Spiders and other phobias
76
Spiders My Phobia
Spiders......yuk how I hate them. Not so much the small bodied ones, with long legs like the Daddy Long Legs (very common in Australia), in fact if I went and had a look now I would find one in a corner of the room.
No, I mean the BIG hairy legged ones that in Australia are called "Huntsman".
You can be peacefully going along minding your own business and you look up and, lo and behold as if by magic, there right on the wall is a Huntsman and it seems to be about 1 metre in diameter. You don't know where it came from (it wasn't there 1 minute ago was it). I'm sure they have the ability to become invisible and reappear at will . Worse still is when you wake up after a beautiful nights sleep, open your eyes and yep you guessed it. there stretched out in the corner staring down at you with those unblinking eyes is "THE HUNTSMAN".
I Tried Hypnotism
On a more serious note, some 30 odd years ago I did discuss this phobia (yes I'm quite prepared to admit that I have a Phobia about spiders) with my GP and he suggested that I consult a Hypnotist to see if he could help.
So I went along to see this Hypnotist and after about 4 consultations and my pocket about 100 pound lighter I found that I was very relaxed and decided to face my greatest fears (pay attention:- The Spiders ).
Sorry, not cured still sh.. frightened. So much for that!!!.
Survival Mode
Anyway believe it or not, this fear I have came to my rescue, let me tell you a little anecdote:- My family and I travelled to South Africa and we were staying in a hotel in Johannesburg. This hotel had thatched ceilings and was a very nice place. The very first night we were there we packed ourselves into bed and at about 2am , from a dead sleep I sat bolt upright and told my wife to get out of bed. We turned the light on and there hanging by a thread was a BIG black spider, I swear it was at least 6 inches across. Well maybe not quite that big. But I swear that the rest of the story is true.
I would sure like to hear any other stories or odd phobias, and rest assured there will be no sh.. hung or mockery because I know only too well whats its like to be afraid and not knowing what can be done to take it away.
I've heard that sometimes to just talk about it can help.
Tapping
Tapping
I was so impressed by the comment from my friend and fellow blogger Amanda Severn about Tapping that I carried out further research and thought you may be interested in what I found.
Tapping or to give it the official name "Emotional Freedom Technique", was created by Gary Craig. Emotional Freedom Technique itself is based on Thought Field Therapy.
Tapping is a simple but effective technique somewhere in between hypnosis, meditation, and acupressure. You can learn it in a matter of minutes and it is claimed that applies instant relief to stressful situations in your life.
Amanda has pointed us at a YouTube video to look at for an example.
Here is a brief expanation of Tapping from the website.
"Tapping Balances the Nervous System
When we tap, we say the belief out loud to bring up the corresponding emotion in the nervous system. Then we tap the various points to reset the system. Each point is the end of a nerve channel in the body. Tapping sends a shockwave down that channel.
There is no easy way to know which nerve channel is holding a particular emotion, so we just tap them all. Sometimes when you have done a lot of tapping you'll be able to just feel where it is, and you'll feel it clear as you tap it.
When the emotion is gone, your mind is no longer attached to the belief. Suddenly your mind is free to re-process it, and realise it isn't true or that there are easy ways around it."
I will be doing some experimenting with this method and I'll keep you up date on how it is coming along.
Do you have a phobia
Do you have a phobia of any kind
See results without votingPrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
G'day Sweetiepie ,
It's funny how different people react to different things.
My only thoughts of peaches, apart from enjoying the taste, is how our babies bum felt after they had their bath and were powdered all up. (We might have softer peaches in Australia).
Oh well as they say in the classics it takes all sorts. and thanks for your kind comments.
Hi again AGVUPES, This sort of honest exposure could lead to a whole set of hubs on phobias.
I have no fear of spiders but I can relate to the fear side of it only too well when I am in water.
I think my phobia is water. I do wash and take showers!
I mean I cannot swim in the sea, because a wave might wash over me. I do not go in deep water either.
Is this a real phobia, or am I just afraid of drowning?
Thanks for the comment earnesthub
Its nice to know your phobia has not stopped you taking showers. You intimated that you could swim and I have always been lead to believe that someone who can swim will more than likely survive.
Here's a personal example:-
When I was about 6 or 7 my big brother (about 16)took me swimming at the deep sea baths in Port Phillip Bay at Brighton (Victoria Australia) and stupid me asked him to teach me to swim. He said OK, and he certainly did.
He took me out to the end of the baths picked me up and threw me off the diving board. Boy did I learn to swim and quick, he told me afterwards he wouldn't have let me drown. I thought that was REAL nice of him.
