Spiders!

GalwayDub2

I have a major phobia of spiders. Now I was doing well for a while there and didnt see many and thought maybe my phobia was going a bit.

Then I picked up the paper the other day.......seemingly, because its been so mild, insects are living for longer, spiders are eating more of them and getting bigger. And to top it all off......now its going to get really cold and they are all going to come into our houses.

I'm not buying the paper again. Although its true. I found 3 in our hallway last night!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Greyham

It was weird , i had a horrible phobia of them , and the i completely outgrew it, I didnt have any methods of getting rid of it or anything , i just gradually became less sensitive to their presence

DazMarz

Oh dear Jesus, no... I'm absolutely terrified of all manner of creeping things... Spiders, though... they are my arch-nemesis.

My friends love it (I'm 6' 2" and do Tae Kwon Do and all this, so I could be considered ''tough'') and take great pains to tease the shíte outta me about it.

I am seriously terrified of spiders, and usually freak out when I see one. I have no fear of anything else, like snakes or anything that are ACTUALLY dangerous, but spiders... terrified. I hate being like this, but it's just who I am.

xIsabelx

They really ARE everywhere this year

I just saw a small enough one in my room. Asked my Mum to get rid of it for me, but because of its awkward position (right beside a crack in the wall) she couldn't get to it and it was gone. Thought it had scuttled off somewhere, so I wasn't too bad. But then I was reaching for a towel on the floor and noticed something darting out from under it. The bloody thing had made it down to the floor somehow and was suddenly in my towel!! I screamed and stamped all over the place, hoping to crush it. My brother came in and looked all around but it was gone. So here I am in bed, tapping away in the dark because I'm too afraid to leave the light on, in case I'll see it. I'm also now terrified that what if it was a different spider?! That there could be two in my room now

Really, really want to overcome this phobia, I am absolutely terrified of them, and have been ever since I could crawl!

Elbi

Oh my god im the same, I actually left my house for two weeks and stayed at a friends because there was a HUGH one in my living room, i only moved back when it was caught....
Sometimes i do think im gettin over the fear a bit but then i see one and run screaming for the hills, its weird because they are small thing you can squish or hoover up, they cant harm us but yet we are terrified of them,

L'prof

Elbi wrote: »

Oh my god im the same, I actually left my house for two weeks and stayed at a friends because there was a HUGH one in my living room, i only moved back when it was caught....
Sometimes i do think im gettin over the fear a bit but then i see one and run screaming for the hills, its weird because they are small thing you can squish or hoover up, they cant harm us but yet we are terrified of them,

Haha, it took 2 weeks to catch a spider? Somebody was glad to be rid of you for a while!

Elbi

jasonorr wrote: »

Haha, it took 2 weeks to catch a spider? Somebody was glad to be rid of you for a while!

ha ha smart ass, i live alone actually
the spider was caught after bout a week i think but i need to build the nerve up to go back ha sad i know, but it was hugh:D

Priapus

I have a big fear of these little feckers too. Keep horse chesnuts in your house and they will stay away. Apparently they don't like the smell of them or something like that.

Molly22

I have such a major phobia of them. I actually freeze when i see one, whether its on telly or just a small one in my house. I cant even say the word tarant... no I cant do it!!

I used to have these horrible nightmares about them. I wont even say what the recurring nightmare was (because I'll probably pass it onto someone else here!) but to stop myself dreaming about them (yep this is how phobic I am) I think about them for a small while before I go to sleep so they wont be in my subconscious. Crazy, you might think, but the nightmares stopped!

I still see them in real life though, d'oh!

Fragglefur

I'm also terrified of spiders, to the point that I won't stay in the house if I know there's one hiding out somewhere. However, I got a plug - in pest thing in the supermarket (I call it my anti-spider device) and I haven't seen one since (I am on constant high alert). Apparently it emits some sort of high pitched noise that only spiders can hear, which it really irritates them and they keep away.

Kent Brockman

Dont know too many people who like spiders tbh.

Again its not easy but if you can compose yourself (maybe with a breathing technique) long enough to rationaly see the outcome of your spider encounter you will realise that
1. the spider is more afraid of you than you of it (really) and will probably run away from you or simply go about its own business.
2. It cannot harm you
3. If it comes near you, you can kill it in a split second and therefore eliminate any imagined danger

The mind is a funny thing and if you can make the above thoughts your natural response to seeing a spider then you will be well on the way to making those encounters easier.
Best of luck.

Fragglefur

I know it seems irrational to those not morbidly afraid of spiders, but I've tried to be reasonable and do what you've suggested etc, but I just get enveloped by this overwhelming feeling of panic if I know there's a spider (particularly big ones with long black legs that move really quickly) in the vicinity (weird but I don't mind Daddy Long Legs or any other sort of bugs). I would never even get close enough to be able to kill a spider, even with a sweeping brush or Hoover.

soden12

I don't mind the little ones but the big guys freak me out ( woodlice also scare me).

