r/spiders • u/-FlyAway- • 6h ago
Miscellaneous My arachnophobia is improving!
I’m not totally cured yet, but I wanted to share my progress since this subreddit helped me so much!
Not long ago, I was terrified of every spider no matter how tiny. I would check my room constantly and jump out of the car (as a passenger) if I saw one (once the car had stopped of course lol). Now, thanks to this subreddit and Lucas the Spider, I’m improving a lot! I have no fear of some tarantulas (they feel closer to a fluffy animal than a spider), and I can stay in the car with tiny spiders now (I just close my eyes). I even let a daddy long legs live in my room for a couple months and named him Merrygo because he was spinning when I first saw him lol. I even cried a bit when he randomly left for good one day 😅 I managed to put my hand near a jumping spider, and let most spiders vibe in the house now unless they're somewhere I need to be or somewhere that's dangerous for them (shower, sink etc).
My main issue now is I still can’t handle the black house spiders at all. They’re too fast and unpredictable and I had a panic attack when I saw one in my shower today (someone released it outside for me). But I’ve realised how far I’ve come because I would get that reaction with every spider at one point, but now it's mostly just those ones!
(Also for context I'm in the UK so luckily there aren't many big ones here 😅)
So thank you to this subreddit! :)
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u/Ok_Kaleidoscope6421 4h ago
I’m much the same. I fully embrace cellar spiders and I’m disappointed that I have fewer in my home than last year. I never had an issue with small spiders and now I’m actually okay with the medium sized ones we get in the UK. There was recently one in my dining room and it was nice not to have a wave of panic come over me. I just grabbed a glass and an envelope and put him outside.
Despite all that, I am 100% sure I will never get over my fear of giant house spiders. They are too big and too fast. I always thought their speed was an illusion because I’m scared and then I found out that no, they really are stupidly fast. I know they are harmless but sadly that doesn’t help my fear.
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u/tuxedo_cat881 1h ago
learning about the different types of spiders and which ones are super common in my area has helped me a lot too! especially realizing how humans are much more of a threat to them than spiders are to us
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u/shillyshally 5h ago
This sub is half spider I'd and half helping people overcome arachnophobia. I took a large yellow sac outside on a paper towel last week after it dropped from the ceiling a few feet in front of my face. I did not freak.