Spiders get me... everytime!

[fuzyon]

I don't know why but for some reason I'm really scared of spiders (and a lot of bugs for that matter) so I've always tried to get rid of this fear. I've been to museums that had tarantulas on display and I nearly crapped my pants when I got near one, I can't imagine what I would do if it were to crawl on top of me. I've also tried just clearing my mind when I see one but it doesn't work at all.


For people that mustered up the courage to not be afraid of spiders, how did you do it?

 

[lexinonomous]

I can't blame you for being afraid of spiders. They freak me out too! When I come in contact with a spider, I usually find someone else to do the dead of letting them outside of the house. I don't like to kill spiders because I feel terrible, but I won't take the time out to let them outside myself. Sadly, we cannot help what we are afraid of. Most of the time our fears are hard to get over and take time to let go of. I want to give you some solid advice on how to not be afraid of something, but in my case, the only thing that works for me is forgetting my fears. After time, I will forget about being afraid of something because so much time has gone on.


Many people believe that facing your fears plays a hefty role in letting go. Maybe spending more time around spiders will help you get a better understanding for them and make you less afraid.

 

[fcuco]

Exposure Therapy, that is, being faced with the object of my fear until I get completely desensitized, trust me, if you were exposed to the same spider for 2 hours every day during during a year by the second month your fear will turn into disdain and boredom, just like you get bored of other things that excite you eventually.

Your case appears to be not that severe, you were able to enter a building knowing that they housed tarantulas so your fear is probably not that crippling, so, with professional help, you could overcome that perhaps even in a few sessions   

 

[djanx]

There is no such thing as a "lack of fear". You really have to find the courage to act despite the fear. I generally try to think about how realistic or logical a fear is and whether it really affects me in a practical sense!


The fear of spiders or other critters is quite normal. But, it doesn't affect your life in any way. I mean think about it - how many times are you going to be in a situation where you're required to handle a spider? I think the answer would be "none". So, why worry about a fear that doesn't affect your practical life?

 

[hades_leae]

Spiders are really small, and I think that alone was why I never really feared them. I have seen some big spiders and I approached them with interest. I know they can't get me and I can crush them with one foot with ease, not saying I'd do that for fun though. I think spiders are really beautiful, and sure they are dangerous but that's if the poisonous ones bite you, and for that to happen they need to be on you. Just don't allow that to happen.

 

[oportosanto]

I don't have fear of spiders or any other small animals, but the fact is that they do bite and generate massive allergic reactions both on me and my younger kid and that usually lasts for one week. So, even if I am not afraid, I do chase them down when I see them to prevent that they bite me.

 

[Sue]

I do not have a fear of spiders or bugs but my fiance is. I have seen him come to a dead stop when we are driving because some flew in the window. If there is a spider on the all at home I have to be the one who kills it or gets rid of it. He won't even go near it. I am not sure how you would get over that fear. I wish I knew because I certainly would like to see my fiance overcome it before we end up in a car accident because of a bug.

 

[fuzyon]

I can't blame you for being afraid of spiders. They freak me out too! When I come in contact with a spider, I usually find someone else to do the dead of letting them outside of the house. I don't like to kill spiders because I feel terrible, but I won't take the time out to let them outside myself. Sadly, we cannot help what we are afraid of. Most of the time our fears are hard to get over and take time to let go of. I want to give you some solid advice on how to not be afraid of something, but in my case, the only thing that works for me is forgetting my fears. After time, I will forget about being afraid of something because so much time has gone on.


Many people believe that facing your fears plays a hefty role in letting go. Maybe spending more time around spiders will help you get a better understanding for them and make you less afraid.

I tried learning more about spiders and that helped a bit but it's only a little step in the right direction, I know that most of them don't even have the courage to climb on top of me and there's a really slim chance I'm going to get in contact with a poisonous one. I guess a big factor in my fear is their appearance, the way they walk and look really creeps me out. 

