Arachnophobic's cure is working...

[Iktomi]

I've always been a huge Arachnophobe. I would get short of breath when I saw a house spider and had to get my wife to kill it! I'd completely freak out. If she tried to kill one and it got away I wouldn't be able to sleep at night! I've never been bothered by T's, though...
Last night there was an evil house spider on the wall...fairly big. I got a plastic bottle, went over and rounded it up into it then released it outside.
My wife about had a heart attack. I was even thinking of letting it crawl on my hand but I don't know how often true spiders bite...Thought I'd share in my recovery!

 

[Pyrdacor]

I can actually tell a similar story. My sister once was a total arachnophobe. When some little spider was sitting on the door to her room, she didn't enter the room or touch the door until somebody would come and take it away. Since I got my first T her relation to spiders became better from week to week. 3 weeks ago she even let my B. smithi crawl over her hand. And I didn't force her or anything, it was by her own will. She only accepted her for about 10 seconds but I think that is really good and I was proud of her. Now she is able to catch little spiders herself and bring them out of the house. She even slept one night with a housespider in her room.

 

[MizM]

GREAT STORIES

 

[Valael]

Ts are a great way to get arachnophobes to lose their fears.


I was somewhat scared of spiders when I got my first T. The first time it shot up my arm, I freaked and started blowing as hard as I could to get it to stop (Not smart, I know -- but I was new. And panicked.)


Now I don't have a problem with even the smallest spiders.


I'd imagine you'd probably be just fine holding a house spider, I've never had any even show a threat posture.

 

[D-Man]

House spiders

I hold house and garden spiders and never got bit. The garden guys seem to curl up in fear usually and the house spiders zoom at light speed. I caught one last night on my bed and put it in a deli cup to study.

Any phobia makes me laugh 'cause I just can't relate to how someone can be so influenced by anything - I can say that I'm not afraid of a damn thing in the entire world.

 

[The_Phantom]

I used to be an arachnophobe from age 4-14! I hated them and feared them. Then I got over it more or less, and I was given a tarantula at age 17.

 

[rapunzel]

I wouldn't call it INFLUENCED

Originally posted by D-Man

Any phobia makes me laugh 'cause I just can't relate to how someone can be so influenced by anything - I can say that I'm not afraid of a damn thing in the entire world.

NOTHING in the world scares you? NOTHING? That in itself should make you afraid.
I can totally relate to the spider-phobia...I don't hypervenilate and I sure don't refuse to enter a room..but I cant catch them. Nope, I definetly have someone else do it.
I don't classify them mentally as similar to tarantulas, and have no problem at all handling the T's. When I was seventeen, my husband, then boyfriend, said "Love me, love my T" so I adapted by considering that the Ts were fuzzy, and therefore NOT spiders.
It also helped that he had a redknee that was slow, had seven legs, and was very sluggish. (Ha! Now, I look back and it very well could have been male or premolt). It was easy for me to handle it, and the dozens that followed.
But, all these years later, I still cannot catch a house spider without getting the "heebie-jeebies", even with a ton of papertowels between me and the spider.

 

[Pyrdacor]

I also don't really believe that nothing can scare you.
But rapunzel, not everything that you fear is also a phobia. IMO pho´bia just means that there is more than just fear. I think a phobia is pure panic. That's why it is not recommended to cure anybodies phobia as a non specialist. For example the arachnophobia we are talking of. If you do something wrong and try to cure somebody that will in most cases result in the opposite.

 

[rapunzel]

oh I agree with you...

But I also do not think that someones fear or phobia is anything to "laugh" about either.

 

[Pyrdacor]

That's right, i agree with that. It is because these things are far too serious to laugh about...