# So I'm just going to have to get over my arachnophobia, aren't I? :( **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179 "2015-07-25T20:04:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/21 "2015-07-25T23:04:24Z")
Find an NLP practitioner or hypnotherapist or someone who knows EFT and let them help you. If they’re worth their salt, it should only take a session or two. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/22 "2015-07-25T23:57:36Z")
This is no help beyond forewarning: do you know how many spiders there are in an acre of land? 1,000,000! :eek: In the tropics? 3,000,000!!! :eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/23 "2015-07-26T00:02:47Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > There are no witches here. In the PNW? : old rolleyes : The joint’s infested with them, but they keep the wechuges away. **MOL** and I are in wendigo territory, so we need witches, just not in our homes. Unless one is married to one, which is why I’ve allied with the spiders. It’s like the Cold War, but with more legs. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/24 "2015-07-26T00:37:49Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I don’t suppose you could invest in a spider-killing dog, huh? If not a cockapoo, anything with some terrier in it would probably fill the bill. Dream on. Just over the mountains from me in Seattle they have spiders that will flip you off as they carry your terrier out the door. That’s what I heard, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/25 "2015-07-26T00:57:57Z")
I grew up with an irrational fear of spiders and snakes. I forced myself to overcome my fear of spiders. I am at the point now where I will pick them up in my hands, and put them outside. In fact, a couple of weeks ago there was a good size spider in my bed. He was super fast, and scurried away over the side of the bed before I could catch him. I didn’t worry about it, and I just went to bed. Years ago I wouldn’t have been able to even think of doing that. The snake thing though. I can’t even look at pictures of snakes without being terrified. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/26 "2015-07-26T01:05:19Z")
You could do what my wife did and get married. Her claim is that my main purpose in life is killing spiders for her. (she really is seriously phobic about the things) ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/27 "2015-07-26T03:06:58Z")
Did anyone else feel that? A little tickle on the back of your neck. Kinda towards your left ear? And you reach your fingers behind your head to feel it, but then many hairy little legs take off across the nape of your neck to your right ear and you swear it dropped down the back of your shirt and now it’s somewhere in bed with you in the covers. Now a tickle across your ankle… Have a good night! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/28 "2015-07-26T03:39:11Z")
Man I live in a house and saw maybe, oh, on average 6 spiders in a year inside. And it FREAKED ME OUT and I hated it - just 6! At first I sprayed outside and some inside with bug spray and it was quite effective. Spray the foundation once or twice a year and the spiders stayed outside. But then one of my other weaknesses (aside from spiders), laziness, overcame me. And I didn’t spray, and the spiders came back. Eeeeeep! So I paid a local company $350 to come spray, and they do some crazy huge spraying - also keeping bees away (sorry be-lovers. Wasps don’t belong in my front door.) They sprayed inside and then they spray 3 times a year outside. No more spiders. The first year I had maybe 3 spiders (which they said might happen) but this year NO SPIDERS. No wasps either. It’s the greatest! Anyway, I feel you on the spiders. I might actually die if I had to live “amongst” so many like you do. Holeeeee-shit, that gives me the creeps just thinking about it. Which gets me to my point - beyond peppermint oil, is there anything you can do with chemicals or even an exterminator? I realize it’s an apartment but you have the right to live SPIDER FREE! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/29 "2015-07-26T03:47:55Z")
Yeah, the good news is, if you really have that many spiders in your house, you won’t stay phobic of them for very long. Repeated exposure is exactly how phobias are cured. Though it’s probably not much fun in the mean time. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/30 "2015-07-26T04:01:20Z")
I don’t like spiders, but the odd thing is that sometimes they freak me the fuck out, as in peel me off the ceiling please. Other times I very casually and coldly stomp them or smack them with a big book or the Sunday paper or whatever. Other times I say, “Hey, a spider, well cool spider buddy we can coexist,”–but that’s rare. Mostly I hate them so much I could barely read _Charlotte’s Web_ to my kids and I mentally cussed out the person who gave it to them. My husband likes to get a paper towel and take them outside. He feels it’s better for his karma than smushing them. I guess I have terrible karma having taken many spider souls, if they have souls, which I think not. However. I once had a roommate who had a pet (!) tarantula. I was okay with that spider. I had some odd pets myself. Not that I took it for walks or anything but if it was out of water I would give it some water. The house I lived in before the current house was one of those houses that had LOTS of spiders. I did not get more easy with them while living there. In face I had a little spider vacuum that electrocuted them after it vacuumed them in, and I used it a lot. Meanwhile my son found an orb-weaver outside, named it Fuzzy, and told me to leave Fuzzy alone because he (she, more likely) built beautiful webs. I am not denying the beauty of some of the webs. We have pictures of Fuzzy. Fuzzy was actually big enough to show up pretty well in pictures. It gave me a shudder just typing that. My current house does not have too many spider and I’m happy. Unfortunately spiders seem to like the same kind of conditions I like–hot. So I do run into one from time to time. I seem to be a lot more relaxed when I don’t run into them so often. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/31 "2015-07-26T04:03:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Exposure-response-prevention therapy may help. > > Get a \*\*\*harmless \*\*\*spider and let it crawl slowly on your hand for 1 minute. The next day, 2 minutes, then 3 minutes, etc. You are a sick person. There is no such thing as a harmless spider. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/32 "2015-07-26T04:12:43Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > The snake thing though. I can’t even look at pictures of snakes without being terrified. You too? Oh god, my cousin used to chase me with _National Geographic_ when we were kids. It’s not because they’re dangerous. It’s because they’re SNAKES. I don’t want to see them. I can tolerate cute cartoon snakes but no real ones. I don’t even want to THINK about them!!! Spiders, on the other hand, don’t bother me, fortunately. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/33 "2015-07-26T04:23:58Z")