Maybe you had the same sort of experience when you were a kid.
Keep up the good work
Wow, I love spiders! Bigger the better. Not, that I still play with them these days, but I've got some very fond memories about spiders. Once I even slept in a same tent as one cute black widow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_widow_spider ... Poor creature was 'executed' next day, while packing the tent. Of course, I didn't believe that was a black widow, but my friend was persistent and took the body to the local vet, who 'officially recognized' it. I should stop telling about my extensive experiences with spiders not to scare too many people on Hubpages. If one did live in a house older than thousand years (as me), one knows there are pretty old and large spiders as regular occupants, as well. These days, I am much more occupied by studying 'Google spider and its characteristics to serve him as good as possible and to rank my web sites as high in Google as possible -)
I hate spiders! It's not a phobia, I just don't like them. My sister is another story. She is terrified of spiders!! One day, she almost drove her car off the road because there was a little spider sitting on her dashboard "looking at her".
G'day SS, the black widow looks about the size of the "red back" , as the old song goes found under the toilet seat. They don't worry me too much, only the ones that seem to have a 3ft wing span.
G'day Anna Marie, Thanks for sharing your story. You just made me shudder, sorry, not you, your story just made me shudder. It bought back the memory of the day I was driving along the Freeway with a car load of passengers, and over the top of my sunglasses I could see appearing around the edge of the sun visor a long set of hairy legs. I very nervously managed to navigate to the side of the road without letting on that there was anything happening as there would have been total panic, they were all as scared as me of spiders. It was a Huntsman (pictured above) we had to get it out because no one would drive the car while it was still around.
I was listening to the radio book show on ABC just now, and the book discussion was spiders.
A book called "The Secret Live of Spiders" was featured and after hearing what the writer had to say about spiders and their fascinating human like behavior, this is a must read for all who fear them.
Authorative information, (and this guy really knows his subject) may be a way to work on correcting the fear based on trained reactions and to dispel myths. .
On a personal level I can relate to what solarshingles says best, but then I was the only 4 year old I knew who had a huge huntsman for a pet.
He was a real pet to me, and I cried when I found him dead one morning.He was buried with honour.
My children are not afraid of spiders, but my 15 year old grandaughter enjoys a little drama, and gets me to remove her spiders for her with the old glass and paper trick. I really feel for anyone who is scared of our furry friends, but I am also horrified that important and wonderful spiders are killed rather than relocated and feel this book may give the spiders a fair go by educating.
Thanks Earnesthub.
From what I've experienced over the years, a lot of fear of things be it spiders ,water etc. seem to be transerred from parent to child.
The question raised from this is:- Is the fear a genetic or aquired fear?
Our reaction to spiders is pretty funny. Spiders have been occupants of this beautiful planet Earth for more than 400 million years, and we as humans in the present form as Homo Sapiens have been present only about 100.000, years, if...(I'm talking about present physical form, because our close ancestors were about 2.5 million years old). I believe, that spiders have been truly reached their best in their 400 million years of mutations, developing and adopting to new living conditions. I admire life in any form from the tiniest virus, which is 'obsessed' with fast reproduction to the largest and gracious whale. Spiders are only one of the living species and writers, artists, entertaining and show business industry of Hollywood haven't done nothing good for them. If we would have known, how spiders contribute their part to the mother nature in clearing insects and other bugs, we would have appreciated them much more.
How right you are Solarshingles, the species surely has been betrayed by Hollywood. The more I see and understand how arachnids fit into the echo system the more I appreciate their beauty. Long live Animal Planet.
I have a friend who has a phobia of red. She can't follow red cars, talk to your while you are wearing a red sweater, or even sit on a red seat!
Wow RED eh, would be very interesting to find the source of that phobia?.
Good thing she doesn't live in Boston.
I have two phobias: Snakes and Leeches. The first one is understandable, since I grew up in an area with deadly snakes, and we were living close enough to the edge of town that they would sometimes end up under the house! Leeches ::shudder:: we just won't go there. :-)
Spiders I can understand. After all, there are enough deadly ones and they can get in almost anywhere. Great hub. I give it a thumbs up.
G'day Hovalis, With me I don't think its the fact that spiders are deadly or not but that they just appear out of nowhere. And when your'e walking out in the dark and you walk through a web you wonder if youv'e picked up a passenger .
I'm leaving that big picture up the top to try and desensitise myself. It's coming up Huntsman season.
I'm right with you on leeches, I'm lucky where we live is not all that wet and we do not see any leeches.
Thanks for the thumbs up.
