Please help! Arachnophobic

[Rachel_101]

my name is rachel and i'm 14, i have a really intense fear of spiders.
when i see one i get breathless, i cry, tremble, almost feel like im going to puke and almost pass out. im not one of those silly girls scream at every bug, when i see a spider i feel like i'm going to die.

At school its embarassing if theres a spider and i scream my lungs out and i feel weak and i have tried to stop my fear and sites told me to start by looking at pictures and i almost puke at the sight. A spider fell into my bed once and i got my mother to get the sheets and wash them and look in my room for it but i still wouldnt sleep in my bed for a week! People dont understand what its like, i know it wont hurt me but i cant help it i just cant go near it!

if one who knows what its like and has cured themselves please help me!

[TRGreywolf]

I know what you mean. When I see them, I will break into a sweat, and my heart will start pounding...in more severe cases, my hands will start shaking. But I can`t do anything about it. I absolutely cannot go near it! I tried to use the Raid on them, but I found it only kills the small spiders. The bigger ones just keep running around. It`s terrible! I usually find them in the basement, so now I have a fear of going down there. I just wish for winter to come quickly, so there will be a lot less of them around!

[LucM]

Hey, unfortunatly winter is the problem, its breeding season from like september to october. I also suffer with this, there a certain things that u can do to make them less likely to be a round you. Spiders like messy rooms, always be clean and tidy. Also they dont like the smell of lavender and cigarette smells. Im a qualified psychologist and this 'looking a pictures' thing is called CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). personally if you want to try this method pictures in these cases wont help, u need a trapped one and to try keep looking at it and developing on that. Iv done this, and i still cant deal with them, but iv managed to get as far as taking a deep breath then killing them if i can find them. however the really big ones im not yet able to deal with. This phobia sucks!