To lock DP in a room of wasps

[OhMrGove]

Lighthearted.

On holiday with DP. Gorgeous place, Slovenia Alps.

He is driving me insane with 'wasp phobia'. Flapping, jumping up, moving away... Argh. He's 6"3 with a serious job. GET A GRIP!!!

WIBU to force him into a box of them to face this fear and realise sitting still tends to make them go away or am I just a big mean cow?

This is interesting; we went to Slovenia a few years back and were plagued by wasps = it made my dds' lives a misery when eating out, tbh.

Can anyone recommend a spray which puts the little buggers off ?

If the building was moving perhaps it would be the rational choice to jump out actually. .. :o

But seriously if your phobia forces you into behaviour that puts your and other's lives in danger it'spretty irresponsible not to at least explain this to a GP and ask to be referred for CBT or hypnotherapy. .. Most phobias can be cured.

Nurnoch, he's 11 now not planning on dumping him in a pram, and perhaps I should have seen someone instead I used a pair of reigns to wrap around my wrist and the pram if I was out alone with DS so I don't think I really put him in any real danger

I'm with gamer. Absolutely nothing rational about them, and yes, it would be sensible to seek help. But, I'm too scared.

And am probably slightly traumatised about my mother's phobia's of spiders. Do not want to share what it made her do when I was younger...but needless to say was lucky social services were not called!

You'd need a big pram I guess. ..

But you say yourself it ruins your summer and other people's days... wouldn'tit be worth trying cCBT or hypnotherapy etc?

I really wish I could, I suffer from PTSD and the thought of any more cbt or desensitisation about scunners me , I'd really love to sit in the garden without jumping up constantly and pretending to everyone I'm getting a drink/wee/book/ice cream etc. really does put a dampner on some things maybe one day.....

Now, to defend myself slightly, but not much, I was not scared, and had been stung many times when younger. Used to stay still, but not always worked, but coped with the sting.

Then one day as a sales rep in my 20s, merchandising a local shop's display, I woke to find myself in his back apartment, on his sofa. I'd apparently passed out after a sting in the shop, and he'd carried me to the back.

This still freaks me out to this day, even though he was very kind to help (I think, I hope!).

Agree, I should have sought help, but I too am passed the buggy stage and hope I am exempt from buggy duties when my grandmother days are upon me!

Mine's never learned. He's not phobic, just ridiculous. I can't remember him ever being stung but he creates as though the entire world's in danger.
I don't like them but sit still and try and ignore.

I quite like the idea of a gentle stab with a sharp pin

Come on now OP, Political Advisor clearly means serious politician.

You are certainly Sam Cam and it's David Cameron fannying about over wasps and shrieking like a lady.

I'm a flapper and I've never been stung. I'm with your DH. Flapping has served me well thus far and I'm not about to change to this sitting still nonsense.

Has he ever been stung?

Good point. I was never scared of them after I had been stung. Its happened twice now. Yes it hurts for a bit but its not that bad and it soon goes off.

Having said that YABU really you know.

I am not scared of wasps but I sympathise. I have a much more illogical phobia - moths and butterflies! I think I am getting better as I get older. When I am out walking I can mostly ignore them now unless they actually fly at my face. However, we had a spectacular debacle on holiday. We were sitting outside under an umbrella and two butterflies flew in under the umbrella. DH saw me look and asked if I was OK, I said I was. Unfortunately they both suddenly flew straight at me. I panicked and tried to push my chair back so that I could jump up out of the way, but the chair leg got caught so I just ended up falling over backwards in the chair with a strangled shriek. So I could hardly criticise anyone flapping at a wasp!

Congratulations on never getting stung calculators, the flapper's ok and I suppose that's all that matters eh?

I am very definitely not a flapper, but I have been stung as the direct result of the actions of a flapper. The big, burly bloke screamed and flapped around until he managed to bat a pissed off wasp directly into my mouth. Bloody hurt like hell and I had killer jaw ache and headache for the rest of the day. Needless to say I was not best pleased.

