Phobia

[Bishop]

I have a nasty phobia of pretty much any bug that flies i.e. daddy long-legs, butterflies and moths mainly.

There is at least one, possibly more than 1 daddy long-legs in my room and the thought of sleeping in here, or staying any longer than I absolutely have to is going to give me a panic attack. I know it's completely irrational, but the thought of it/them landing on me, crawling around, possibly laying eggs on/in me..

I'm petrified and I don't know what to do short of sitting here and crying >.<

How do you deal with situations you can't avid that trigger your phobia?

[Ktulu]

Can you get someone to go in and remove them from your room for you? And then get an insect screen on your window? I really do empathise, I have a very severe phobia of mushrooms (very strange I know), but I can avoid them fairly easily, they're not brought into the house, I don't walk on grass in spring/autumn etc. But I do have nightmares that they're growing in my bed and since I heard about 'bathroom mushrooms' I'm terrified of damp and have windows open all the time.

I don't have any tips for what to do when they're actually there as if it were me, I'd be running away screaming, so I'm sorry about that. My only advice is try to get someone to deal with them and then prevent them from getting back in and try to distract yourself in the meantime, but I don't think you should have to sleep/relax with this source of terror nearby. Phobias are awful and for me were often a source of ridicule :(

[Pencils]

I can't stand daddy long legs being in my house either, there's no way I could sleep in a room if I knew one was in there. One way I've used to remove them is if you've got a hoover which has a long nozzle attachment (like my Henry hoover!), just point it at them and hoover them up. You don't have to get at all close to them.
Clearly this is probably cruel to them etc etc but I don't really care. Also I suppose you might then worry that they'd somehow get out of the hoover but they don't, I'm sure it kills them, and you can always lock the hoover in a cupboard or something.

In terms of how to actually sensibly deal with the phobia I don't really have any advice.

[whirlpools]

Have you thought about maybe doing some graded exposure? It can take a long time in some areas to get a referral for CBT but it might be worth looking into. Also you can do graded exposure by yourself (The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook might be helpful but it is a big ass book with only a section related to graded exposure - there might be books or internet sites that deal with it on its own) but might find it more helpful to do with the support of a trusted friend.

I'm not sure if you know what it is, but it's a way of tackling phobias one step at a time. You 'grade' anxiety-provoking situations from least frightening to most frightening. You then start with the least frightening situation and do it until you no longer feel anxious about it and then move onto the next stage. It takes some dedication as you need to have regular practice sessions.

An example might be:

Stage 1: Say the word insect/daddy long-legs/butterfly/moth five/ten/fifteen times (whichever feels not too anxiety-provoking).

Do this several times a week until there is no more anxiety with saying it.

Stage 2: Look at a picture of a daddy long-legs/other insect for ten seconds.

Again, do this in your practice sessions until no longer scary.

Stage 3: Get a friend to put *insect* into a jar and keep it in the next room for five minutes.

Stage 4: Look at insect in jar in front of you for ten seconds.

Stage 5: Allow an insect free into the next room for *specified amount of time*.

Stage 6: Allow insect free into the room you're in for *specified amount of time* (get friend to remove insect after).

Stage 7: Touch insect.

Stage 8: Allow insect into your bedroom for the night.

This is just an example, it sounds really scary to look at when you have a phobia, but you set the grades yourself and do each one for as long as you like/need until you feel ready to move onto the next stage. You're expected to feel some anxiety before and perhaps during each stage - that is normal and difficult to bear with but the idea is certainly not for it to be overwhelming.

You can also 'visualise' getting on well with these insects, and the stages going well, and it might be helpful to practice that too in between grades.

Sorry for the essay, it's just a thought I had, it might be a rubbish one. It did work well for me when I was phobic of public transport. At the beginning I couldn't get onto a bus for one stop even with someone trusted. After two years I was able to get onto trains all over the country by myself.

[Staticx_xSilence]

I have a major phobia of butterflies and moths. Moths are one of my biggest phobias I usually freak out, scream, and than run for my life (I have had a panic attack because of a moth before, sad but true.) If there is a moth in my room I refuse to sleep in it and sadly moths do get in our house often because we leave the windows open during summer. Daddy long legs freak me out I usually make someone kill them for me. I just try to avoid bugs in general which is why I prefer not to go outside during summer but honestly I have no idea how to deal with it, so if you figure out something that works let me know.

Also I do not believe in exposure therapy because that has never worked for me, before it just ended up with me having panic attacks. Although I have heard it works for some people. So don't knock it till you've tried it as the saying goes.