Off Topic- Arachnaphobia :(

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I was awake getting the baby a bottle and changing her. She was just about ready to go back in her crib when guess who decided to crawl into my bed...a nasty yucky spider! I wacked it with the remote and it fell on the floor and went under the bed..THEN I happen to look up and there was another one on the ceiling above the bed. I now can't go back to sleep because I'm petrified of spiders and can't kill the one on the ceiling and I know that the other one is either under the bed or back in the bed. Does anyone know ANY way to get over this kind of fear? I know it's not a logical thing, I mean it's a tiny spider, but they r so disgusting. This is really upsetting me, I'm exhausted!

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  • laurenk182004
    laurenk182004 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I was awake getting the baby a bottle and changing her. She was just about ready to go back in her crib when guess who decided to crawl into my bed...a nasty yucky spider! I wacked it with the remote and it fell on the floor and went under the bed..THEN I happen to look up and there was another one on the ceiling above the bed. I now can't go back to sleep because I'm petrified of spiders and can't kill the one on the ceiling and I know that the other one is either under the bed or back in the bed. Does anyone know ANY way to get over this kind of fear? I know it's not a logical thing, I mean it's a tiny spider, but they r so disgusting. This is really upsetting me, I'm exhausted!
  • REB89
    REB89 Posts: 493 Member
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    it's hard to offer adivice because i don't know how bad your phobia is. If it's really bad then i know there are psychologists you can go and see who try and help you to overcome your fears. If its mild then the only thing I can suggest is to calm yourself down and rationalise the situation in your head (they aren't going to hurt you! ) Maybe try calming yourself down with tea or something and try going back to bed. Tiredness will probably eventually overcome you and you'll get some sleep. If not, you can always sleep on the couch tonight! Good luck!:yawn:
  • rheston
    rheston Posts: 638
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    My wife has this phobia and I spend a lot of sleepless nights in the spring and fall being awakened by her to tell me (in a dark room mind you) that there's a spider on the ceiling, floor, wall or someplace obscure in the room looking at her and by God when I turn on the light and look there it is!

    You must have an inner frequency that connects with spiders that makes you more connected with them somehow and I wish I had the answer to your question because it would solve my dilemma here. :tongue:
  • arubabound
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    I can TOTALLY relate years ago I read a Erma Bombeck bit...remember her? Too funny anyway she was talking about random thinking as she tried to fall asleep and how she had read that the average person eats something like 6 spiders a year. I was convinced that during the night I'd fall asleep with my mouth open and awake to a nasty eight legged criitter caressing my tonsils...LOL......it was really awful!!!.....so.......with the baby I'm not sure you want to try this but extreme.....bug bomb will work.....try to vacumn your room....that might make you feel better.....but eventually you'll be sooo tired you will sleep again......oh and thanks to my hubby and his remarkable spider hunting abilities....I sleep most nights worry free..
  • kelpie06
    kelpie06 Posts: 93 Member
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    Ok, I once had a scare with bats and a silly book that I was given talked about the "symbolism" of animals and it helped me to think about them in a different way.

    I just did a quick search in Internet and here is what Spiders "symbolize" - Master Weaver, Weaver of the Web of Fate, Wisdom, Creativity, Divine Inspiration, Shapeshifting, Understanding the Patterns of Illusion, Female Energy for the Creative Force of Life, Creative, Connecting the Past with the Future, Creating Possibilities, Weaver of the Primordial Alphabet.

    Just a silly, different way to think about the eight legged creepy crawlers.
  • rowlandk
    rowlandk Posts: 146 Member
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    Trust me, I completely understand. I have a canopy bed and one night I was laying down getting ready to sleep and I looked up and there was one hanging out on the canopy. I didn't know how to get it off without it falling in my bed and me losing it (I can't even get within feet of spiders without breaking out in a full sweat, I am deathly afraid). So I took a can of indoor bug killer and sprayed it until it was white and curled in a little ball. The only bad thing is that I used the entire can of spray so I couldn't go back to sleep in my bedroom because it was filled with this gas that I sprayed and it burned my eyes and smelled so bad. I wish there was some way to get over it because I have been afraid of them since I was a small child. I'm fine with snakes and whatever else, even think mice are cute but can't stand anything with 8 legs.
  • laurenk182004
    laurenk182004 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    Ok..you guys are great! I love the spider stories..lol and the symbolism is interesting too. Thankyou. I fell asleep sitting up on the couch last night with the baby in the bouncy seat. I don't know what I'm going to do...this wasn't a problem all winter of course, and now I'm remembering how awful it is :( I have tried the bug bombs b4 and still had yucky spiders...it's like they just won't die. I can relate to spraying a whole can of spray on one spider...and the nasty thing still lives for awhile afterwards. Well again, thanks for being there!
  • elliott062907
    elliott062907 Posts: 1,508 Member
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    I hate bugs. No matter what, it's me or the bug and let me tell ya, the big will not in.

    I have actually gotten out of the shower soaking wet and soapy and had hubby come in to kill on....

    Now that's sad.

