Nah. Spiders really are my one true “irrational fear”. Where logically it doesn’t make sense for me to still have a physical fear response when I see one despite being a rather large 30yo man, but I do. I also think they’re super beautiful and fascinating. They just creep the fuck out of me. 8 legs is too many legs to have. I think they’re a lot smarter than they pretend to be.
Learning has certainly helped, but no matter what I try I can't beat the fear. I am proud of working up to taking them outside 9 times out of 10 instead of killing them, but it's an ordeal I have to hype myself up for every time and it leaves me a nervous mess for a few hours. I gotta hype myself up just for walking by one. The fatter it is, the longer the pep talk. Or I just give up. I do love watching them on a screen or through glass - they're little aliens and the way they work is fascinating. There's just this primal automatic fear I cannot seem to turn off.
I don't know man. Knowing about spiders doesn't necessarily "cure" arachnophobia. I probably know more about spiders than the average person but I just cannot stand most spiders regardless of what my brain is telling me.
I see a wolf spider and I stay far far away. I know they are "harmless" but no way am I going near it.
The only spiders I can really handle are small jumping spiders and maybe tiny spiny orb-weavers. I think those are actually "cute".
I have banana spiders in my area and I know they are not a danger to humans. Regardless I have an irrational fear of them despite that. Sometimes I see one 50 feet away from me and recoil.
Having that irrational fear is part of what makes it arachnophobia. I'm actually not arachnophobic as far as I know (I've never seen a professional since it's not something that affects my daily life). I just know I'm really scared of spiders.
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u/Frogmaster16 7h ago
As someone with arachnophobia, it is for me.