Anyone have suggestions to get rid of the big horrible spiders

By REM I mean Rapid Eye Movement - I think our brains find it hard to adjust to the speed they can travel relative to their size. This was the theory on the documentary on phobias I saw a number of years ago.

I KNOW my fear is irrational but can't help the way my heart beats fast and i have the need to escape the room with the spider in it each time I see what I class as a large spider. My husband thinks I am mad but a phobia is oftewn irrational. I have tried looking at them when in a glass but still get unnerved when I next see them. Maybe its the unexpectedness of suddenly seeing one. If I know one is in a room cannot go in there until I know its been caught. One of my sister's shares my phobia while the rest of the family seem ok. Tried not to pass this onto my kids but my 3 year old daughter is afraid of any kind of creepy crawly so have failed!
 
fobs said:
By REM I mean Rapid Eye Movement - I think our brains find it hard to adjust to the speed they can travel relative to their size. This was the theory on the documentary on phobias I saw a number of years ago.
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Are you sure? REM is something that only happens when you are in deep sleep as far as I know. Maybe you're thinking of something else?

I KNOW my fear is irrational but can't help the way my heart beats fast and i have the need to escape the room with the spider in it each time I see what I class as a large spider.
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The point about something like CBT is that you can indeed help the way that you react to circumstances such as these even if you think that you can't as long as you think clearly and logically about it to correct flawed thinking and institute more appropriate/relevant behaviours (there's more to it than that but that's the general gist). CBT is used to treat many things including (irrational) phobias and works for many people.
 
Would CBT work for a phobia of needles...i am sick and tired of making a holy show of myself everytime i have to go into Hospital(which is alot and so far no doc has come up with any answers!) I cry, snot(yes..attractive i know!) stamp my feet, knock people down trying to get away from anyone carrying a syringe...basically turn into a 2year old! Its only Spiders and needles that i am deathly afraid of...mice dogs,rats snails(which are cute!) dont bother me at all! And where do you get CBT?
 
CBT can work for phobias but, as with any other issue it is used to tackle, it requires work and committment on the part of the individual either on their own with a decent self help guide or book or with a therapist. It is not guaranteed to work in all cases and especially if the individual is not committed to it or prepared to do the work required. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0452281326/104-2051128-3116710?v=glance (This book) is pretty comprehensive and a good self help guide but there are lots of other self help guides and resources on the web. Alternatively look for a therapist who is skilled in CBT if necessary.
 
Not all fears are irrational..

Taken from the Ohio State University webpage:

"Jumping Spiders:

These spiders are so named because of their jumping ability. They can jump many times their own length. They make quick, sudden jumps to capture prey or avoid a threat.

These common spiders are about 1/8 – 3/4 inches long, very hairy and stocky built. Two of their eight eyes are very large. They have the keenest vision of all spiders.

Jumping spiders can become established indoors and their hunting activities often center about windows and entry doors where their prey is most common."


But I don't THINK these are the spiders in YOUR houses.
 
Jumping spiders are not a threat to humans.

Fear of any spider that is not venomous and potentially life threatening to humans is surely irrational? Just because a spider jumps doesn't make it dangerous.
 
I believe this fear/dislike of spiders is purely cultural.
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Fear of any spider that is not venomous and potentially life threatening to humans is surely irrational?
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There is probably a very good evolutionary basis for being frightened of little things that moved fast. Although there are no really dangerous insects in Ireland, there were many dangerous little fast moving things in Africa where we evolved. It would pay off in evolutionary terms to take evasive action. There was probably no downside to running away from a harmless creature.

So I would guessthat the non-fear of spiders is cultural. We have to learn that these guys are not dangerous and that they are incredibly interesting.

Brendan
 

Except that it may be more difficult to reproduce if potential mates thought you were a wuss.
 
ClubMan said:
Jumping spiders are not a threat to humans.
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You keep on thwarting my immature attempts to frighten people!