    Let's face it, they hop, slither, run and jump and HIDE!!!!!!!
  • MargieM
    MargieM Posts: 2,248 Member
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    I have the same phobia, have had it since I was very little. In fact, I got trapped in my basement one late afternoon before my husband got home. There I was, at the bottom of the basement stairs with a huge wolf spider hanging out on one of the steps. Didn't see it when I went down because it was on the verticle part! Long story short... my dad rescued me and got rid of the spider. This was after much panicking and anxiety and screaming at the cats to leave it alone so it wouldn't run off and hide again. I can laugh now, but it sure wasn't funny then! There was now way in, well you know, that I was going back up those steps and have to step over the thing. NO WAY! And yes, it is my husband's job to rid the house of creepy crawlies. Now that it's warming up again, I'll have to be on the look out....
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,784 Member
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    It really depends on your extend of phobia. I like spiders, but have phobias that are not rational, so I can relate. I went to a psychologist for many months to try to get over a fear of flying. I haven't flown, except one test flight to Dallas where I totally freaked and rented a car and drove home. I'm not a success story. I still won't fly, but here are some techniques:

    get yourself used to the phobia - in your case read books about spiders, "Charlotte's Web" anyone?
    inform yourself about the different kinds of spiders - black widows kill wasps, for example - try to find this interesting
    as you progress, get closer to your fear. You might be able to handle a spider 5 feet away, then 4 feet away, etc.
    learn calming techniques - deep breathing and the like.
    try to figure out why you are afraid - childhood experience?

    In my case, I was on a bad flight in a thunderstorm, where I was woken up to a woman screaming. My fear got worse with every flight after that until I couldn't do it any more. I'm also now afraid of severe weather. I get my fear of heights from my mom though. I've worked on this one by doing rock climbing - the others are harder to work on because storms are unpredictable and you can't just sorta fly :bigsmile:

    Good luck!
  • MontanaGirl
    MontanaGirl Posts: 1,251 Member
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    Alcohol. Get a bottle of rubbing alcohol at Walmart - about $.50 or so. Put a sprayer on it or pour it into a squirt bottle - mark it. You spray the spider and with in seconds he will curl up deader than a doornail. This is especailly helpful for ones on the ceiling above the bed that you can't squish. I've taked down some pretty big ones with just a couple of sprays. Discovered by accident - loved for 6 years now!!
  • laurenk182004
    laurenk182004 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    Hey thanks! I'll try the alcohol...one night i sprayed a spider with kitchen cleaner to get it to fall so I could squick it with a boot and it left a horrible stain on the ceiling..lol
  • ali106
    ali106 Posts: 3,754 Member
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    Oh wow!!! I am so afraid of bugs its not funny...so I feel for you and I'm gonna go make a bottle of that tonight!!! my hubby will be happy so he doesn't have to inspect the room if I see one....its horrible...I'm not so afraid of them outside but I HATE them in my house I feel omg...like they are everywhere....its like a fear of the unknown...and omg...the story about swallowing them....I know I will be thinking of that tonight ! lol

    I think my fear came at like 8 yrs old, I went to a pond w/ my older cousins and was standing on rock barefoot when I looked down when something tickled me and the biggest blackest spider was on my foot! My cousins were like STAY STILL! lmbo...we dont' know if it was posionous but it was horrible and well ever since that day I am a phobic...I shake out blankets that have been in a closet too long, shoes, am a fanatic duster lol...sigh....

    hugs and stay strong! lol
    ali
  • MontanaGirl
    MontanaGirl Posts: 1,251 Member
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    Yeah - it works literally in seconds and shouldn't stain anything. Good luck!!
  • Soniabruja
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    Don't kill them!!! Pour little things!!!
    They are more afraid of you than you are of them!!

    House spiders are good. You wont have any fly or mosquitoes with them around....

    And yes, I used to be terrified of spiders....
    I was for few months in the jungle in South America, and believe me, I sow very BIG spiders!!!
    When I came back to Europe, I started to look spiders in a different way......
    And don't use any poison...is really bad for your health, and specially for kids!!
    Is bad karma to kill them....:flowerforyou:
  • MontanaGirl
    MontanaGirl Posts: 1,251 Member
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    So glad you over came your phobia soniabruja!! In my world, however, spiders live outside NOT inside. :happy:
  • jesusgrl14
    jesusgrl14 Posts: 250
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    I can totally relate to this one. I don't have much of a fear of spiders...you can squish them! For me it's even more ridiculous. I have a massive fear of frogs and toads (especially toads)! Oh I cannot even look at them and I always run screaming if I get close to one. I have told friends that if they ever found it funny to bring me one, the whole relationship is over! :laugh: I have no idea where this came from but it runs deep. I feel like such an idiot because I know they are completely harmless but (shiver) I can't get over it. If a mouse ran across the room, I would probably chase it and try to catch it. Roaches are no problem. I just can't stand frogs and toads! The weather has been really wet again this year and they are everywhere again. I have to salt my front porch so that I can walk in the house without screaming. Good luck with this! :flowerforyou:
  • Soniabruja
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    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:(Reply to montanagirl)
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
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    I can relate. All bugs scare me and it came from one instance at my mother's house:

    I was lying on the floor when I was 12 watching television at 1am and I felt a tickle in my ear. I thought it was my dog and let it tickle me but I didn't hear or feel my dog's fur against me. I got up and looked at it and it was a giant cockroach.

    I became scared and jumped on my mother's coffee table and cracked it in half. The *kitten* ran away but my dog sniffed it out and pulled it from underneath our rocking chair and flipped it on its back. Luckily my dog didn't eat it, she became bored and walked away.

    My brother and I poured Ajax, shaving cream, bleach, comet, paprika, salt, and Arm and Hammer on the roach and it was still alive. My father was out working and "felt" that something was wrong at home so he rushed home and saw a pound of poison on the floor and had to use a shovel to dispose of the damned things.

    Since then, I refuse to come in contact with any roach or bug. It's a fear I don't want to get over because it's something I just don't want to face again. Luckily, I have a big strong man to save me when the time comes around :blushing:
  • snelfk
    snelfk Posts: 151 Member
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    Try spraying, professional or DIY, around the outside of the foundation of your house to prevent them form coming inside.