I completely understand because I have an extreme phobia of them as well, I used to meet my partner at his place of work when he finished but caught sight of one and haven’t been back since.
We saw one at a car wash a few weeks ago and I nearly fainted from fear and hyperventilating.
I had to leave a job I loved once because I saw one in the garden and was terrified there was an infestation and I just couldn’t cope. People thought I was ridiculous and completely overreacting but you can’t help it if you have a phobia.
I’m not scared of anything else and don’t mind heights, snakes, vomit, spiders etc…
People have laughed or berated me but I didn’t laugh when they needed a spider picking up and moving. I think some phobias are more understood then others.
Last year DP saw a rat (I shudder just typing it too) in the garden because our neighbours were putting food out for the birds. I put peppermint oil in a spray bottle with water and sprayed everywhere - especially round the outside of the house and where any entry points might be.
I move things about in the garden but we have a river next to our house and it’s surrounded by fields so like paradise for them.
I got rat traps from Amazon for inside the house but so far haven’t caught any. It said they safe for other animals and pets, they are boxes with bait in and other animals wouldn’t fit in the small hole to get in the box.
We got a cat which really helped because he’s a proper little hunter. My partner has seen him running round with ones the size of kittens in his mouth and said he sucked the tail up like spaghetti. I was torn between relief and not wanting to know! I can hear him fighting with them sometimes and would never dream of getting a cat flap in case my cat decided to showcase his hunting prowess.
Since we adopted our little killing machine the neighbours have said they are no longer coming into the garden and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Salem the cat tormenting any. I’m praying they have buggered off but I’m scared I’ve tempted fate writing this and I’ll catch sight of one later.
It’s definitely a good idea to get help with the phobia, I really need to do it because you can’t escape them, the little fuckers are everywhere and quite often pop up on tv or in films as well which gives me a nasty shock.
If you can get a cat than I really think that’s the best course of action because just the smell of the cat can keep them away. I put treats all round my skirting board every night so the cat got as close as possible.