I am really scared of snakes. Even when I go for walks if there is some movement in the bushes I feel very scared of a snake or something.
Hi Countrywomen, thanks for sharing your fear of snakes I have a very healthy respect for them myself. I was raised in the city and did not see a snake in the wild until I was about 18.
I don't know what type of snakes you have where you live (Washington I believe) but it does pay to be cautious of snakes. They are protected here in Australia.
Experts I have spoken to say that a snake will not go out of its way to attack you,only if you threaten it in someway. Advise I have been given is to carry a stick, such as a walking stick, when in the bush. I think you have more to fear from other things than snakes if you are walking in the bushes.
I saw a cobra right in the middle of the road when I was about 12 years old. I was totally paralyzed and couldn't even move. It just looked at me and slipped into the bushes. Now coming to the stick I do keep stick but I am sure when the need arises I wouldn't be able to use it. I wonder how those snake catchers put the stick right on the neck and catch it. Btw what are the other things in bushes one needs to be careful of? In washington we don't have any poisonous snakes due to slightly colder climate.
Well countrywomen in Australia we do have a number of animals able to inflict serious injury to the unsuspecting tourists. Kangaroos are one example, they can be quite large 7feet tall and can be agressive. Wild boars are also quite dangerous. They have large tusks and can charge with no provocation.
Hi agvulpes
You've opened a real can of worms here! As a hypnotist I've talked to people with any number of strange fears and phobias. It's amazing what people find to be afraid of. I'm sorry that your hypnotist failed to cure you and that it was such an expensive experience. Hypnotism doesn't work on everyone, but you might try 'tapping' (also known as EFT) which I've known to have good results. You can probably find a good explanation on the net of how to do it for yourself, but meanwhile here's a clip off youtube to give you an idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJlsnAKaR0
Hi Amanda, what great info. Some supreme being must be looking over my shoulder because just last night on a current affair show there was a segment on "tapping" and I was going to follow it up!
Also strangely enough, I watched the clip on youtube of Dr.Peter, and in another life my name just happens to be Peter. Is this the reason I was led to HubPages?
Who knows Fox, the world works in mysterious ways. I have a brother named Peter BTW
I am scared of spiders, but never kill them. I have to ask though, if they are more scared of us than we are of them, then why do they always seem to run towards us?
Great hub. I've always been afraid of spiders. I don't care if they are smaler than a crumb lol.
Nice hub! I'm not necessarily afraid of spiders, but can't stand to even look at pictures of snakes. Only kill spiders if they are poisonous, which we have a number of here in Florida.
Misty thanks for dropping by. You raise a good question, my initial response is, sheer panic, and struggle to survive, how would you like it if someone 100 ft tall was looking down at you, and gonna stomp you with a size 10 boot.
Hi Starrkissed, Thanks for the comment, and I guess it depends on the type of crumb to which you refer! I'm with you on the size, in this case it really doesn't matter!
G'Day Jerrilee Wei, I'm glad I didn't put up any snake pictures, you may not have dropped by. We have poisonious spiders in Australia, one to mention is the red back, and the funnel web both very toxic. Thanks for the comment.
my pbobia is of wire hangers, they scare the crap out of me! Afarid they will poke my eye out!
I love kangaroos and can't imagine them to be dangerous. I once saw them in a zoo with the baby kangaroo in the pouch they are so cute. Are they wildly seen like rabbits? And coming to wild boars I always thought they were afraid of us(I read too many Asterix comics where obelix always eats wild boar)... hehe
Hi Gwendymom, yer you sure got to watch those wirey little buggers, hanging around waiting to pounce! I think you have just cause to be cautious because I was attacked by one once! There I was going along minding my own business , reached into the wardrobe to get my coat then BAM! right in the eye. Shit I said what was that. When I looked in, all I could see was this hanger staring back at me as if to say "You can't have that coat it's mine". It was after all a Wooden one and I find them to be a bit more fiesty than the mundane old wiries. Go figure!
Would you agree with that assessment?
I don't know those wire one sure are a shifty bunch. I guess I just have a thing about protecting my eyes, from everything.
I don't mind spiders, all that much. It's those damned webs. You're just walking through the house, minding your own business, and WHAM! A big ole facefull of sticky web. Gives me the willies, I tell ya.
Thanks BTE you raked up some old memories for me, when I was an apprentice many years ago I had to crawl under old houses to run telephone cables. Talk about the willies, with spider webs and other things? YuK!