Viva La Gloria

Molly22 wrote: »

I think about them for a small while before I go to sleep so they wont be in my subconscious. Crazy, you might think, but the nightmares stopped!

Every single night I go to bed, I think about them subconciously because I don't want to think about them. I have to force myself to think about anything else just so I can sleep

Went into Wackers pet shop again the other week with my friend. Stood very far away from the spider tanks, but I would love to get to the point where I can actually walk by it and look in someday. They just terrifiy the absolute **** out of me. Coming face to face with a tarantula is single handedly the most terrifying thing in the world to me. Nothing else is scarier

T "real deal" J

they are so alien. 8 legs, 8 eyes, the female eats the male after sex, the young eat the mother alive...it all horrifies me. I am terrified of them.

Valmont

GalwayDub2 wrote: »

Then I picked up the paper the other day.......seemingly, because its been so mild, insects are living for longer, spiders are eating more of them and getting bigger. And to top it all off......now its going to get really cold and they are all going to come into our houses.

This is bad news. I don't mind spiders by themselves but I have a serious fear of uncovering the big ones when I'm rooting around in boxes or under my bed. It's such a stupid fear really but I can't shake it.

Solas8

Valmont wrote: »

This is bad news. I don't mind spiders by themselves but I have a serious fear of uncovering the big ones when I'm rooting around in boxes or under my bed. It's such a stupid fear really but I can't shake it.

Fear is fear and never stupid and the good news is that there is an immediate cure for your fear. takes less than 5 mins. Its called TFT and it works and it is free. PM me if interested.

wayhey

jasonorr wrote: »

Haha, it took 2 weeks to catch a spider? Somebody was glad to be rid of you for a while!

Ha, I was thinking morel like a big-ass spider... :P

It's only the big ones that creep me out and I really, really hate the "face" of a spider, you know like when they zoom in on TV? It's paralyzing...but apparantly that's a really common aspect of the phobia, yeah?

MiloYossarian

I have an irrational fear of spiders. I am afraid that one will come into my room at night, while I sleep...and stab me. It's completely irrational I know, spiders can't even hold a knife.

potsy86

i have two pet spiders (trantulas) i can look at them no bother i went to hold one today it crawled up my hand and i got the biggest fright of my life no way could i go through wit it
im for terrified of the little small house spiders which i find weird i just run a mile when i see one them small creepy ones :pac::(

DazMarz

My suffering Jaysus, is it just me or are the fcuking spiders this year bigger than ever before??? I'm after killing two HUGE yokes in my house in the last while... Bloody HORRIBLE things...:(

I think twice about reading threads like this.... been so lucky in the last few years not to have encountered any big lads - there was one in my room in Shankill a few years ago but my boyfriend killed it. Saw a flat one in our bathroom in Dalkey last year, turns out either me our my housemate was too drunk or tired to see it before it was flat. I live in Balbriggan now and the bedroom window is always open, and neither me nor the fella are tidy people, in fact we're exceptionally messy. I'm just waiting till they pop up. I don't mind the odd small one. I just kill 'em. It's the biggies. I grew up in Wexford and the house was full of them. I don't read threads like this because I don't want to know how big they get. I've heard stories, I've seen pictures.

If I'm in a pet shop, I get my boyfriend to go ahead of me and approve each tank before I see it. If he sees one, he wont say so, but I can tell from his face. I wish he'd SAY so. I accidentally caught a glimpse of a few gigantic legs the other week - broke out in a cold sweat, got dizzy and incredibly itchy. I have been able, over the years, to resist the urge to feel my legs up and down, because I do get the sensation that they are crawling up my legs under my jeans. But I've worked on it for years, just allowing the sensation and not overreacting. I was able to pass by the feckers on my way out of the pet shop (though as far from them as I could get). This is progress.

And similiar to what someone said earlier in the thread, I wont say it... tarant.... will do. I was watching TV with an arachnophobic housemate a few years ago. She was worse than me in one respect - even a small spider and she wouldn't go near it to kill it. Even the biggies I have stand offs with, that usually end with a phonebook and some hyperventilating. A tarant.... yeah one of them, came on the TV. She screamed. I laughed. Then a close up - we had an ancient TV with no remote, so I ran at the TV with a blanket, put it over the TV, then changed channel. I couldn't even touch the TV with that on it.

Mackman

Spiders are my only fobia, thankfully. I cant stand them, if i see one i have to kill it, or get someone to get rid of it. When i see one, i freeze, my heart beat doubles and i start breathing heavily. i hate them.

It suck becasue here in Australia, the wildlife is protected so your not supposed to kill these things. there was a HUGE crab spider out the front of the house, he used to build a massive web between two trees. And ive walked into it a few times. ARGGHHH!!!! i seen him one day, and i went grab a shoe to kill the bastard, but the OH was like "NO NO!! you cant kill him!! he eats the mozzies and flies!" as if i care, :mad: so i told her to get rid of it. i dont know what she did, but its not there anymore thank god.