Having said that - according to the Californian Poison Control system -

"The jumping spider is probably the most common biting spider in the United States. People are caught by surprise and scared when they see the spider jump, especially if it jumps towards them. Bites from a jumping spider are painful, itchy and cause redness and significant swelling. Other symptoms may include painful muscles and joints, headache, fever, chills, nausea and vomiting. The symptoms usually last about 1-4 days. "

Threatening enough for me!
 
I don't particularly dislike spiders or any creepy crawling type creatures (apart from wasps and earwigs) that we have in this country but I would never deliberately kill one which was doing me no harm.
Recently I caught part of a documentary on television about a service available in Australia which has a number of venomous snakes and spiders. You can call if you find one of these poisonous creatures in your house and someone will come catch it and take it away. Some are released into the wild away from built up areas. Others are taken to labs where their venom is milked to make anti-venom. That way, the poison from one can help cure a bite sometime in the future.
Fascinating but I'm very glad we dont have any poisonous varieties in this countries.
 
Brendan is absolutely correct! Research done in the 1960's (must have been - it was current when I was studying psychology) was that the three things that invariably caused powerful physiological arousal in young babies were (a) sudden loud noises (b) fear of falling (c) spiders close to the face. I understand dogs turn round and round a few times before settling for the same reason - genetic memory of danger from poisonous spiders and/or snakes.

I'm so ambivalent about arachnids that I couldn't decide whether to call my home "Eeeeek Cottage" (from the screams that emanate from the garden shed every autumn) or "Cobweb Cottage" (in the end I settled for "Aoibneas" ). Currently my bathroom is occupied by three sisters from the third generation of offspring from a very large spider who built a huge web across the expanse of the window which invariably got torn whenever it was opened. As she grew her body changed from dull brown to the deep cherry red of the walls and her daughters are also red spiders! With every autumn comes a routine early-morning check for spiders which have got trapped in the bath and providing 'spider ladders' of bog-roll to let them climb out and find a dark quiet place before I get in the shower. I couldn't contemplate killing a spider and find them fascinating.
 
Interesting debate on phobias. Following ClubMan's link I came across this book which reviews suggest could be quite helpful. It's worth reading some of the reviewers advice which I might try myself for a slight phobia.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/1572244135/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/102-4650840-8705730?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
While knowing that one's phobia is irrational, it's very difficult to unlearn a learned behaviour. If spider phobia weren't a learned behaviour the whole population would be afraid of spiders, wouldn't they? Psychologists concede (I think) that behavioural change is very difficult; if not so we'd easily adopt healthy behaviours and not induge in overeating, alcohol and other habits that we would like to change.

A child has to learn safe behaviours from parents and others just as they can learn phobias. So, some children will try to pat a strange dog while others will cry and become distressed. A learned behaviour I surmise. AFAIK, children are born fearless and have to learn from parents and teachers the rules of safety and when caution is required. As to the respective roles of nature or nurture - let's not go down that road! According to De Mello (psychologist and philosopher) none of us has an original belief in our heads having learnt all that we believe from parents, teachers and the world in which we grow up. Now there's a thought to chew upon!

A fear that is rational and based on fact is not a phobia by definition. A fear of spiders in South America would be quite rational, while a similar one in Ireland can only be a phobia - until there is evidence to the contrary! I'd never kill a spider myself probably because I must have been told as a child (illogically) they were lucky! When I find one in the bath I rescue it on a piece of cardboard and it freezes or scurries away, terrified, to disappear into the woodwork. Pity the poor spider who only wants to spin its web and gobble up other creepie crawlies; all part of the amazing world in which we live. The nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet" has a lot to answer for! Now a mouse is another matter.... totally irrational.

PS Is it mainly females who have spider phobias and if so why?
 
