Spider fear is ruining my life

[elm26]

Honestly, this time of year is horrific for me.

I've just gone to get into bed and there was one of those big house spiders on my duvet.

It's been removed but I can't stop thinking about it, I'm so paranoid there is another one and I can't even bare the thought of touching my bedding where it's been.

I sound so stupid, I realise this, it's completely irrational. For as long as I can remember, they have petrified me.

Has anyone had hypnotherapy or has any tips or tricks to help?

Or things that work that keep them from coming in the windows.

I'll be awake all night now.

I feel the fear too but I've learned how to live with it.

Spiders exist and they serve a purpose.

It's not the worst thing that will happen to you, that's something you haven't even considered yet.

You are stronger than you think.

I still worry about spiders in the bed when I found one next to me about 6 weeks ago. I lie in bed thinking about it still. I cannot do anything about it apart from check but it is ingrained in my mind. Horrid little things! Sorry I cannot help but you are not alone!

...also conkers and spider spray work for the short term.

Long term look your enemy in their eyes and realise they are just a different species, going about their business, in their/your space.

I know how you feel I have a really potent fear of spiders that has gotten worse and worse. If something brushes my arm or I notice a dark blob out the corner of my eye I just out of my skin. It's crippling sometimes :(

*jump out of my skin

You need a bed tent. It’s a tent that you set up on your bed. You then zip up your spider free zone and go to sleep inside it. It’s great in winter too as will keep you warm even with the central heating off.

I have window screens

Photo of one. Obviously with spider phobia, you’d keep it zipped up so no spiders could sneak in.

I’m with you OP but in my case it’s wasps, I have an absolute fear of them and during their drunken, hazy, end of summer days, where they are made redundant from their Queen and become ‘lager louts’ they terrorise me and I can’t enjoy the last month of summer, early autumn!

I really wish I could have hypnotherapy or something to help me. I’m an embarrassment to all!!

Use Deathlac spray. Not only does it repel them but they die shortly after walking on it. Spray it on windowsills, all corners and skirting boards, you can even spray around your bed. It's a marvellous invention.

Yes, me too.

Any bug killer that contains permethrin will kill spiders by damaging their exoskeleton. Not sure how much would be needed for the big buggers though.

I shake everything I pick up in my house for fear of their being a spider in/on it. Which obviously means I'm conscious of them almost all the time. I try to be prepared for seeing one so I'm less likely to be jump scared! 😱

I'm exactly the same. I scream start sweating and shaking when I see a spider (even on the telly or in a magazine or FB)

I have several cans of Raid dotted around the house

Apparently peppermint oil around the windows and doors, skirting boards is supposed to repel them. I've still seen some though

I have started using PHOBIA HYPNOSIS videos on YouTube at night. You could try those

I came on to say hypnotherapy.
Definitely worked for me

Not the cheapest option but in terms of instant results, get yourself booked on one of the zoo spider phobia courses, I can't rave about the London Zoo one enough! (Seriously, I think half my posting history is me recommending it on threads like this one 😄)

You can get electronic spider repellents on amazon. I had one once when I lived on my own and never saw a spider the entire time - circa 4years.

You can't use them though if you have any pet hamsters and things.

Seemed to work for me, but they had mixed reviews on line.

I share this, op, and also have a crippling fear of wasps, as a pp mentioned.

I bought a spray from amazon, which appears to be effective. It's called Crystal Opus. You mix water with essential oils so it doesn't harm them, just repels them from windows and doors.

I've also put clear silicone sealant around the skirting boards and gaps in the window frames. It's very rare that I see one now.

Wasps, on the other hand, have blighted my summer!

Please see a hypnotherapist!
My daughter helps people with things like this all the time. I'd ask around in your local area to find a reputable one. x

@Lellochip I have wanted to go on this but they raised the price and I haven’t been able to afford it.
can you actually handle spiders now? Or is there still a little fear there?

My answer is spiders to kill spiders. I can deal with cellar spiders, they don't move fast, are thin and generally just whisp about in corners. Since leaving them well alone when cleaning I find the big brown feckers dead on the floor a lot. We don't have any pets so assume it's the cellar spiders helping us out.

Urgh, once I got water from the fridge at night and when I went down in the morning there was a splattered spider in front of it OP 😞

I have no suggestions. Just recently I was sorting a box of my daughter's toys and a spider was in there and moved, I screamed and threw the entire box, toys went everywhere, and I was searching for this spider so I knew where it was.

The thing is, I struggle with removing them. I panic when they move so even getting close enough with a glass and some paper is hard for me, and then to see it moving in the glass as I'm walking is terrible. Even a dead spider, I would not be able to hold in my hands to throw out of the window.

I had no bug spray.... I resorted to hairspray. It killed it after sticking it together. I then left it stuck to the fucking floor for a whole day because I couldn't bear trying to pick it up. By that point it was hardened to the floor, melded to it almost. It had been half crushed by the thrown box of toys anyway.

I ended up using a spade from my daughter's sand toys. I put kitchen on top of the spider first so I didn't have to see if, then scraped it up.

This wasn't even a fucking big brown house spider... Those... I don't know what I would do. I remember one of those being in my mum's dark brown curly once and her freaking out when I was a kid, she just felt something move and put her hand up and there it was. Also I have a core memory of lifting a rock as a child in the garden and a big spider seemingly "chasing" me back inside. I wonder if that's where this all started 🤔

I've heard some essential oils help

Thank you everyone.

I'm still awake, sat in the living room.

It's utterly exhausting having a real phobia and I feel for all of you that feel the same.

I can't even bare the thought of going on one of those courses but it's worth looking into, the thought of even looking at them sends me into panic.

I will look up hypnotherapy and I ordered a bottle of Dethlac on Amazon prime which should be here later today.

@XSnoe nooo the hair 😩 I was stuck in a car with my friend on the motorway whilst one of those huge garden spiders crawled across the top of her head (she's peroxide blonde so I noticed it very fast), I opened my window and I was hanging out of it crying whilst it was making its way down her forehead. She flicked it off and it landed on her gearstick, luckily we were coming off at services but I felt like I was in slow motion to be able to get out of the car.

Luckily a guy heard us both screaming as we got out the car and he came and removed it. The rest of the drive was awful.

I'm so paranoid that I'll be driving and I'll crash because of it, I don't know what I'd do if one ran across my dash or even worse, me.

@CallmeMrsPricklepants I've heard that the skinny ones that are often in the corners go after the big ones.

I tend to leave them, if they are in the living room etc it's fine but I still remove them from my bedroom and above my bath.

@LeevMarie thank you, I will order some!

It's so bizarre because I could sit with a wasp physically on me knowing there's a good chance I'm going to get stung and it's going to hurt but they don't bother me at all.

Humans are strange aren't we!

@Constantcolds thank you, I will look. I have a dog so will see what it says!