A Spider Tried to Kill Me

I am terrified of them also! I get shaky and sick to my stomach when I know I have to catch one. I stayed up very late one night because I saw a spider in my bedroom and went to get it, and it crawled away. I wasn't go to bed until I found it! Ugh So frustrating!

One may you might be able to overcome the fear is by teaching yourself to understand the animals, a little bit at a time.



Read about them.



Find out if a) there are genuinely any in your region that might be dangerous to humans - not in Europe nor as far I know, in the US - and b) what actually is the risk to you (very very small).



Make yourself watch one from a safe distance spinning a web, especially one of the spiral types, until you can approach closely enough to see the silk itself and how the spider assembles it. (The creature makes the spokes first then climbs round these, ladder style, while laying out the spiral thread; using its legs to gauge the gap between turns, and to stick it to each spoke.)



Don't watch one killing & eating its prey until you feel reasonably at ease with them just sitting around or building their webs.



Don't anthropomorphise the little creatures. They are very good at being spiders, but they are just spiders: small invertebrates that are really very beneficial because the insects they eat include many that are pests to us. They don't have emotions as we do. They aren't evil. They don't hate you - though you might make them nervous. They don't claim territorial rights over your home or car. They can't "glare" at you as one contributor alleged. They won't attack you.



And don't kill them. There are ways to evict them humanely, but a few including the big but harmless "Tegenaria sp". (up to about 2" long at full stretch) common in Britain at least, that do rather like nice cosy houses. Of these it's the males who have the disconcerting habit of suddenly appearing on a wall or in the middle of the lounge, and sitting still for a long time - perhaps because you've made them nervous! They roam around while the females tend to stay on their untidy webs in safe nooks & crannies. One came trotting across the wall behind my monitor only the other evening. I don't know where he is now - he wasn't very big so perhaps was still a juvenile.

I hate spiders the freak me out real bad.

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I am not fond of spiders, but don't consider them a huge threat. Snakes on the otherhand, make for a rational phobia, and my aversion to them is huge. Don't what I would do if one ever fell from my viser but controlling the car would not be my first reaction.

You need behavioral therapy

My daughter is the same way. She is deathly afraid of spiders, and we had the same issue one time when a spider was in the car. She started screaming and I had to pull over to kill it.



Now, spiders don't bother me, but I am deathly afraid of scorpions. Spending 12 years in the desert did that, and even now that I am in an area where there are no scorpions, sometimes I still have nightmares...

Hi - I'm late to this discussion but would like to offer some hope to other arachnophobes. I was JUST as scared of spiders as this lady was, and I still wouldn't want on dropping on my unexpectedly BUT I changed my life by buying a spider catcher. This is like a little plastic pyramid on a stick, with a trapdoor. You place it over the spider, close the trapdoor and put the spider outside.



This sound very simple and also quite brave for someone who's so frightened of spiders but the thing is that KNOWING I have the spider catcher right there means that when I see a spider now - even a really big one - I immediately feel IN control instead of OUT of control. This feeling has improved so much over the past few years that when I see a spider now I feel empowered instead of scared, and I even take great care not to hurt the spider while I'm capturing it. Even if I see a spider in the garden now, I don't freak out any more and just keep weeding, while it runs for cover.



I NEVER thought I would be able to feel so calm about spiders. I heartily recommend taking control and changing your life for the better.

I had an experience with spiders in MI. I awoke with an itching back. Looking in the mirror, my back was covered with bites. I shrugged it off until a couple of days later, I got really sick. The doctor said it was spider bites and just one silver dollar size area contained 50 bites. He gave me something and I recovered. Obviously the bites weren't lethal, but I got pretty sick. I've always been leery of spiders since. Now I live in AZ and have to watch for scorpions. I've lived here 30 years and only seen one.

