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?

Imonthefone Yes that's me lol. I was bored and had a photoshoot. Thought i'd make it more interesting.

Sallying - Are you talking to me? Another poster mentioned their mexican red knee, I was showing them mine. It wasn't meant to help anyone.

It wasn't meant to help anyone Out of interest... on a thread from people chatting about being phobic, what was it meant to do?

Toothbrush - Someone mentioned their red knee, i waas showing them mine. Is there a law against that?

I don't think the law covers the vast majority of activity on a forum? It's about considerate behaviour

I just don't see why this thread has turned from one where people shared their phobia to one where people are posting pictures of the very phobia and talking about the activity of them.

I think this sums up most people's fear of attending a spider course - that people will force you to confront it before you are ready. The link may seem harmless to you but to me it's not.

I will leave the thread.

There is not a chance in hell that I will be tempted to click on TheQueenOfDiamonds link. Hell would freeze over first. And I would have to be offered multi millions, and even then I would need to be drugged up to my eyeballs.

Is it bad that I never go into the garden? Nor anyone elses garden. I always stay on the concrete, with shoes on, so as soon as I see one of the bastards, I can run back inside with the knowledge that it couldn't crawl over my feet skin .

God, I am itching just thinking about it.

I suspect you think I'm over reacting Queen (it's irrational to even me since no one made me click on the link) so I've come back to explain :)

When people know you are terrified of spiders they chase you, use fake ones and generally joke around..... ramping up your fear by increasing your conviction that you cannot trust anyone and it's all 'out of your control'

Posting whilst being harrassed by DD....so disjointed....

Anyway the act of posting the link and discussing your large arachnoids gave me that same sense of people laughing at my phobia and deliberately frightening me by threatening to throw one at me, or whatever

I think it's that sort of behaviour that has intensified what was a minor fear into a now full blown phobia

As soon as someone tells me not to do something-i do it. I think its human nature queen to find it hard not to open your link.

As Ive already said, I don't feel phobic of tarantulas, just scared. Similarly, I can handle photos...so I wasn't overly affected by your link

But other arachnophobes really will be

I think it was really insensitive to put the link on this thread. I suspect you don't experience any phobias and don't realise the impact it will have on some people though? Maybe you could ask for your post to be deleted?

have got no further than looking at the web site; £95

20th September (Tuesday) and 4th Oct (Thursday)

need to find out start and finish times-as i work those days/ would need to arrange leave/ school pick ups etc

you up for it?

Sometimes I fucking hate Deadly 60 [ sad]

I know this thread is a few weeks old but this year has been the worst ever in my house for those huge ones. It's just starting to get dark now and I'm dreading the evening ahead. I actually feel a bit depressed about all of this today...it feels like my house is infested with the bastards.
I live alone so there's only me to deal with them.
And the weird thing is, I never used to be that bothered by them, this has only started in the last 5 or 6 years.

Can I get some updates on this Dethlac stuff? Is it working for those of you who've tried it?

and I've just checked the london zoo website and they haven't got any more courses now till 2013.

Shh2012 I'm a dethlac user sounds well dodgy and it's been over a month since the last spider in my house. I did spray every doorway, window frame, all skirting boards and any small gaps though.

Tapir that's amazing. I'd seen your posts originally and wondered how it was going. This month has been utterly wretched with them. I'll get 100 cans some and spray it everywhere.
I'm actually sitting here with my stomach churning, dreading it going dark (mine seem to come out more when it's dark and scare me even more). I've got to do something about this.
oh and yy - "I'm a dethlac user" does sound well dodgy

Tapir just a thought - have you got an attic/loft?
I have and I have never been in mine but I bet there are thousands of them up there. I'm too scared to spray it.

We do have a loft, and I did spray around the doorway/hatch thingy. The loft (and shed) are dh's, and he can do what he wants in them so long as it doesn't encourage the blighters into the house.

September has actually been a really good month; no spiders and no fags!

Thanks tapir, I'll spray round the hatch.
I had some electrical work done last year and they brought some of the wiring up through the loft. I have an unused airing cupboard and they didn't fully board it out when they'd finished the work. I suspect some of them are coming down there from the loft and onto the upstairs landing which is where I see most of them. So I'll spray in there too.
I'd better get an industrial mask or something!
Well done on the fags too.

Tbh I got a couple of tins, sprayed everywhere I could think of, then sprayed the little holes & gaps again. I will add that I live in Scotland, and it's been properly cold here which is hopefully killing them all off, and may also be why there aren't so many around.

I wish I had thought of a face mask, I used ds's football scarf and got a look from him!

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it works as well for you

I've done the course at London Zoo. I mention it here every time someone says they are scared of spiders. I still don't like spiders, but I am no longer scared. I am not exaggerating when I say it has transformed my life!

They only offer courses during spider season so that you leave and then still get contact with spiders so it doesn't all wear off. They also get you catching and (if you want) holding house spiders so they can only do that when they are about.

My DD2 is okay with terranula type spiders and little money spiders, but absolutely terrified of those quick ones with the black legs, so don't think the zoo course would help her.

Bartlett - That's the course I did, about 15yrs ago.

Doesn't work for everyone though.