Spiders scare me A LOT. I cringe when I hear the word spider. Everytime I see one I can’t even kill it myself, I have to call someone to do it for me. It isn’t even just poisonous spiders. We used to have a crap ton of daddy longlegs in my house and I couldn’t even go into the basement because they were there. I CAN’T EVEN TYPE THE WORD DADDY LONGLEG WITHOUT GETTING CREEPED OUT A LITTLE. I look at a picture if a spider and its stuck in my head all night. I don’t know where it came from, but ever since I was little I could never have them around me. I would avoid corners they were in and cry when my dad wouldn’t kill them. I’ve never really had a bad experience with one, but they just freak me out. If a spider were to come in this room right now, I would probably throw my laptop on the ground and run. I don’t live in an area with lots of “dangerous” spiders, but even the ones smaller than a penny scare me. I was in my room a while a go and I saw a nickel sized black one and I hit it but it fell and didn’t die so I ran out. I can’t even go back in there without being scared O_o Its mostly daddy long legs that scare me (I assume thats due to the large amount that used to be in my basement as a child) but now its just out of control.
AND I WILL NOT TOUCH A SPIDER BECAUSE I WILL PROBABLY HAVE A PANIC ATTACK. I can’t even look at a spider for more than 5 seconds (thats a stretch) even if its only on a computer screen. I don’t want to be so afraid but I don’t know what to do. I’m even scared to look up the spiders in my state because it would probably have pictures O_o Of all my fears, (tornadoes, floods, earthquakes) spiders is the worst. Maybe because I actually know about those, and how common they are, the chances of dying, etc. But with spiders I can’t research them because they always have pictures! I’m less afraid of ghost stories than spiders (And trust me, ghost stories get in my head and stay there for a hella long time.)
How can I get over this?
~Lots of Love, MM <3
Chosen Answer:
First, you must accept the spiders will not disappear, and that you do not need to fear them.
There are only 2 dangerously venomous spiders in the united states, the brown recluse and black widow.The black widow doesn’t really come indoors, and the brown recluse has quite a limited range.
Here is the range map: http://bugguide.net/node/view/33494
People who fear spiders and know of the brown recluse will do anything to convince them selves that they have a recluse infestation (even people out of the range) when they probably have never seen a real recluse before in their lives. A simple google search for brown recluse will show you a lot of disturbing images of so-called bites, mostly misdiagnosed and fakes.These are there for one purpose and one purpose only: Money.I’ve noticed a lot of sites selling “brown recluse cures” or whatever use these fake images to scare their customers into buying, sort of like the 2012 doomsday.Scare the people enough with a movie and they will buy the books.
The truth is “an estimates 80% of brown recluse bites are misdiagnosed”-wikipedia.
There are also an unbelievable amount of myths out there spiders, most of which are debunked on this website: http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/
Out of the hundreds of spiders I’ve handled, I’ve got exactly “zero” bites.
And why fear large spiders? There are no large spiders in north america considered dangerous to humans. The cellar spiders (or daddy long legs as some might call them) should not be feared at all.
Even if severely provoked, it is highly unlikely to be bitten by this species, I’ve done tests myself and they never bit me.If you are ever going to get over your fear, the only choice you have is to face it!Thats right, face it.Try observing one of the daddy long legs in your house, which would be a good start. Maybe buy some books on spiders and study them.
You might even take a look at the following websites and do some research on them: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1954
http://www.spiders.us/guide/species/
http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/
http://spiderzrule.com/
Basic google research on spiders is useless.Almost all the results are myths and lies made to promote fear on spiders.
You might take a look at this video, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8wKjpy8LBM
See how harmless a spider is? Why fear them? They are not out to get, they don’t plan to attack you in your sleep, and certainly do not want to kill you as you seem to suggest.
by: Spiderloverjack(reverejack)
on: 31st July 13