Massive spider in lounge, shut the door and sealed with masking tape last night,now what?

[lightclock]

What do I do now? Never enter the lounge again?

Whether it's recognised still doesn't stop it from being an embarrassingly pathetic phobia.
A phobia such as fear of flying is something that's more understandable as planes can crash and you can die. But in the UK being afraid of spiders is self-indulgent stupid behaviour.

That’s a reach. Not harmless spiders though. When next door was empty and rats got in my walls, I’d have nuked the house if I could. I don’t even mind fancy rats but on the walls 😬.

I have a horrific phobia of spiders, once slept in the car overnight because I found one in the living room and one in my bedroom.

Im sure they’re getting bigger every year. I go full nuclear and spray every inch of the house with whatever spider killing spray I can find. The Doff one is really good, they die in seconds.

I have no advice. I was once ambushed by an unfeasibly enormous beast, it ran across my leg while I was watching Eastenders. I rationally tore off all my clothes whilst screaming then grabbed the Henry Hoover, sucked it up then locked the hoover in the kitchen and lived on takeaways for 3 days because I was convinced it was still alive and would come out driving the hoover like a Spider Tank, and kill me.

So I’m not much use. Sorry.

It's 2026.

Spiders lives matter.

"We all eat a few in our lives in our sleep" -

prove it 😨

I don't see my fear of spiders as being self indulgent. I really wish I wasn't scared of them.

I can deal with them, mostly. I live alone and have no choice. I have a spider catcher and remove them humanely. Occasionally I can't reach one or it evades the catcher and runs off abd disappears. Not knowing where it has gone is the worst.

But I am still irrationally terrified of them and hate autumn when I see more of them. Small or spindly ones, ok fine. Huge ones not.

People saying we should grow up or are being self indulgent clearly lack awareness of the fact phobias are a thing and really exist.

If only it was as simple as reading some of these comments and coming to the realisation that I'm indulging myself and need to stop being scared. If it was so easy I'd do that right now!

Call child line.

A friend of mine once refused to come in my house when I opened the door and there was a spider crawling on the floor in front of me. 🤣🤣🤣 I would do nothing there's lots of spiders living quite happily in my house. They eat flies I would rather have a spider in my house than a fly. Yeah it's annoying finding the odd cobweb. But they are part of our ecosystem.

Well you needn’t have bothered then

I don’t think it’s a reach at all. You’re asking someone if she’s an adult simply because she called someone she could rely on to help her with something that terrified her. She might roll her eyes at your rat story and think to herself that you could just get some pre emptive traps/poison set down and stop being so melodramatic about it because they’ll just eat your food and piss all over your worktops. Nothing you can’t clean. It’s not like they’ll gnaw your face off in your sleep.

Personally, I completely agree with why rats in your walls would have bothered you. But do you see the point I’m trying to make? Spiders don’t bother you. Rats might not bother someone else. It doesn’t diminish either fear, so why would you try to make someone feel small about something that makes them shudder?

What are you afraid of?

Some interesting facts about spiders yes I googled it so what.

Spiders exist in nature to control insect numbers, feed other animals, and keep ecosystems in balance. They act as vital predators in every terrestrial environment.Controlling Pests and DiseaseEating insects: Spiders eat hundreds of millions of tons of bugs globally every year, including flies, aphids, and moths.Stopping sickness: By hunting mosquitoes and roaches, they help stop the spread of dangerous human diseases.Protecting plants: They keep pest populations low on farms and gardens, which lowers the need for harsh chemical bug sprays.Supporting the Food WebFeeding wildlife: Spiders are a major food source for birds, frogs, lizards, and small mammals.Nesting materials: Birds and other animals often use strong spider silk to build and hold their nests together.

@Calliopespa your resident Mr Hairy Legs is dusting off his glad rags as it's almost September when he needs to find himself a Mrs Hairy Legs.

It's no longer safe to sit on the floor, especially with sharp objects (experience), as he likes to charge around.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/spiders/giant-house-spider]

Glass over it, paper slid under the glass. Pop it outside.

Pathetic

Not much. And certainly I'm not afraid of something harmless thousands of times smaller than me. I'm afraid when things happen which can cause death or serious illness to me and members of my family or irrevocably change lives for the worse, that's it really.

A phobia is an irrational fear. Anyone who has one is aware that it’s irrational.

i wonder if people who are insensitive and rude are aware that they are insensitive and rude.

i think I’d prefer to live with a phobia.

Then surely the best thing would be to get professional help to overcome it rather than live with it?

Many people on here seem to be talking about their phobia like it's a funny, charming quirk of their personality and it's cute that they have to get a man to deal with spiders and they're ever so brave to hoover them up.

But in reality it's a form of mental illness, and judging by some comments on here, makes people act in highly abnormal ways.

If it's insensitive and rude to point out that it is irrational and silly then I'm happy to be insensitive and rude.

Ah, that’ll account for it then. Long may that continue because seemingly irrational fears can develop with age. You’re going to feel pretty silly if the same thing happens to you as it did me, where one minute I happily went to the top of the Effeil Tower and desperately wanted to abseil, and the next, the second step of a step ladder was a step too high.

Well I'm in my sixties and it hasn't happened yet. Hasn't happened to my 89 year old widowed mother either, her fears, like mine, have a rational basis.

A phobia is classified as a mental health illness, specifically an anxiety disorder.

Do you lack compassion and understanding for people with other types of mental health issues?

Can you go in if you wear a full boiler suit with hood and googles?! That would protect me from my phobia.

I have compassion for people who have mental health issues and do their best to deal with it with professional help/medication.
If they chose to ignore it and present it as a quirk of their personality, as many of those on here with phobias appear to, then I have no sympathy whatsoever.

What did you end up doing OP? @lightclock i have spider phobia too it’s awful I have had to call friends and family to come round and catch them for me before it’s a real panicky feeling.