Dealing with Arachnophobia

[Deleted]

Does anyone have any advice for dealing with Arachnophobia?

I've been suffering from it for as long as I can remember and I'm worried that it will only become more of a problem when I get a job and move out etc. I just had an encounter with a speedy little fella that managed to get away, resulting in me leaving my room as there's no chance I'd be able to sleep knowing it's around.

I know the most obvious/common answer is "face your fear", which I do plan to gradually work on in the future, but are there any other temporary solutions that could help? Such as those electronic pest repellents or some reliable means of catching/killing them without getting too close?

And for obvious reasons, please don't link any pictures of spiders here

[Alixie]

Buy a pet tarantula.

[corruptdevil]

Ignore them. Spiders work the same as wasps. Leave them alone and they leave you alone. Spiders are more nomadic than wasps obviously so they move around a lot. Spiders aren't out to get you so unless you need to don't kill them. Its easier to just ignore it.

[Duravian]

I feel the same way... Few weeks ago I noticed a big ass spider on the end of my bed, I became paralyzed and after 30 seconds or so ran for help and had it taken care of... I didn't want to sleep that night and every day for a week I slept with my feet far from the end of the bed... Then a week or 2 ago One was on my wall, slowly making its way to behind my desk, down where my feet go. I couldn't have that. Nobody knew where the flyswatters were so I took some heavy fire-tending shovel from the fireplace that resembled a fly swatter and smashed it into the wall. No wall damage, thankfully, but the spider was taken care of

I guess the trick is to just try and get em before it's too late, no matter what you have to do to do it. As for afterwards, if you fail... may God have mercy on your soul...

[Lightshield]

Your like this tall [.......................................................................................... .................................................] Spider is like this tall [] pwn it

[anveena]

Can of aerosol(anything flammable) + a lighter. Enjoy setting the poor bastards on fire.

[Duravian]

Your like this tall [.......................................................................................... .................................................] Spider is like this tall [] pwn it

Whats that little gap mean?

[Resentful]

Whats that little gap mean?

Means It's a little thing and the person itself is very tall, He or she should be able to destroy that fear however that doesn't exactly happen most of the time.

[Sockmonky]

Eat them...you are what you eat right? SO, just eat a spider or two and you will absorb there power, and become one of them. After that its just a matter of curing your self hate which is much more simple, complement yourself. Try my plan, give it three to four weeks.

[HonneurVilified]

I don't know about short-term solutions but if you don't think you can conquer your fear on your own, do some research into exposure therapy. It's been shown to be very effective for this sort of specific phobia.

[Sj]

I deal with it my screaming like a 4-year-old girl, hyperventilating, and crying for help. Seems to work for me.

[Oxyra]

Spiders are cute, little, innocent creatures, that eat all the mosquitos, flies, etc. and other annoying insects that fly into your house.
How can you be so cruel to such poor defenseless creatures.

[Anakso]

Living in Australia, the only way I can not get <insert name of scary spider here that I won't name since you have arachnophobia> in my house is bug bombing it every ~6months or so.

They sell them at supermarkets (here anyway) they look like normal bug spray cans except once you start spraying them they don't stop, fills your house with bug spray that kills any existing bugs and repels new ones from entering for ~6months-1year depending on the type you get. Some don't work so well, and seem to repel the smaller ones but we still get giant cockroaches unless we use the good/expensive stuff. You need to be out of your house for a few hours and then air it out for an hour when you return. I'd suggest doing that to not have to see any spiders in your house.

In terms of getting over it all together, I'm not sure sorry as I've never experienced anything similar. Facing your fears might work but then it also might just make it worse.

[Lightwysh]

I'm arachnophobic as well. I found its not to bad once you realize your superiority over the little fuckers and kill them with a vengeance at any chance. If I'm out on my deck and see one, it's go time. I whoop it's ass because I know if I show mercy, the little asshole will make his way into my home.

[ChiefWigman]

Well, best you can do is ignore them or deal with it, my g/f used to be extremely arachnophobia when we started dating, few years later, she doesn't freak out at the sight of the smaller common spiders/garden spiders cuz she knows they're not that toxic or anything, but when it comes to the more lethal ones, she freaks out and runs away or finds a garden hose and drown it.

also get a cat, they are damn good at insect/arachnid pest control when there's no mice around.

[Yosef1015]

Buy a pet tarantula.

this. no joke. this is i think the first step in systematic desensitization. which helps get over your fears. you should look into it

[Deleted]

You should be happy that you only encounter some small spiders.
Imagine if you encountered some big spiders like these that require 25 people to be able to kill them.
http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=1859

[Deleted]

Spiders are cute, little, innocent creatures, that eat all the mosquitos, flies, etc. and other annoying insects that fly into your house.
How can you be so cruel to such poor defenseless creatures.

I wouldn't call them cute but I'll agree with the rest
Got a spider living on the ceiling of my bedroom for some months now. My girlfriend hates her but I find her very handy and refuse to kill her. My spider traps mosquitoes and eats them, while I hate mosquitoes like nothing else. An enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine I say.

[Uennie]

Spiders are cute, little, innocent creatures, that eat all the mosquitos, flies, etc. and other annoying insects that fly into your house.
How can you be so cruel to such poor defenseless creatures.

The Recluse says hello.

Get a gecko if you want something like that. Won't try to kill you AND it'll kill the bugs. Here in Hawai'i they're good luck to have around the house anyway.

[Video Games]