Re: REM sleep

These descriptions of REM sleep are quite good:

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=8681

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005545/english/sleep/REM.htm
Most of us (or some) will have experienced the after effects of too much alcohol explained here:

Can't prove it but I've always believed that dreaming sleep is when our brains are storing the memories of the previous days events either electrically or chemically. I don't believe they have any real meaning but are just a jumbled up account of events mixed up with past memories while being stored in the brain. This may explain why older people retain very accurate memories of long past events while having difficulty with recalling recent events. In other words, a part of the ageing process is less efficient REM sleep, impaired memory storage, and therefore poor recall of recent events.

Please don't ask for proof CM, I've said I can't, but when I come across a better explanation for dreams and their meaning, I'll revise my opinion.
 
Admirable empiricism, sherib, and long may it survive, in these irrational times...
sherib said:
PS Is it mainly females who have spider phobias and if so why?
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At the risk of a 'blasting', I'd say 'yes', and I suspect that this has far more to do with 'cultural conditioning' than any verifiable genetic 'pre-disposition' (female humans, I mean, not spiders!). I suspect that the most plausible/explanatory hypotheses are to be found not on the side of 'hard science', but in the infinitely-'woolly' domain of behavioural science/psychology (no capital letters, and for cause...).
 
I've heard this hypothesis mentioned before but some spider expert or other on Mooney Goes Wild on RTÉ Radio 1 recently dismissed it as without foundation for what that's worth.
 
Re: REM sleep

sherib said:
These descriptions of REM sleep are quite good:
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I still don't understand what REM (sleep?)has to do with fear of spiders as mentioned earlier...
 

Yes - but CBT is an excellent tool with which people who are sufficiently motivated and adequately guided (by self help books/resources or a skilled therapist) can indeed change irrational beliefs arising from and reactions to actual events.

In many cases it can be the case that people claim to want to change certain behaviours but through their actions betray the fact that they don't really want to do this at all. In such cases it's easier for people to assume that they are reaching for improvement but blame failure on factors beyond their control than to actually take responsibility and institute change. I know - I've done this enough myself in my time!

A fear that is rational and based on fact is not a phobia by definition. A fear of spiders in South America would be quite rational,
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I could still be irrational even if one is in an environment inhabited by such dangerous creatures - e.g. obsessive compulsive behaviour even when the actual risk of encountering danger is low.
 
Posted by DrMoriarty
.....I suspect that this has far more to do with 'cultural conditioning' .....
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- referring to spider phobia.

I totally agree - a bit like "big boys don't cry" and "little girls are made of sugar and spice...." (yuk!) while "boys are made of slugs and snails"! In Freud's time female hysteria, including paralysis, was an observed phenomenon not seen now but possibly manifested in a different way in our times. I have a lot of time for Jung but don't buy his dream theories. Sexual abuse must have been at least as common in those days as now, yet dare not speak its name then. A likely outcome was hysteria and sexual repression paving the way for good old Victorian puritanism. Just an hypothesis.

And what about genteel female behaviour to impress the opposite sex? I remember being told that in times gone by (thank God past), it was considered feminine to have a bird-like appetite for food and ladies would push the food around the plate to impress the new boy friend! And I knew a female who was trying to impress a prospective (who was part of a hard drinking racing crowd) that she'd only have a sherry!! God help us. One of that high octane drinks would have me on my ear but then men are very gullible! Tell them what they want to hear and then tell them again. That said, vive la difference.
 
Originally posted by ClubMan
I still don't understand what REM (sleep?)has to do with fear of spiders as mentioned earlier
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Neither did I when I read this on the spider thread - originally Posted by fobs
By REM I mean Rapid Eye Movement - I think our brains find it hard to adjust to the speed they can travel relative to their size. This was the theory on the documentary on phobias I saw a number of years ago.
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That’s why I wrote a separate post about REM sleep

Originally posted by ClubMan
I could still be irrational even if one is in an environment inhabited by such dangerous creatures - e.g. obsessive compulsive behaviour even when the actual risk of encountering danger is low
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Not wishing to be contrary but I think phobias and obsesssive compulsive behaviours are quite different - the latter being classified by the World Health Organisation - see this [broken link removed]
 
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