To be so scared of spiders?

[Funnyface1]

I'm feeling totally pathetic as I type this but the amount of actual fear is so so real. Just been into the living room and happened upon the biggest spider I have ever seen in real life.

I know people will tell me to grow up and get over it but I've never been able to, I've always been so scared.

It was on the top of the sofa. I called DH in from the driveway, he was just leaving for the school run. When we got back in it was nowhere to be seen. So he's gone and I'm trapped upstairs with dd.

Now I'm worried I'll never be able to go in the living room again. Why am I so scared of them? What can I do to stop this? It's awful every time. And why do they have to be so big? It was like a hand.

DD is so scared of spiders that she can't even play games with spiders in them. She fainted once because a shop had a model spider in its hallo display.

Some places, including zoos, do beat your spider phobia courses.

I get where you are coming from but since I had children I tried so hard to not show it, and I am less scared of spiders but still hate the buggers.

YADNBU.

Absolutely can't stand them. Give me the creeps.

I have a very real phobis and, over the years, have tried all sorts of therapies to help me manage it. Note that, manage it. Nothing has cured it. Not even the wonderful man at Bristol Zoo who was so very helpful, taught me lots about spiders in an attempt to get me to be more familiar with them... even typing this is making my scalp itch!

Even with my itchy scalp reaction I am far better these days, the panic isn't quite as paralysing as it used to be. I can function and have faked it to make it with the "If you can't see it, it doesn't exist" mantra - no, it doesn't work 100% but allows me to live in my whole house!

If you think you are in the right palce to face thishead on have a look for a specialist and go see them.

creaturecourage.com/

Test your courage first WARNING WARNING WARNING yu may not like the contents of the lnk - no pictures on the Home page!

Sorry, didn't mean to link to that but to a page explaining it and some of the advances in phobis treatments!

pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/96274/phobia-specialist-using-pioneering-new-technique-to-cure-arachnophobia/

Still no pictures

I'm the same op it's horrible. I get panicky and sweaty when there's a big spider in the house. When they disappear without being removed (by DP) that's even worse, I cant sleep and am on edge all the time. At one point in my life when moving to Australia was on the cards I considered hypnotherapy or something like that but never did it.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

BIG FAT NO.

No, l totally get this. l once 'lost' a spider in my bedroom. Which resulted me spending four months (!) in the spare bedroom, just in case.

Curtains your name suggest you are just joking... or you'd be Curtains FirmlyClosedWindowTapedShut

Well he's back from the school run and can't find it so I'm still upstairs. We're going out soon but it'll be on my mind the whole time. I've gotten better with the smaller ones since having dc. I mean, not great but can usually manage to deal with them.

But this was huge. And it hid so fast. And I think it's the speed at which they can travel that scares me the most. I'm absolutely gutted he can't find it, I'm going to be jittery for ages. And thank you for the replies, I'm glad I'm not the only one and that this is a real thing.

Oh my God I think I know the spider you're taking about! He was in my bedroom last year! As big as my DH's pretty large hand he was! I came to the conclusion it was a cardinal spider. Anyway I didn't sleep properly for days afterwards!