I have to say the spiders here in Oregon are of a different breed. The ones in Md stayed mostly in their little corners. The ones here seem kind of interested in what you are doing. I dislke this intensely. They like to creep aound me consistently. I feel such sympathy for them, but when they crawl on me, I have to slap them off. I went to a job interview once. There was a large spider on the other side of the room. I asked the interviewer if it would be Ok to kill the spider. He said it was all the way on the other side of this large room and was not bothering me. By the time the interview ended (rather abruptly, I might add), the spider was crawling up the leg of my chair. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. My husband says they think I am their mother (ewww...)

I had a simlar experiance. I was driving on the highway late at night going to work when I seen a spider crawling down twards me. I freaked out really bad. I seen him but couldnt find him. Everytime I would pass a street light I could see him. I pulled over freaking out because I knew he was some where. Then I seen him again, he was on the outside of the windsheild. lol. I felt stupid but thankful he was outside.



I have always had a fear of spiders my brother would have me hold those white ones when we were younger, they didnt bite, but they sure were creapy. Once one followed me around the coffee table when I was younger, It creaped me out but I wanted to be sure it was following me, we circled that table for a good 10 minutes. Maybe its web was stuck on me I dont know.



My sister is always getting bit, its like they smell something in her, some kind of chemical or something. She used to get deathly flue like symtoms, she was in the hospital alot because of it. As years went on she started getting more amune to the bites and less sick.



I do like tarantulas, dont know why. As a teen a friend had on and had me hold it. It took a while but I actually thought it was nice. But those little creapy ones freak me out so bad. And they have millions of babies at one time, that is so freaky.



As I read your story it kept feeling like one was crawling on me. Just the thought of one gets me.

ugh i HATE spiders! i once found one in my room and i literally SCREAMED bloody murder! then i wouldn't sleep in there!

try keeping a big thick fly swatter in your room it'll help a bunch!

Go see someone who has experience in NLP (neuro linguistic programming). There is this technique called 'the phobia cure' which will during the technique gradually change your response to spiders. The technique only takes about 15 minutes but I have seen it work with my own eyes (during my training as an NLP practitioner).

I appreciate the many responses and opinions on this subject. I have since grown to a level of self-control around spiders when they land on me. I would not want to be responsible for hurting someone else because of my irrational fear. I can kill one now if I need to, and no longer have nightmares.



I truly meant the story to be humorous, and was surprised by the responses it received, although, I, too, realize how lucky I was on that day in the car.



Thanks everyone!!

I've been afraid of spiders for about fifty years. It became so acute that I couldn't read Charlotte's Web in a college children's lit. course.

Enough of the comparisons. At the time I was also suffering from lots of anxieties, so I made my way to the psychological counseling office and made an appointment. I asked for phobia therapy, but the counselor suggested that I had other things going on and I agreed to work on them. After six sessions I was a new man, again able to make friends with people, and more importantly, read Charlotte's Web.

I think of my phobia as a barometer of my overall condition.

Hi bluehaiku, I was afraid of spiders . Few years back, while we were cleaning the attic one spider suddenly jumped on my hand and started crawling then one of my friends assured me "do not beafraid! They just fall off .They do not stick/crawl on your skin".Since ,then I don't feel afraid of spiders.

I hear you there, I hate spiders too! but not all are dangerous, maybe it will help you if you looked up what the poisonous ones looks like, and be able to recognize it next time, but even the poisonous ones aren't very likely to kill you,but I totally understand your fear, and if it helps at all you should know, you are not alone!

Wow, I'm surprised you haven't got any hate mail! Only a couple of harsh comments!

I have no fear of spiders, actually I have a pet tarantula, but don't worry I'm not the type to try to force things on people. Have you ever noticed that when you admit to a fear there is always someone trying to force you to face it? I can relate to your fear because I am afraid of being bitten by a shark, LOL, and I don't ever even swim! I somehow manage to get that fear to stop me from, for example, flying or boating or even freshwater lakes and rivers. Did you know Bull sharks can tolerate and even thrive in freshwater? (thanks Animal Planet!) Well, that being said, I do think you should at least work on the fear to get you to the point of NOT crashing your car, God forbid someone gets hurt. I suggest learning about them, that way you can learn how to avoid them with minimal detriment to you and minimal death to them. If you want to see my pet spider I have pictures of her in my profile (but you don't have to) good luck, I hope you never meet a spider in your car again.