I don't think I have any honest-to-god- phobias, but I'm not crazy about spiders. I had one of those rustic upbringings as a kid (for a while) where we caught everything we could get our hands on (big snakes, spiders, strange things) so maybe I got used to it. Of course, I don't do that anymore. I still see a lot of garter snakes - some of them pretty big - and as a kid it was like they were saying "pick me up and play with me". Now I leave them alone but I'm not afraid of them. I can understand the spider thing. Taratula's are particularly creepy. I think it's all that hair.
Great hub! Maybe you should write more of these, as suggested by someone above. Link them all together. You could get some good traffic! Thanks!
Dude, spiders are satan. That is all that needs to be said. Your "phobia" is actually your soul manifesting the ability to detect raw evil. Be happy you have that gift. Many people don't.
Shades my sentiments exactly could not have said it any better, totally evil.
Hi Ag,
I don't like spiders. I am not petrified of them, but hate them just the same. I was lying in bed reading a book one evening, and all of a sudden, right down from the ceiling came this spider on its little string dangling over my book. The book and I both went flying LOL. As a kid, I loved all bugs, and would go to great lengths to not step on some poor unsuspecting ant. To this day, I tend to walk with my head down.
I find as I get older I'm afraid of things that I wasn't afraid of as a kid. For instance, I loved swimming in the ocean. Today, I won't even attempt it. I think of what kind of God-awful things are swimming around waiting to attack, or, fear I might get taken out to sea by an over-sized wave, or caught up in a riptide.
I've seen snakes in my yard at my old house, and just thank goodness that I never found one in my house.
One time, I was getting ready for work, and was attacked by a stray carpenter bee that came in my room. I had no idea they eat right thru wood, and I realized it wasn't a stray, there were several flying around my room. One stung me right on my boob right thru my clothes! I was so panicked I called the ER LOL.
Lastly, I hate crickets. I hate their annoying noise, and I won't touch them. I made the mistake (for me) of stepping on one to kill it and it crunched! YUCK!!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Trish,
Yeah I know what you mean about getting older. I think as younger people we don't realise that things can be dangerous. I sure as heck would not do heaps of things I did as a youngster.
You had me worried there for a minute with that carpenter bee (do the come with their own work belts) I would like to have been the guy in ER. "Hey there's a chick in here with 3 nipples" (boom boom). I bet it wasn't funny at the time?
I don't actually know carpenter bees, eating through wood sound a bit scarey !
We get a lot of crickets here as well especially in the summer, drive you crazy, you can never find the bloody things.
Australia's summer national sport is called "cricket", seriously!!!, do not have the faintest idea why! It's played with a bat a ball and things called stumps.
When you put 3 stumps together it's called a wicket. I might write a Hub on that if anyones interested? Sorry, I got sidetracked.
Yuck, is a real good term, you should try stomping on one of those Huntsman spiders "splush" green gunk everywhere!
Hi Ag,
I never knew what a carpenter bee was either until they invaded my home. I only called the ER, didn't actually go. The woman said if I felt the need I could come in, but she said I'd be ok. Another time I was mowing my grass, and got attacked by yellow jackets. That is NOT something you want to experience. I did call 911 because I was having difficulty breathing, not to mention tremendous pain as they were crawling all over me, top to bottom. So that's twice I've been attacked by bees. Not sure if carpenter bees and yellow jackets like honey, but maybe I was attacked because I'm so sweet? LOL
I'll pass on the squishing of your spider lol
Trish you must be a real sweetie. But seriously those "yellow jackets" are actually a wasp and I believe can sting more than once, unlike a bee they sure look a nasty wasp.
check em out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket
I think they might be the same as the "european wasp" which has invaded Australia in the last 5 years or so.
They have made nests in our house a couple of times and are really hard to eradicate.
Hi Ag,
Yes, I kind of thought they were one and the same. I just went to that link, and bingo, that's the nasty sucker who gathered up his family and attacked me. Gives me chills to even think about it. I remember the cops asking me was I allergic, and I said hell if I know, I've never been bitten by these before. The cops stayed with me a good half hour, and the one guy said, well, you're not allergic, if you were, we would have noticed it almost immediately. Such a scary experience, it took me a while to get my breathing back to normal.
Thanks for the information :)
trish1048, I'm glad to hear that you recovered from your experience. There is not many things worse than struggling to breath. The more you try the harder it seems to get.
Hi ag, I see this hub is back up to 82 today. What sort of phobia do Billionaires have? Hell, we only need food, health shelter and time with loved ones, evidently most billionaires have phobia about money? An insatiable need for money when you have that much looks like a phobia to me.Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they can see the starving and just not be moved by it.
I'm a huge fan of EFT and I could see it working well with spider phobias.