Another time, i was staying with my uncle, he lives out in the bush in NSW, and huntsman spiders were a common occurance, IN THE HOUSE!!! these things are huge. DO NOT GOOGLE if you dont like spiders.


i hate Australia :mad::mad::mad:

Killer Pigeon

I have the biggest phobia ever of spiders. I cannot go near a place that I saw a spider in for weeks. LITERALLY! Any spider that's bigger than my thumbnail I can't bear to look at it. I not afraid of most other bugs. I also have a fear of crabs and scorpions, I see them as huge spiders. It's something to do with the eight legs. One day I was on the bus reading the Metro and there was this picture of a big spider in it, I just through the newspaper on the floor of the bus and made an utter show of myself. It's really bad for me.

Barrettd

Strangest thing: Back in Cape Town, SA I belonged to the Cape Reptile club and was on call out for any Snake capture and release calls for my area - You will be suprised at the snakes that make their way into your home there . No problem. Bring a Daddy Long legs near me and I will suffer an Asthma attack and probably die. My Poor Fiance has to capture, Kill/Release anything with 8 legs found in our home . . any logic to this ??? Plus I have seen some crazy spiders here in Ireland . . Great . . How can one overcome this?

Fragglefur

from a psychological perspective I'm not so sure, but from a practical perspective I use a plug - in pest control device. This really seems to work and I haven't seen a spider in my house since, even though I live in the middle of the countryside.

Garlic Suplmnt

I used to be chronically arachnophobic. Whereas I'll never be totally at ease with them, my phobia was lessened significantly when I started to make an effort to put them out of the house instaed of killing them. Confronting your fears directly is a very liberating experience.

blagards

Kent Brockman wrote: »

Dont know too many people who like spiders tbh.

I like spiders. This isn't any amazing bravery on my part or me being a big weirdo, I think its just cos my dad familiarized me with them from an early age and made me completely comfortable with them. I know that they cant hurt me and while I do put them out of the house if I find one, thats more in case I accidentally kill it (I'm a big softy really!)
They're clean creatures which kill and eat pests such as flies (which are dirty) so I fail to see whats not to like about them.
If I ever have kids I'll definitely try to familiarize them with spiders from an early age so they don't go through life fearing something completely harmless

Killer Pigeon

I went to see the movie 'Salt' in the cinema on Saturday. Ugh! It really annoyed me, why did the main character's husband have to be an arachnologist? Seriously, couldn't the screenwriters have picked another profession for that character. Anyway, there was one scene near the beginning where she goes to meet her husband (the arachnologist) in their home and he's there studying this massive tarantula. When I saw it I spilled my spilled my drink on my trouser and on the floor. I seriously have a problem.

Does anyone know why people are scared of spiders like that? It makes no real sense to me. I'm not scared of large insects (and I know spiders aren't technically insects). I hate looking at crabs, lobsters and scorpions too. I wonder if it has anything to do with instinct.

Fizgig Bandicoot

Kent Brockman wrote: »

Dont know too many people who like spiders tbh.

1. the spider is more afraid of you than you of it (really) and will probably run away from you or simply go about its own business.
2. It cannot harm you
3. If it comes near you, you can kill it in a split second and therefore eliminate any imagined danger


Best of luck.

I know you're trying to be helpful, but to be honest, everybody already knows this.

On reflection, maybe some people didn't know this. Sorry!

supremenovice

The things scare the bejaysus out of me.
5mins ago, Im lying on my bed browsing my laptop when I seen this big thing scuttering across the floor. I think they heard it downstairs and were thinkin Ive got a girl up here .
Anyway, he ran into a heap of laundry I have here and I didnt know how Id get rid. I kept my eye on him and had the prescence of mind to grab my Dustbuster TM. Managed to suck him up and now he is scurrying around the inside trying to excape.
Im so fricken paranoid that he'll escape that I taped up any holes that he might get out LOL.
Jesus I need to see somebody!!!

af_thefragile

Was a spider on my pillow last night. I carried the pillow carefully and shook it outside the window till the spider was gone. Then I used another pillow to sleep on.

A lot of spiders around lately....


Also for spiders crawling on the floor, I throw a small box on top of them. It doesn't kill it but it traps it. Then I carefully using a paper or something slide the box with the spider in it, onto the paper, then carry the box out the window and let the spider out.
Don't like killing the poor thing for no reason. Hopefully he'll find a new home somewhere outside somewhere else...

Just found a second one in the house, I hate autumn! I'm dreading the massive tidy-up I'm going to have to do around the house cause it's a mess, I know there's more of them! I asked my boyfriend to kill it but he wanted to catch it. I just don't like when people go catching them, too often the spider gets away, scuttles off and can't be found, and I know it's still there. So we argued, and he killed it instead, and told me I had to clean it up then. It was horrible

I really really hate this time of year I find myself just wishing for a big freeze to kill the buggers or send them into hibernation, whatever it is they do over the winter when they're not stalking around our houses instead.

brightspark

Don't mind spiders myself, but my wife is terrified of them (even pictures of them)

She loves her bugbuster as she doesn't really like them to be killed either.

http://www.buyabugbuster.co.uk/