There is a therapy available where they slowly reduce your fear. They start with non-threatening imagery then move slowly to inanimate models and eventually to live encounters. By the time you hit the end, there is a high success rate for desensitization of your phobia. Check with your local doctor. Your level of fear might not have only killed you in that car, you could have killed someone else.

Boy am I happy I live in western europe, no big poisonous spiders round here. But I'm still scared.. they're just so creepy.. the way they move.. *shudders*



And like you said, sometimes they seem to be staring at me, or following me. I just hate em.



I just freak out when I see one, start screaming hysterically, last time I even started crying.. I know pathetic.. but I just can't help it.



I'm so happy I don't live anywhere where there are really big spiders, I think I wouldn't dare come out of my house!

I'm not scared of spiders, what I'm scared of are small lizards. They're Ugly and look so viscous ewww. But I'm not so afraid of them that I can't kill them. When I have the opportunity I smack them with something I'm gonna throw away anyway.

A trap door spider will try to kill you. Trap door spiders are gigantic and are a great threat to humans. While some spiders might be afraid of you, the trap door spider fears nothing. The most aggressive ones live in Australia and Brazil. One bite and you are dead, because of their powerful venom. If you are in these two locations or in the desert, shake out your shoes, boots, and clothing. Check your bedding and backpacks. Spray your surroundings with a pest exterminator. Remember, where there are mice, there is a ready food supply for trap door spiders and they will come to dine.

I have good reasons to be petrified of spiders. I have been bitten at least seven times that I know about. I have been fortunate that none of the bites were poisonous, although one of the bites gave me a staph infection. I can mind my own business only to have a spider jump on me from nowhere. I am not sure what the spiders want from me. One day I was cutting my toenails, I leaned over to cut my toenail on my big toe on the other foot only to find a spider sitting there as if it was watching me. I try not to kill them, but I could not help but slap that one off. There have been many other instances where I have not been quick enough to get them off and they bit me. I live in Oregon now and some of the spiders here are quite poisonous. When I lived in Maryland in the country, I had to keep a broom in my car because there were spiders perched on the top of the entry way that would jump on me and anyone with me. Once I hesitated to open a gate because there was a spider on the other side of the fence, not on the gate itself. My husband said "open it. That spider is too far away to get on you. It is not going to bother you!" The next thing I knew I was screaming with the spider running up my hand. I don't know what the attraction is. I wish I could keep from reacting so defensively. It is weird to have spiders crawling on you so much.

Thank you mik.....I wouldn't have liked to be in an accident, for sure, but I really did mean my story to be funny. Interesting the responses a person gets.

yeh not the accident part but the rest is entertaning

I know for a fact they can't really hurt me. Sometimes I wake up with bite marks and I don't worry to much about it. But the sight of them buggers just send me into a cartoon like frenzy. I swear every strand of hair on my body stands up when I see one. I am 5'10 and 275 pounds of muscle and almost killed myself trying to get away from one that came down from the basement ceiling while I was lifting weights.

Lighten up people.....I don't kill spiders...I am too afraid to. Stop taking yourselves so seriously. My story was meant to be funny.

:L...you shouldnt try to kill them..youve probably heard the whole theyre scared of you too crap but have you considered spiders are either male or female,they will have had mothers and fathers,they have eyes, a nose,a mouth...they deserve life as much as us..more than some..

I had a similar experience to this once. My dad was driving me to school and a huge spider crawled up my leg, and in shock I slapped it onto the door next to me and didn't budge until dad removed it for me... I'm not afraid of spiders though... just respectful of the fact they will fight back if they want.

Ooh...I like spiderman too. It's that tight outfit....yum-mee!