Hi earnestshub, you had me worried there, for a minute I thought you were declaring yourself a billionaire. I think we should be fair to some of the rich people of the world.
I'm sure if we stopped and thought about it we could find some who are kind and generous. OK lets see now......what about........hmm no not him. Ok what about .......no maybe not him either......hmmm . I could go on but I think you get the idea?
Maybe I could nominate Bill Gates. He has got a case if he can dispose of that much wealth. Evidently he has a big organization that gives money to major causes.
KCC Big Country
Thanks KCC I'm wondering if you could confide with us and let us know what your experience is with EFT.
earnestshub, thanks mate, I have heard of Bill Gates, he's the Microsoft guy right?
The same guy that ripped IBM and a few others along the way in amassing his fortune, and luckily? for him got out just at the right time .
I believe his main interest these days is trying to find a cure for Malaria a particularly nasty disease causing untold deaths in Africa. Yes this is a very worthy cause and I commend Bill and his wife for this.
my roommate and I occasionally see spiders in our apartment that we nicknamed "the baby tarantulas"...we are a bit scared of them because they are pretty hefty and they don't just hang out in corners like daddy long legs. One time I thought there was one crawling on my hand in the middle of the night...definitely slept on the couch for the remainder of the night!
I don't think I have a phobia about anything, just don't eat pips or nuts as my granny told me if I did I'd have a tree growing inside me. If the spider in South Africa was hanging by a thread, then be happy it wasn't a baboon spider as they are enormous and chase you and the bite is painful. The one you saw is most likely a flat spider that hides in rafters and behind pictures and in cracks. they are very big with a large flat body. You never kill those ones as they eat the mosquitoes. A shadow spider is also quite frightening as it's also very big, has a painful bite and follows you when you try and get away from it as it is following your shadow. How are you with scorpions?
G'day colorsuz, thanks for dropping in. If the spider you had was a Huntsman it probably was crawling on your hand, because they do not have webs they prowl for their prey. My son had one crawl on him during the night about a week ago. They seem very active just after a heavy downpour of rain.
G'day Cindy, I think it must have been a flat spider , anyways it was after I finished with it. So you still don't eat pips or nuts , thats interesting. I was told the same thing about tomato's, and what about the spuds in your ears if you didn't wash em. (your ears)?
thanks for droppin by you must be busy ?
been packing and sorting stuff all day, and have just run a hot bath, gonna soak and then head out to meet some friends for a quick drink!
Are you heading home ?
Ohhh! I'm wondering if your 'Huntsman' is kin to the 'Brown Recluse' or commonly called Fiddleback spider. They are usually the only ones I kill. I don't mind most spiders if they are not ON me! And I hate walking through their web....! And have read of the EFT method, interesting!
From nine years of age to 35 years, I was really scared of spiders, even Daddy lonnnng legs.
The our some started to become scared of spiders, because that is what daddies did. So I forced my self to grow up . After all i did not want a band of wimps aping their stupid dad. to day some forty years latter I do not fear them, just dislike them.
Great hub thank youi
frogyfish, I have done some checking and they do not seem to be related apart from the fact that they are both spiders.
We do not seem to have the brown recluse spider here in Victoria.
MrMarmalade, mate I relate to your story totally .!
When I was very young my very dislikeable brother in law put a Huntsman on me to 'get me used to it' . It did not work and I grew up terrified of the spiders.
Like you I have now learned to control that fear for the sake of my family. Although I still cannot let one stay in our home they must be removed. My young granddaughter has at times kept one as a pet and finds bugs and such things to feed them. I find this to be very refreshing to know she will not grow up frightened of them.
I don't find your actions to be in any way stupid because there is usually an underlying reasons for us to have our phobia's.
I appreciate you dropping in and leaving a nice comment.
Brr, I have also spider phobia. I know it is irrational in most cases, but the phobia is regardless our logic. I've seen on Discovery Channel that there are some very dangerous spiders in Australia. Watch out!
Web Hosting Top, your Brr brought a Brr to my spine as I've just had to remove a baby Huntsman from my office. BBrr.
The most common and poisonous spider we have here in Melbourne is the Red Back, they can give you a nasty one.
Thanks for the warning I'm am always watching out for the critters. Just last night I walked through a cobweb and had another little shiver.
Thanks for your nice comment:-)
SweetiePie says:
14 months ago
Very interesting story and I enjoyed reading it. I have a phobia of peach skin and I must peel a peach before I can eat it :). My grandpa interestingly has the same phobia and shared how he was scared when his brother chased him around the house with a peach. My worst fear or fears is when some rubs a peach against my skin.