Phobias are irrational, that’s in the very definition.
OK y’all, this is my peeve so I’ll put it out there.
Being scared of a thing is NOT a phobia. I’ve only met one arachnophobe in my life, that I know of. She never expressed any particular fears of spiders, not out loud. But much of her behavior over the 2-years we dated suddenly made sense when I realized she was constantly looking for spiders. That’s a whole level worse than being afraid when you see one.
Anyway, I did the exposure thing with spiders as you did. Not near so bad now! One time I ended up with a kayak full of banana spiders, started chucking them out with my bare hands. Still, if I caught one in the face I’d dance like a panicked toddler!
Phobias are irrational, that’s in the very definition.
OK y’all, this is my peeve so I’ll put it out there.
Being scared of a thing is NOT a phobia. I’ve only met one arachnophobe in my life, that I know of. She never expressed any particular fears of spiders, not out loud. But much of her behavior over the 2-years we dated suddenly made sense when I realized she was constantly looking for spiders. That’s a whole level worse than being afraid when you see one.
Anyway, I did the exposure thing with spiders as you did. Not near so bad now! One time I ended up with a kayak full of banana spiders, started chucking them out with my bare hands. Still, if I caught one in the face I’d dance like a panicked toddler!