Scared of spiders?

[AtSea1979]

Anyone else terrified of spiders? I am determined that this year I'm going to get over the fear. I've bought a couple of apps, I'm going to desensitise myself. Anyone else want to join and share tips along the way?

[dollydaydream114]

I have a phobia about spiders and just to make it even more irrational, it's only about specific types of spider.

Basically the fat ones you get in garden hedges or small plump ones in the house are fine. But the big 'house' spiders that appear indoors in the autumn or live in sheds FUCKING TERRIFY ME. I have terrible recurring nightmares about them too. Large tropical species also scare me; I would probably pass out if I saw an Australian huntsman spider!

To make things even weirder, I am a huge wildlife nerd and actively like other creepy-crawlies. I always want to handle massive beetles, caterpillars, centipedes etc, so much so that my fearless approach to them is a standing joke among my friends and family. Yet that type of spider sends me almost hysterical, even though I'm usually a very pragmatic, calm person.

I think one day I might splash out on a phobia treatment programme at a zoo or something.

[smileymam]

So relievd to hear I,m not the only one who feels constantly anxious through "spider season". When I tell other people they act like I,m being stupid, but I honestly feel petrified in my own home as I know I make a fool of myself, but I can't control the fear, I wish I could :(

[dollydaydream114]

smileymam - yes, spider season is awful and don't you think it's now made totally worse by the fact that everyone seems to feel the need to post pictures of their monster spider finds on bloody social media?!

This September I could barely scroll through my Facebook and Instagram feeds without seeing some horrific spider pic with a caption like 'OMG, can't believe the size of this spider in my bathroom/lounge/shed/kitchen/child's room! It's nearly as big as my hand!'

Every time I see one of those pictures I feel queasy and get palpitations.

[AtSea1979]

Yes! I've met my kind of people! Def more scared of house spiders than any other type. I see the London zoo one deals with house spiders specifically so would be good for me.
Fb is a big no in autumn, horrible mean people sharing their scary spider pics.
The app just got a whole new level of scary, augmented reality, like Pokemon except spiders appear on my bed. Eek

[GladAllOver]

So relievd to hear I,m not the only one who feels constantly anxious through "spider season". When I tell other people they act like I,m being stupid, but I honestly feel petrified in my own home as I know I make a fool of myself, but I can't control the fear, I wish I could
There's no need to feel foolish about a genuine phobia. It happens. But there is treatment available, as people have posted above.

Google "Spider phobia treatment". The best links will avoid directly showing you pictures of spiders, but if in doubt get someone to find them for you. Good luck!

[dollydaydream114]

Someone in my last job stuck a very realistic-looking plastic house spider to the wall in the office. Both I and another colleague were absolutely terrified as it looked very real, and my colleague said 'Look, seriously, please take that down and don't ever do it again; I know it seems like a joke to you but I will be unsettled and nervous for the whole day because of this and might even have nightmares. I can't help it, but I've got a major phobia.'

And the stupid bint who put the fake spider there in the first place just laughed and kept saying 'Haha, you're lucky I didn't put it on your desk then, stop being such a baby.' What an absolute cow! Fortunately her manager agreed her behaviour was unacceptable and had a word with her.

[DJBaggySmalls]

I tried desentisitising and can now pick up money spiders and harvestmen.
It hasnt improved for the leggy bastards at all.

[MackerelOfFact]

I am seriously considering the spider course at London Zoo.

The other day I returned home, settled down to watch some TV Christmas specials on catchup, had some tea, lovely and cosy, snuggled on the sofa. Got up, plumped the cushions and there was a fucking huge wolf or house spider camped out between the cushions. I had been watching TV the whole time with this massive fucking spider snuggled up next to me!

It still makes me shivery thinking abuot it, and the bastard thing ended up scurrying into the inner workings of my sofa so now I won't sit on it at all. This is clearly a ridiculous state of affairs and something I feel I need to get a grip on.

Sounds like a pretty good NY resolution to me.

[AtSea1979]

mackerel I feel sick just reading your story. I think I would die of shock if that was me! I certainly would be worried about being in same room. I'd have to burn my sofa to the ground!