To ask for genuine spider help. Please.

[Samaranian]

I have very severe arachnophobia. I know they are harmless, won't hurt me, do good things by eating the other beasties etc etc

But that doesn't stop me shaking and crying and hyperventilating and panicking and sweating when I come across one. I know it is not rational but that's what a phobia is.

I've tried talking to myself, telling myself to stop being silly, to calm down and be rational but it doesn't help.

I've come across SIX spiders in my house this week, 5 absolutely ginormous buggers and 1 average sized one. Before, DP lived at home so he would take them outside but now DP doesn't live here during the week so I'm alone.

I don't want to / like killing them, it does make me feel awful but I cannot relax once I've seen one. I managed (it took me an hour and a half) to get the average sized one outside via a glass and a piece of card but I honestly thought I was going to have a panic attack. I was physically sick afterwards, which I know sounds dramatic.

What can I do to try and prevent them coming into my house that will actually work?

I have heard peppermint oil, but I also read that its not safe around pets and we have 2 dogs. I have already ordered draft excludes to minimise the gaps under the doors.

Please help, I haven't slept properly for a week because I can't stop thinking that there's going to be one in the bed or something.

These spider catchers work really well.

Apparently they don’t like conkers, of which there are plenty this time of year! They give off a gas or something that spiders don’t like. My MIL has a few shelled conkers on every windowsill in her house, and claims to not get any spiders in the house. How true this is I’m not sure, but horse chestnuts are more pet friendly than peppermint I guess!

Remember to prepare by opening the door or window first, then just catch them and pop them outside.

Worra have you ever used one? I like the idea but have the following worries -

As soon as the bristles touch it is going to move and the panic gets higher as soon as they start moving

What if it falls out of the bristles whilst I'm taking it to a window or door? That would probably be the end of me to be honest.

Maybe I should change my thread title (after seeing another thread regarding a spider in little girls bedroom) to AIBU to get a cat just to eat spiders for me.

Disclaimer - I'm not actually going to get a cat

There is another thread with a similar problem and someone has posted a tool that sucks up the spider, buy on Amazon.

My dm was terrified of them also

I used to live down under and am terrified of spiders after being bitten by one and rushed to hospital with what looked like a tennis ball under my arm.

I've bought a plug-in spider repellant machine which works a bit like the ones for cats but I can only hear it if I put my ear to it or sometimes when I turn on my bluetooth wireless headphones- but only when I initially turn them on for a second.

I can't remember where it's from as it's supposed to be discreet so no name on it and it looks a bit like plugin air freshener.

Maybe Google spider repellant machine - it cost about £20 and I have less spiders than the neighbour in the flat opposite me and we share the same hall way so it must work.

ItsReallyNotOk

Thats why I will never visit Australia. I would love to go but if I saw one of the creatures they have over there I think I would just die instantly.

I have seen those also but I wondered if they would annoy the dogs??

Samaranian I wouldn't worry about any of those things.

You grip the handle to open the bristles before touching the spider and they immediately spring round in a very fast swirling motion, so the spider really doesn't get time to react.

They don't fall out due to the design.

If you get one, have a practice at pick up very light objects like tissue paper and you'll see what I mean.

Just found the confirmation email in my inbox as I bought it a while ago and it's from Primrose.co.uk.

Definitely worth the money and I'm still petrified of spiders even though I'm back in the UK with the non-poisonous variety now.

We have a plug in spider repeller. £20 ish from Amazon. It has been FANTASTIC. Used it for the first time last year and didn't get a single spider after the first week.

Disconnected it for the summer, and now can't find it again, and the monsters are back!

Cats and dogs weren't bothered by it.

My neighbour has a dog that she takes to work every day but when it's home at the weekend it walks all around the grounds and doesn't seem to be disturbed.
She's even been over to see me with the dog as she was going out as I was arriving home and he didn't seem distressed in any way.

I also have a fox that sits right under my window every morning for the early sun and that doesn't seem bothered either.

My cat eats mine. Apparently indorex the flea treatment also works to keep them away, but it may kill them unfortunately. I have never found anything that keeps them away to be honest.

You may not be up to this but what helped me was watching a ton of spider documentaries on you tube. The continued exposure seemed to reduce my panic a great deal.

If you can stand it, leave the cellar spiders (tiny bodies with long spindly legs) as apparently they eat the big boys

OP I really feel for you. Phobias are awful things that can have a severe effect on lives.
But look at this way: your problem is not the spiders - it's the phobia. And it's the phobia that needs be sorted.

If you get rid of the spiders today, there will be more tomorrow and more the next day. And so on for the rest of your life. And you risk that your children will learn the phobia from you.

If you can get rid of the phobia, you will be free of spider fear for life. And you can leave them to do their good job of removing germ-carrying insects that really are harmful.

It is entirely possible to get rid of the phobia, as people have described on here before.

There are several ways of approaching this. One method that has been successful is hypnosis. Another is one of the spider treatment days held at various zoos. I personally know someone who was referred for treatment by her GP, and her children subsequently had a pet tarantula!

Please, please think about getting rid of this awful blight, rather than continuing to suffer from it.

I’ve had one hypnotherapy session specifically for this. Unfortunately it hasn’t either yet so having a few more sessions. I do think hypnosis can have good results though. The therapist was pretty convinced 1 would be enough, I feel much like you do, so feel I need a more gradual approach possibly. Anyway, I will keep going....
Good luck OP.

A quick method of killing spiders in an ecologically friendlier method involves hair spray. Using a broom to catch and dispose of the spider also works. A regular Hoover makes it easy.
Exposure therapy does work, but I still don't like spiders. My DP is more afraid of spiders than I am.