I have a friend who is the same way as you. I made her sit in my room back when I had only one T and watch her lol. She doesn't freak out unless a spider is loose. I showed her a molt one time and she ran across the field. My stepmother I don't think is arachnophobic but just afraid of any kind of "creepy crawly". She regularly bleaches the kitchen floor so "maggots won't come back". (Some stuff went bad in the pantry and oops maggots) I was getting rid of a dud egg sac one night and she made me put it in my pocket and get rid of it after I left their house.Good pointI don't know if I was truly arachnophobic. But I know that my whole life if I saw any kind/size of spider anywhere, I would start shaking, my heart would race, I would break out in hives if one touched me and I would always end up in tears unless someone removed it VERY quickly. I could not think straight or rationalize when a spider was near, even a picture was enough to set me off! I found one in my bed once and slept on the couch for 2 weeks in fear it would "return" lol
I finally decided enough was enough and through the help of a friend, started doing research etc Finally brought home my G. pulchripes about 4 months after starting research. However I was still terrified of her. My husband held her one night, and after a while I finally worked up the nerve to peek into the room and make sure he was still alive
Im still nervous of true spiders loose in my house, but I love my 2 T's and have no fear of them anymore. I can also proudly say I would never kill a true spider anymore (Im ashamed to admit I used to demand they be killed as I was convinced they would come back, irrational yes, but I just could not rationalize when it came to them) and I have a great deal of respect for all spiders now. I can't wait to expand my collection
