As I've said before, I have a deep-seated, longstanding phobia of 8-legged things - I can't even say the word or see it written, never mind see a picture of one, without breaking into a cold sweat. Some people don't understand just what a phobia means and how it affects people, they think of it as a joke and something silly you can just brush aside if you put your mind to it. I've even had people (and it's always men) who, despite knowing I have this phobia, think it's amusing to keep mentioning the word loudly to me whilst telling me a supposedly funny story about one, or something even worse. I was a moderator on a caravan forum years ago, the forum owner (whom I had met and actually knew personally) thought it hilarious one day to publish a massive picture of one on the forum and laughed uproariously at my shocked reaction. Someone else texted me one day to say there was an interesting item on the TV news at that moment - when I switched the TV on, it was a section about 8 legged things, showing them live on TV. The friend claimed he didn't know I was that scared of them - well, why did he go to the trouble of getting me to watch it then? He knew alright.
I know you can have therapy to try and get over the fear - a relative had it once, it involved talking about your fears, looking at pictures of them, and then the real thing, and eventually working up to actually handling them. She didn't complete the course - and neither would I, even the very thought scares me to death.
Obviously, this is the time of year when they all start appearing indoors - whether they come in from outside, or they're indoors already but just choose this time to come out (where are they the rest of the year then? Not that I really want to know) I don't know. Last year we didn't have many at all, for some reason - however, in the past week at home we've had about half a dozen.....and they've all been GINORMOUS. I've been a nervous wreck. Yesterday morning when we were packing the car to come to the caravan, I picked up my bag of wool and current blanket project, and noticed a big ball of dark coloured fluff on the floor underneath the bag.....only when it uncurled its legs and moved I realised it wasn't fluff at all. Needless to say, I gasped and ran out of the room. Husband deals with them, he doesn't make a fuss or make fun of me, he just kills them and disposes of the bodies - sorry to anyone who feels they're creatures who deserve a life too, I'm afraid in my house it's them or me, and if they're put outside alive they'll probably come back in again!
Last night when I was alone in the caravan (albeit with Betty), that was the one thing that worried me - what would I do if I saw one, especially if it was a huge one? Betty doesn't usually take much notice of them, unless they move.....if she catches one she eats it, which I find just gross and turns my stomach. In the event, though, it was fine - didn't see a single one, thankfully. And I slept pretty well, with one loo trip - in the dark, purposely so I couldn't see anything! And I went back to sleep straight away when I got back in bed.
My sister is also terrified of them, as is my youngest brother, which he finds really embarrassing. But I tell him lots of men are scared of them, he's not the only one. And in any case, everybody is scared of something.
Do you have any phobias?
I am with you on this one,this time of year is a nightmare ! Last year I pulled back the bedroom curtains an felt a " plop " on my head. I brushed off the huge offender and whacked it with my slipper, I was screaming and crying ,husband came running up the stairs saw me in an awful state and the curled up black mess on the floor and said" ahh, poor thing " , not a dot about me hyper ventilating , yet by some miracle we are still married!
ReplyDeleteThey live in the house, out the way, all year, coming out to mate this time of year. Ruby tends to alert us to them if she is away and our s., catching glass is nearby. I dislike them very much but will catch and throw out where possible. I hate it when I can’t sleep and every few nights or more, there is one on the carpet staring at me, when the light goes on:(
ReplyDeleteI am the same over moths and Daddy Long Legs - awful! When I worked nights and the windows were open and lights on it was a total nightmare. The nurse in charge virtually told me to "pull myself together" which did not go down well.
ReplyDeleteSlugs < shudder >.
ReplyDeleteI'm very glad you didn't see any of the nasty things while on your own. xx
Oh Sooze I know exactly what you mean about phobias. I have a phobia about dead things... I was teaching a group of excluded kids once and one of the little darlings put a dead mouse on to the work I was marking. Poor kid didn't know about my phobia until screamed the place down and had a hysterical fit. My boss had to arrange for someone to drive me home I was so shaken up. It really isn't funny at all.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a phobia about "you know whats", but couldn't voluntarily touch one. I'm with joy about slugs (and snails). Makes me shudder just thinking about them. I don't even like seeing the silver trails. Eeeeew! xx
ReplyDeleteI keep two catchers, one a grabber and one a suction thing, a large glass and a bottle of lavender oil within easy reach just in case husband isn’t available! I feel your fear!
ReplyDeleteI can identify with the spider phobia thought thankfully with age that one has calmed down. Now I have a terror of heights- just looking at pictures of being high up I get a cold sweat and freak out. It's always something isn't it? But your spiders sound way bigger than mine (in Northern California). I like to keep things dark because if I can't see them, I don't bother.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes! My arachnophobia is a lifelong thing (I'm 57 soon). I find them terrifying. Strange as it sounds (but its 100% true), I can actually sense when one is in the same room as me. Husband uses the paper and glass method of removal - he has to show me the glass with the thing in it just to prove it.
ReplyDeleteThe 8 legged things don't bother me at all but I have the same feelings as you over snakes and reptiles even frogs anything without hair but snakes are the worst. I have often been known to suddenly fling a magazine across the room as I turn a page and come face to face with a picture of a snake. DH then retrieves the magazine and removes the page, but even then I cannot touch the magazine for a while. I have been known to check under beds and in wardrobes when I have heard of a snake on the loose (as if they would head for my house!!). Like you the thought of therapy would terrify me just as much - I am shuddering now just thinking about it!!
ReplyDeleteOur oldest son has that same phobia. One day I heard a shout and a loud bang. Turned out he threw a rather large volume at one on the floor of the basement. He got it too.
ReplyDeleteMy phobia's (yes I have two) are grasshoppers and any kind of bee or wasp... The men in my life laugh about it, but one can not control their phobia. I am glad you didn't have to face yours.
God bless.
The reason we only see spiders this time of year is they're out looking for lurve... they live in the house all the time and you might as well kill them because if you chuck them out they won't survive - not outdoor creatures. The outdoor ones are entirely different. I used to be petrified of them but 10 years in a large old house where there were hundreds has cured me partially. If I got hysterical over them like I used to when I was younger I'd have died of a heart attack while living there, there were so many, so familiarity helped me. I still don't like them and I still dispose of them if they come running across the floor though, but my heart doesn't hammer like it used to. So don't feel bad about dispatching them. And while there is absolutely no proof, I am sure they always make a beeline for anyone who's petrified of the...
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