Having just replied to this thread about phobias, I thought about my arachnaphobia. I was sitting by the lake today before my gf noticed that there were several all around us (“oh god they’ve surrounded us…we’re going to die, i tell you, DIE!!” says I.) And after gathering my things up so we could retreat to safer ground, I wondered if I could beat this phobia.
Anyone here ever gone from arachnaphobic to arachna-tolerant or even arachnafficianado? How exactly does one not be scared of spiders any more?
Just typing about spiders made my skin crawl and I had to whack myself a couple of times, thinking I felt a creepy crawly on me.
Since I was 2 yrs., till I was 25 yrs., I was severely arachnaphobic. I couldn;'t even be in the same room with one, but I had to call to Mom, Dad, brother, sister or any other to save me. I was frozen with fear whenever I encountered a spider of any size, type or color. Good as dead. I won;'t go into the causes, it’s irrelevent.
In 1971, I took a course called “Silva Mind Control.” One of the things it taught us how to do was use the Alpha brain wave frequency (accessed during meditation) to re-program our brains, and subsequently, our minds and behaviours.
Similar to the book “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” by Dr. Joseph Murphy, the techniques involve re-programming your human biocomputer (brain) to accept new, improved information.
In one afternoon, I overcame my life-long fear of spiders to the degree that I could let them crawl on me without ANY reaction.
So can you.
If you need more information, drop me an email. Or get the book. Or take the Silva Mind Control Course.
If S/S’ plan doesn’t work for I’d recommend you getting a pet spider. Keep it in an aquarium and start slow. Read up on spiders and know what types live in your region. Learn about what harm they are capable of causing you. Find out about the benefits that spiders provide to the environment. Learn to recognize the various spiders you might encounter.
I’m not saying go out and jump with both feet into a web full of spiders. Just slowly expose yourself to as much information as you can about them. The “pet” spider will enable you to see one up close without the fear of actually having to make contact. Be sure to get a “safe” spider. I assume you can get one at a pet store. I know you could at one time. I’d hate to find out that you’d picked a brown recluse or something similar.
I suppose you could seek some counseling but you’d eventually wind up doing these things anyway.
Hopefully Snake’s book works as well as claimed. Let me know how you do.
Good luck, t/k
I’d go with the pet spider. We had a pet (don’t freak) tarantula in seventh grade. I used to hold it, pet it, and I loved it - and totally lost my fear of spiders. To this day I look at my SO with slight smugness when he asks me to kill one.
Tarantulas are pretty cool actually and not near as toxic as most people think. They are a trip to watch. They’ll sit still for hours and never move a muscle. I recall when I was a little kid we were looking at houses to buy and I found one in the house. I watched it for a long time and finally decided it wasn’t a real spider…that’s is until I reached down to pick it up. My uncle (who I was with) put it in a large jar and took it home. He kept it in an aquarium for years.
I am a gardener…so I let the spiders have their way for the most part. I’ll knock their webs down if they are in the way or are just too unsightly. Otherwise I don’t have a problem with them. They are a hell of a lot better than all the damned insects I’d be dealing with otherwise.
BTW…I NEVER have to spray my gardens with insecticide.
I don’t have spiders everywhere either. I don’t love 'em. I do respect them though.