Spiders are probably a common one...
I'm 33, 6 foot tall and am the wrong side of 110 kilos. And the eight-legged beasties scare the bejesus out of me.

Living in an old house, I've had to learn to cope. Breathing exercises to quell the initial adrenaline rush when you see them... I can now actually be in the room with a wolf spider or a daddy-long-legs on the wall or ceiling, and can just... avoid it.

If disposal is necessary (the majority of the time), then a wet flannel is the way forward. Approach the spider slowly, making sure that the folded flannel covers the fingers, and the palm is flat. Take specific control of your elbow and wrist. They *will* do your bidding. More breathing, keep breathing. Build yourself up. 'you can do this, you can do this, you can do this...'

A firm count to three. One... Two... thr[Arm extended, palm flat, spider centred on flannel.] QUICKLY scrunch flannel between fingers, maintaining pressure on wall/windows/significant other and RUN to the bathroom for hurling of flannel into the bath/shower.

Flannel can then be dealt with at a distance with a broom-handle, and the remains rinsed down the plughole with a shower head.

I saw an american phobia program with a guy looking to get over his fear of spiders, and (after initial encounters with spiders in tanks) was put in a room with a tarantula. He had a big bit of card that he could shoo it away with, or use as a wall. The special bit was that he was also barefoot, and the floor was astroturfed. Oddly, I can see how it worked, and after watching him go from a nearly gibbering heap to being able to stand sans cardboard about a metre away from the thing... I could get a little further in controlling my own fear.

I don't need to be able to pick them up... Just... not be bothered. Has anyone on here had hypnosis for arachnophobia? Seriously, if I could be in the same room as a spider and... just not care, my life would be so much easier.
( moogthedog, Thu 10 Apr 2008, 20:57, 2 replies)

Rough Marines
Having served in some PRETTY gross places, whether that service was training or an actual deployment, I had this fear of spiders too. Maybe not as morbid as yours, but fear none the less.

The thing to do is to MAKE SURE You keep it a secret...particularly when you are only a Lieutenant. NCO's (Sergeants in particular) find this out and will make your life a hell, particularly on night marches or 'yomps' as your boys in uniform call them.

The SLIGHTEST tap on my back, an acorn, a finger, a tiny piece of a twig would make my skin crawl. I never full on freaked, but I did do the 'no spider' dance a time or two and the remainder of the 'event' I would be splitting time between seeking out targets/bad guys and seeking out targets of the eight legged variety.

To THIS very day, I see a spider? I am IMMEDIATELY looking for some sort of weapon delivery platform to engage. "Must KILL Spider"

And if it is brown? My brain screams: BROWN RECLUSE CAN KILL A MAN!

And the fight or flee reflex kicks in.

I feel your pain. I feel your pain.
( Citadel Because the world needs less morons, Thu 10 Apr 2008, 23:41, closed)

I feel your pain man....
Do you walk into a room and see it instantly, even if its behind you?

Do you jump at spider like things that move in spider like ways that are not indeed spiders?

Do you have recuring flash backs to places around your home where you have seen one and you have to keep looking to check its not still there?

Can you touch things that you know had a spider on them?

All of these above are me me me - so if you get anywhere with the hypnosis, please let me know!

Going to bed now, and before I brush my teeth over the bathroom sink I get a flash back of the HUGE bastard that was there last OCTOBER....

Nighty night.
TY
(Beejster, Fri 11 Apr 2008, 3:56, closed)