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I'm not sure if I have a phobia or not. If I had to judge myself based on what I know, I'd say I do, but a few people told me I didn't, but I don't know if that was just them trying to not make a big deal of something.
So anyways, I am painfully afraid of spiders. I get super anxious and jittery around them, and I get uncomfortable thinking about them. I'd say I don't always lose control of myself, but I have had several panic attacks due to them being in my general area (typically the closer they are the more panicky I am) I can usually think logically about them when not directly faced with one, such as I am aware that most spiders won't kill me, but I still always want to get far away from them when I see one and feel distressed for a while after encountering one.
I know this fear is more intense than my other fears, such as crowds, snakes or bugs in general, but I'm not sure if it's a full blown phobia or just an intense fear. I also have felt uncomfortable bringing up this question to my family again because of their previous response and I don't know if I'm just being dramatic and "trauma seeking". I'm not trying to if it seems that way, I'm just confused.
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Maybe you could contact a spider expert, and ask them what the slowest, fluffiest spider is in your neck of the woods and if you could have some time to stare at it. Or something. Not sure what else to think of.
ReplyOh also meant to say, one of those tiny ones, which are still fluffy and cute
ReplyThank you for the suggestion! Though to be honest small doesn't sound any better than big :( sneaky little devils can get lost. I think I'm mostly okay if the spider is enclosed, I hate it a lot when they are in my space, which I know can't always be helped, but I also probably am not going to try cohabitation exposure therapy in my house hhh. But appreciate it and maybe in a controlled environment with a specialist could help! Baby steps first!
Replyif you can take it to observe them, and maybe even get a little closer in time (if you'd be able to get yourself to that point..) you'll see they're more scared of you than the opposite, for a practical reason alone. They can sting you in most cases it won't be a real big deal except of course the more venomous ones.... At the same time they are all too aware that you could crush them in an instant so their fear is also real. I agree their agile nature and ....err... "twitchiness" doesn't help. It's a reasonable fear, and something to respect. But yeah, maybe you'd want to give it a go getting that back to more rational proportions (literally and figuratively)...
ReplyI would try exposer to spiders and as you get closer to one try to hold it once you are comfortable with them! ( I used the same method to get over my fear of birds )
ReplyThat's no fun, since spiders are hard to avoid completely! I think phobias can be mild to severe, and maybe yours is on the milder end. Regardless of whether it meets the technical definition, if it's making you unhappy, I hope you'll feel OK about getting help for it if you want to (or maybe self-help, if there is such a thing for this). And, if you're in a situation where you can do something about it without telling your family, then why tell them? It's none of their business, really. Good luck!
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