Interesting thread, but mainly because I’ve just realized that the house we moved into two months ago doesn’t appear to have any spiders! And I LIKE spiders. We had some dandy ones at the last house…especially a St Andrews Cross spider just next to the back door with her egg sacs and every month or so we’d see squillions of teeny weeny baby spidies in her web after they’d exited the sac. It was brilliant. But now at the new joint, it seems we’re spiderless. It’s funny because this is a very old house, timber, with lots of vegetation around and LOTS of nooks and crannies for the spiders to hang out in. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/34 "2015-07-26T14:54:20Z")
Get you some diatomaceous earth, and dump some in the windows. Kills bugs, and since it’s basically just ground up crustacean shells (? Something like that) it’s non toxic to you. It will stay in place for a long time, so you won’t have to keep messing with it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/35 "2015-07-26T15:11:32Z")
Maybe you can get a bird to swallow the spider…? > [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, the good news is, if you really have that many spiders in your house, you won’t stay phobic of them for very long. Repeated exposure is exactly how phobias are cured. Though it’s probably not much fun in the mean time. The SO was terrified of spiders. They still scare her, but not as much as they did a few years ago. Instead of a shriek and 'Johnny L.A.! There’s a spider in the bathroom! :eek: ’ it’s ‘There’s a spider in the bathroom. It’s one of those big hairy ones.’ (When I get the Penalty Jar to take them outside, they’re never big ones. Heck, the only giant house spider I’ve seen this year was outside on the wood pile!) ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/36 "2015-07-26T17:46:15Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Peppermint spiders are the worst. But festive and Christmassy! By the way, all of these snake and spider stories have me reaching for the Ativan. :mad: As a kid, I had a vivid nightmare about “Sammy the Snake” from _Sesame Street_, and things have just gone downhill since. **meanoldlady** , there have been a bumper crop of spiders this year. I just had to sweep a bunch of webs off the porch. And I’ll be trying the peppermint oil trick, too. A spider seems to have taken up residence inside my car’s driver-side mirror. There’s a new web every day. S/he is a diligent little thing. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/37 "2015-07-26T17:59:09Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > But anyway, so it’s summer now, and I’m suddenly not so in love with my new place anymore. If you’re still here in Chicago, is the new place near the lake? Some friends of mine had a first floor apartment on the lake in Rogers Park and the place was crawling with whoppers, inside & out. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/38 "2015-07-27T13:48:07Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Which gets me to my point - beyond peppermint oil, is there anything you can do with chemicals or even an exterminator? I realize it’s an apartment but you have the right to live SPIDER FREE! I don’t know if I can exterminate outside, which is what the problem is. Some of the little bastards crawl in right through the screen, and I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to make them all go away. The whole damn neighborhood is crawling with spiders! > [@Renee](#): > > Get you some diatomaceous earth, and dump some in the windows. Kills bugs, and since it’s basically just ground up crustacean shells (? Something like that) it’s non toxic to you. It will stay in place for a long time, so you won’t have to keep messing with it. Well I’ve already wasted money on peppermint oil, might as well add to the list of crap I keep trying. Actually, this looks like it might work, so thanks! Ignore my snark; I’m just irritable. > [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > And I’ll be trying the peppermint oil trick, too. Feel free, but I’ve little faith in it. I used a generous amount along a test window, and even coated the whole screen in it. Shockingly, when I went to investigate the spider situation, there were three spiders having a grand old time. They gave not one single fuck about peppermint. But on the plus side my apartment smells minty now? Hashtag positivity? > [@jnglmassiv](#): > > If you’re still here in Chicago, is the new place near the lake? > Some friends of mine had a first floor apartment on the lake in Rogers Park and the place was crawling with whoppers, inside & out. Yes, I’m close to the lake, and this neighborhood is a hot mess spider-wise. Just walking outside I see shitloads of them on buildings and at bus stops. This is the kind of thing I should have been paying attention to when apartment hunting! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/39 "2015-07-27T14:06:10Z")
I just live with it - I have pretty bad arachnophobia but in the UK so it’s just not a nettle that needs to be grasped. We don’t have any big or even medium spiders here, my wife deals with all of the larger house ones. And I never buy bananas from a supermarket. [Non-arachnophobics feel free to google Brazilian wandering spider, bananas, UK supermarket]. My work is actually developing links with Brazil at the moment, and has asked if I’d go a couple of times. LOL no. Living in a hotter climate, though - I guess you need to take some remedial steps. It would stress me out and I’ve found that it can be quite re-inforcing as a phobia. Like de-sensitisation therapy may work if that’s what your mind is focussing on, but just randomly being surprised by spiders around the house makes things worse IME. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179/40 "2015-07-27T14:21:31Z")
A rather timely thread - I came across a large spider (maybe 3" diameter from toe to toe) in my studio sink in the basement this morning. Near as I can tell from googling, it’s a variety of fishing spider - one branch of the family prefers woodlands to wetlands, and my back yard is woodland. I’m not a huge fan, but I can’t just kill critters that do me no harm. This critter was easily nudged into a bucket, and I dumped him outside. Arachnophobes would probably have melted down to see him, but I was more annoyed than anything. Same with snakes. And lizards. I’m guessing it’s from living in Florida with a kid who loved to pick up and look at critters. I got over my aversion, mostly. I have the advantage of size!! 😃 Now, roaches are just plain disgusting and they deserve to die! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-just-going-to-have-to-get-over-my-arachnophobia-arent-i/726179.md?page=3)