had to come in, lost my breakfast in the kitchen sink. There are 5 bags of rubbish in the garden which I will not now be able to carry to the front of the house, put in my car and take to the tip..I will have to wait for a spider-hardy friend to come and do it for me

I am FED UP with it...I am otherwise normal, strong, independant, self sufficient kind of gal. Spiders reduce me to a hyperventilating shell......so humiliating....

what can i do?

and the next day you will be kidnapped, tortured and killed.....

probably tortured with spiders!

I'm exactly the same op

My house is deathlacced to the max, but the garage and the shed eeeeew

sorry

Aye aye, no arguing, its us against the fookers

Dethlac is THE business OP! (I was at work, sorry for the tardy reply)

I am terribly phobic of the bloody things; can't even touch a picture of them, have run into the street wearing nowt but shampoo and a towel because of a mahooosive beastie in the shower....

I dethlac'd the house last week - nary one to be seen. thank christ

Well I just hope that those who are seriously considering getting treatment for their phobia aren't being put off.
Some of the comments on spiders almost sound as if they are proud to be frightened of them.
It's far more intelligent to actually do something about it.

I see that London Zoo do six courses a year but they're booked up for the rest of the year. They'll be announcing the 2013 schedule in October.

really sally, does it read like that?

I don't think anyone could be proud of a phobia

you've got to laugh about it though. Most of us realise how irrational it is...

I always love the comments from those who clearly don't understand phobias, and how it affects people.

I don't see any comments that sound as though we're proud of our fears - I see plenty of comments that use humour to defuse it instead.

I agree, proud is not the right word. But there are so many threads about how 'mahoosive' the spider was, and how extreme the poster's reaction was, that are almost like boasting.
And I do understand about phobias, having seen my friend in a terrible state before she went for treatment. That's why I was urging above for others to try it.
Also I have a quite different phobia of my own which I'm trying to work on.

ts just because we recognise that our reactions are extreme and ridiculous

..and, because normally you dont tell people about the reactions you have , because it is embarrassing; so when you are among other arachnophobes, you can talk about it....

if you have phobias, surely you 'get' that

Exactly OP - who among us takes 'pride' in recounting our reactions when we're with non-phobics?

I certainly don't. The only people who know I have this phobia are those who have witnessed my reactions.

And just as a by the by - I think the use of 'intelligent' was an incredibly bad choice of words. You are implying that those who are genuinely too scared to deal (and face) their fears are less intelligent. It really doesn't come across as a person who actually has a phobia and understands the reactions.

I understand the fear of being cured, it's not logical, but at the moment the idea of tolerating a spider is so alien and disgusting that you can't imagine it feeling any other way.
Actually I stopped smoking 18 months ago using allen Carr which is basically self CBT and the fear of stopping made me put it off for 6 months after buying the book. As a smoker you can't imagine stopping smoking as being anything but horrendous - however the CBT techniques mean it's completely painless. I expect it's similar with the spider therapy. If I had a spare £100 I'd do it. I may plan and do it before next summer (I think it's a bit late for this year, plus I'm broke)

Don't strop raspberry :)

sally was motivated by concern and this is a supportive fred

I am glad to talk to others who 'get' my reaction. I went around the house with my french version of dethlac and it's amazing how much happier I feel. (ignoring the brown stain left on wallpaper in DD's room ...)

I skim read the shed story as it would just increase my anxiety. I think sharing it (like any stressful event) is cathartic though

The trouble is, we know only too well the intelligent thing to do would be to get it sorted out. But to sort a phobia you have to face your fear and that would be so so hard to do. I do like to have a laugh about it with fellow sufferers because it just makes me feel better about having face the next month.

I've posted about this before; I tried to sort out my phobia, and paid for one of the desensitization courses, but ended up getting a refund because my phobia was made worse, not better. One of the very few failures.

Before the course I was not this bad - now I cannot be relied upon to act sensibly when within visual range of any reasonable sized spider. I have done many many stupid things to escape them, whether they were real or just pictures.

It's nice to know that I'm not alone in this. This is why we post here; to share our experiences, to support each other, to give each other courage to possibly sort out our phobias (whatever they may be).

Now ^ that post has made me less likely to seek help!!!

Really sorry to hear it tapir - could they give any advice on what you should try and which course was it......

Oh god - I am so sorry Thief, it was not my intention to put anyone off attending a course!

I did one of the original London Zoo ones - about 15 yrs ago, and it just didn't do the trick. I was prompted into going after having a melt down on a bus after finding a large-ish spider on my shoulder.

My gp here has recommended cbt if I so wish. I am considering it for the last 10 years

for the last 10 yrs (sorry for laughing)

I'd rather hear everything about the courses tbh. It's a lot of money to spend.