Trapped inside my house

[GlassPoodle]

I am afraid of spiders. On a ridiculous level. I enter rooms looking for them. Feel a tickle on my leg, think it’s a spider. Scream out, no matter where, if the tickle on my leg has a suspicious looking black fuzz involved.

Shake all clothing before wearing. Shake my towel before drying. Sometimes that’s not enough and things get turned inside out just to be sure. I’ve been like this for a long time. But recently, it’s been keeping me inside my house. Last night, I needed to go out for milk. But because it was dark outside and the porch light only draws more bugs, (forget my flashlight, things swarm to it too) I didn’t leave. I panicked and cried instead. My husband is getting milk after work today because I couldn’t leave the house.

Overall my depression has been easier to manage. I have moments but I’ve been doing okay. No suicidal crying sprees or screaming sessions. You know, the crazy moments have really toned down over the last few weeks.

So, why is my anxiety for certain things ... and mainly spiders/bugs in this case... getting exponentially worse?

[Hidden]

I'm sorry. Maybe if you think of the very low risk to spider bites versus other things you do like drive. Its very harmless. They are just creepy.

[All_alone]

I'm glad your depression has become easier to manage. That's wonderful. The anxiety over spiders I can relate to. I've killed two of those things in my house now in the last two days. Its fall and they seem to invade my house. Have you always been afraid of spiders and bugs? I wish I could be more helpful...

[fauxartist]

I live with three agoraphobics, and here we do have very large spiders....but since we got an inside cat....we rarely ever see one anymore. She eats the small ones, and swaps and kills the bigger ones. We also have sealed all around the outside of the house and windows, and don't have any plants of trees up against the house...

[Newlife73]

Have you ever thought of trying hypnosis to get rid of your fear of spiders? I have never tried it, but I have heard it can be really effective! I am sorry your struggling so much.

[GlassPoodle in reply to Newlife73]

I haven’t. I’m willing to look into it and see how that works. Thank you.

[NWGal]

Hi friend! Examples of "best practice" to treat specific phobias are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Therapy. Have you tried these with a therapist? You might want to talk to your doc about an antianxiety med as well. You can overcome this! You just need to find the right combination of "tools". Good karma my friend.

[GlassPoodle in reply to NWGal]

I don’t have a doctor or a therapist. But, I would like to explore these options someday.

[AlexanderOgden]

What made you so afraid of spiders? Have you been afraid of them since your childhood? I am very afraid of the dark. As a child, my friends and I played hide-and-seek and I decided to hide in the basement of an abandoned building. I accidentally slammed the door and couldn't get out for 30 minutes. Thank God my friends heard me screaming and were able to help me out. Since then, I have been afraid of the dark. That's why I have probably 20 different flashlights at home. Even a couple of days ago I ordered a new one from Amazon amazon.com/Vont-Flashlight-....