Please help me with my fear

[cherrycola66]

I know it’s silly. My biggest fear is rats and mice. Ever since I was 14 I’ve been terrified of them and I don’t know why. My garden backs onto a kind of forest so I know they’re around, thankfully haven’t seen one here yet, however my partner annoyingly told me in the outside shed there was droppings. I see them whilst out walking through parks and I literally run in the opposite direction, please please help me calm my mind, I always think about what if I saw one in my garden, I couldn’t go out there again, or even worse the house, I honestly would move out. Please give me some words of advice that they aren’t that bad

They really aren't. We have horses and chickens which means we sometimes get mice in and around the feed store. The mice are actually terribly sweet - so unbelievably tiny and shy. The rats are bigger but even they scarper at the sight of you. They stay alive by running away from things bigger than them!

Also an ex boyfriend of mine had pet rats and I loved them. They were really clever, he had trained them to do tricks and they used to eat these chocolate drop treats by holding them in their paws like cookies. They were very affectionate and trainable pets. One used to sleep in the hood of his hoodie all curled up like a cat.

Get a cat, they will scare mice away.

How are you honestly seeing rats whilst wondering through a park, with leaves, grass, hedges etc? Unless your local area has some disgusting level of infestations.

I live in London where you're approximately 6ft from a rat in any given position, I've seen 3 in the past 12 years.

Are you sure you're not confusing rats for squirrels?

You have a phobia, there is effective treatment available in the form of CBT. Speak.to your GP?

I live on the south coast, after 5/6pm I see them a lot in the town parks

Can you say what it is about them that triggers your phobia? If you're ok with squirrels, it might be that a furry tail is ok but a bare tail isn't.
I have a phobia of spiders and ticks, but I'm ok with other things like harvestmen (which are almost identical). I've tried desensitising therapy, and can pick them up in a jug and put them outside, but can't touch them.

CBT is very effective for phobia. And small furry things are cute.

I am exactly the same. If I see a rat I burst into tears and shake uncontrollably. I’m not afraid of anything else and usually a very level headed no nonsense type of person so it’s out of character. It’s like a primal thing

Sorry OP, I can't offer you any help as I'm EXACTLY the same!! When my DH used to work away, I saw a rat in our garden just as I was getting in my car to go to work one morning. I called the Council as soon as I got there, and the guy said 'I'm really sorry but we won't be able to get to you until the middle of next week (it was a Friday), I got myself in such a state while explaining to him that I was on my own at home at the moment, and I am absolutely terrified of them, and won't be able to go home, etc., that he took pity on me, and said he'd go round later that day. I'm normally one of those people that leaves my back door wide open during the summer months, but after that, I daren't leave it open again until the guy came back and checked the bait, and told me that it had 'done the trick'. Ridiculous I know, but when you have a phobia, you have a phobia! The weird thing is though, that I can pick a spider up, put it outside, and not think twice about it, whereas so many of my friends would get in the sort of tizzy that I do about rats and mice.

No I don’t actually know what it is, squirrels don’t bother me, no other animal bothers me, spiders, bugs, snakes, no bother. It really baffles me honestly and I don’t know where the fear came from

Oh I’m glad someone is the same, everything thinks I’m being dramatic! Oh yes spiders don’t bother me

The danger is the cat wil catch one and bring it to you as a present - dead or alive!

Yes, no I’ve heard this from many people, which is why I won’t get a cat

True but you can be assured that they’ve been caught and brought home. Mice and rats will never make your house their home if you have cats.

I've had rats in my garden every year for the past 8yrs or more.
They run away from people, they seem very timid.
I am frightened of mice though, I worked at a stables when I was 17, there was mice in the hay on the stable floor. When I seen them, I run a mile.
Also I was working in a care home that was plagued with mice for a few weeks. They would jump out of draws and run all over the home. They were so quick and could climb up walls and through windows.

Dear lord, I'm afraid of rats but you lot are all on another level.

Kindly, you all need to get a grip, rats are agoraphobic so are probably more afraid of you than you are of it. At least that's what I tell myself a lot.

I'm not particularly afraid of rats but I have an I tense phobia of a different animal. I can't control my fear around this animal so I know how you feel. Most phobias are irrational but it doesn't make them any more controllable. Commiserations.

Get a cat?

EFT tapping is gentle and proven to clear phobias. They’ll never promise you this, but it can happen in one session. I know, I’ve seen it. Maybe give it a go?

OP , you could have a phobia ..

Some years ago, I saw a mouse in my kitchen. Easily dealt with at the time by the local council. Since then, I always tell everyone to shut the back door as I am frightened of one getting in again, particularly as I now have a little dog and his food bowl is by the door, so something extra to entice the mice.

Get a grip

We had rats in our loft. Called in a pest control bloke who confirmed it was “a family of rats”. My son asked “how did he know it was a family?” I said “ because when he went up there they were all sitting round eating breakfast”. Anyway he put some bait/poison down and they’ve gone; although I think I might’ve heard some scuttling the other night. Maybe there is one still up there. I’ve named him Richard x

I think rats get a really bad press.
I was scared of them as a child after seeing Lady and the Tramp (if you've seen it you will know what I mean). It continued up to mid thirties, even though I'd only seen one or two in my whole life. In my case, the fear was completely out of proportion to the reality of coming across one.

These days, I actually like them. They're clever and quite cute.