Sit still, maybe give it a lazy waft if it gets too close, and it'll go away and nobody will get hurt. It may help to know that if you put some neat squash or other sugary syrup in a cup a little bit away from where you're sitting and put a folded piece of paper on top it makes a very effective trap which lures them away from your picnic. Make the gap where the fold is as small as possible. They can get in, but when they try to fly away again they hit the card and fall back into the syrup, where they get stuck.

Please don't flap

I'm a flapper and have never been stung. Therefore flapping = wasp sting prevention. Pretty sure that's science.

Prancing. Flapping. I refuse to accept this as a phobia it's just being a childish twat.
That's me, and I'm 56. I sat on a wasp's nest as a child, got everyone at the picnic stung. Lived with that for a long time.
Oh, and I haven't been stung since, despite flapping.
I know you said light hearted, but it's a very real fear, do try to be kind. I know it's really annoying (dp tells me, ceaselessly, every summer) but it's honestly not something we're able to sort out at your behest. Sorry.

I'm allergic to wasp stings and, for that reason, I cannot stand flappers. They aggravate the wasps and endanger everyone. I'd rather be stuck in a lift with a wasp than a picnic area with a flapper!

DD1 suffers from anaphylaxis if she gets stung by a wasp (had to be helicoptered off a hillside once after a sting) - but she is very sensible if one comes near her. No flapping, no shrieking, nothing.

You should see her if there is even a rumour of a spider though. Oh my!

He was stung years ago.

Enrique - I feel you may be a kindred spirit.

Glogirl- right party, wrong politician.

It's just bloody irritating. No allergies just melodrama.

He's not actually Gove, is he? If so, you'll need a sharpened spike at the bottom of that mountain you're going to push him down.

Sadly not. Could use the ministerial salary. Especially for when I have to hide the body.

I'm going to believe you, because the image of Mr Gove doing that is infinitely more amusing to me. I wont believe it isn't him though

Half my family are flappy screamers, it drives me crazy. Once when I was in my teens and we were driving across France on our holiday all hell broke put inside our small Reno because a wasp had got in. My half sister, step sister and step mother all went into full on scream and flap mode, and my father, who was driving, started shouting at them as they were distracting him from trying to remember to drive on the right side of the road. I decided I had to save the day, rolled up my copy of Just 17 and tried to splat the wasp with it. After several unsuccessful attempts, the wasp, probably exhausted from all the screaming, shouting and flapping it was causing, came to rest, and I triumphantly splatted it. Unfortunately in my excitement I failed to realise excatly where it had come to rest, until my step sister stopped screaming in fear and started screaming in pain. I'd splatted it on her bare knee causing her to get stung. That was at least twenty years ago now, and she still brings it up to this day.

In contrast my grandmother was properly alergic to wasp stings, if she got stung she had to get to hospital as quickly as possible (although in later years she was given an epipen). She never flapped or screamed near a wasp because she knew it would increase her risk of getting stung, she just sat very still it went away.

I have to say, getting any form of help for mental health issues such as anxiety or phobias is nigh on impossible. I have a few phobias, and enduring mental health problems, I get medication and that's it.

I avoid situations where it might be an issue, tend to not eat outside, use lidded drinks to avoid them being attracted to it, wear insect repellent, don't wear perfume or brightly coloured clothing.

If none of that works, I move away from the area as swiftly as possible, without flailing because that attracts them. If I am on public transport, I remove my shoe and kill the bastard!

I'm so scared of them I'd actually like to be stung in a controlled environment just to see what it would feel like. I'm fine with spiders and snakes but really struggle with wasps. I don't flap, just get up and walk away even if I'm really hungry and food's on the table. I genuinely struggle to even force myself to be near one. Mind you, we had a problem with the largest hornets our pest control guy had ever seen last year - and they dive bombed us and the windows every time we went round to the main house at night even without the lights on... like something out of a horror movie!

I hate wasps! I never flap though, flapping gets you or someone else stung. My sister was flapping and I got stung .

I'm a runner - I scream and run away . I remember being on the park with some other mums and babies when DD1 was a baby. She was in the pushchair and a wasp came near. I ran screaming with the pushchair as I didn't want the wasp to get her. The other mums looked on like this .

Anyone with a wasp/bee/hornet phobia, don't watch Case 39. That made me worse!