 

[joshposh]

I'm not terribly afraid of them, but I don't like having them crawling on me that's for sure.  Does anyone let some random creature off the street just crawl all over you?  I don't.  It's not really a phobia of spiders, it's a phobia of not touching something and you do not know where it has been.

 

[Novelangel]

I have a problem with tiny spiders but not with big ones. Once, in the Philippines I had an encounter with a spider larger than a dinner plate, and that thing startled the heck out of me, because nobody told me ahead of time that such creatures existed. I would probably not have reacted if I'd seen the same type of spider for the second time. Little spiders creep me out because you never know where you're going to find them.

 

[LionTurtle]

Spiders freak me out too, especially the daddy long legs. I almost walked into one hanging In the middle of the hallway the other day. There's a lot in our basement right now, they make me cringe but I avoid killing them 

 

[kgord]

I am not a afraid of spiders or bugs, but that doesn't mean that I like them. When I was outside earlier today, there was a brown recluse spider one of the deadly ones on the outside of my house. At least I think it was. It was huge! I knocked it down. It scurried away somewhere. Spiders are one of God's creatures, but that doesn't mean that I want them invading the house. They can be hazardous, at least some of them anyway.

 

[rikka]

I generally am not afraid of spiders. The only kind of spider that haunts me is the large brown kind, the one that walks fast. I am not sure what's the name of the spider, but they love to lurk in the house to eat mosquitoes. Until now, I am still afraid of that kind of spider, and I can't even kill it because the moment I try to, it runs away fast.


I guess one thing to decrease the fear of spiders, just as some of the netizens here say, is to get exposed to them. For me, even though I am afraid of the big brown spider, I just stay away from it and just give myself a comfortable distance so as not to give me the creeps. That experiment on myself is still ongoing. I hope it will help me.


If you think your fear of spiders is interfering with your daily life, you can seek professional help. If it doesn't, you can try exposing yourself little by little. I think it's normal to be afraid of spiders.

 

[Lyndra]

As a fellow phobic I completely understand where you are coming from. Exposure therapy doesn't always work with spiders because they move fast and come out of nowhere in the wild, so caged ones don't trigger the same result. The thought of one crawling on you *shudder*.

What worked for me was a Friendly Spider course. It is a one day course run by several zoos, which works by discussion, group work, hypnotherapy and finally exposure and contact. I went in not looking at pictures of them. At the end of the day I actually stroked a tarantula, and they teach how to box spiders and put them outside. It is hard to believe, but it really does work that fast. I still don't like them, but we can co-exist.

 

[fuzyon]

As a fellow phobic I completely understand where you are coming from. Exposure therapy doesn't always work with spiders because they move fast and come out of nowhere in the wild, so caged ones don't trigger the same result. The thought of one crawling on you *shudder*.

What worked for me was a Friendly Spider course. It is a one day course run by several zoos, which works by discussion, group work, hypnotherapy and finally exposure and contact. I went in not looking at pictures of them. At the end of the day I actually stroked a tarantula, and they teach how to box spiders and put them outside. It is hard to believe, but it really does work that fast. I still don't like them, but we can co-exist.

Wow.. I wonder if I could get the opportunity to take part in such a course. Where do you currently reside? I live in Romania so chances are slim but it doesn't hurt to try, direct therapy hasn't really worked for me but maybe with a little bit of introduction I could muster up the courage to pet a tarantula too.

 

[TheKnight]

Lol. Nearly crapped your pants? That's alright because I would too but only if those tarantulas are moving. I'd haul myself out real quick out of there, let me tell ya. Everybody else can handle that foolishness.

I'm not that afraid of spiders anymore, though. What I did to help me get over SOME of that fear was simply kill smaller spiders and work my way up to bigger ones. I didn't kill them for fun, though. Obviously because who the heck kills spiders for fun, let alone gets near them? When you have a phobia of them, at least. I killed them because they were in my home and in my area, they get pretty big about 2 to 3 inches. Don't know if they're venomous but it's better to be safe than sorry.