"Avoiders" with Mild Phobia Step 1
So you're not terrified of spiders, but you still scream when you see them and recoil a bit, which can be a real inconvenience for you. On this page, as well as two others, you will find a few effective strategies that may work for you.
The aim of these three sets of exercises is to get you to the point where you can look that beastie in the eyes, pick it up and put it out the window, or however else you wish to remove it from your life, without yelling out of fear or harming the creature.
Get Comfortable
The first step that you can take is getting comfortable with the idea of spiders. A great way of doing this is finding YouTube footage of spiders, preferably without commentary, and watching it in small doses. This way you get used to what a lot of people find scary about spiders - their movement and the way they look.
Learn the Science
Learn a bit of scientific details on those spiders you are most likely to interact with, and learn about how low the level of attacks are. This will help you get used to the idea and the mundane nature of spiders.
Tough It Out
It is fine to want to turn spider videos off or quit reading about them, in fact that is very much the point. Viewing spiders in this non-interactive way and without having the fear of one being right next to you will help you learn to be more comfortable around them.
The key to this is if it makes you uncomfortable try and think about why it makes you uncomfortable, consider what it is that you don't like about the spider. And if you want to just turn it off and move away from it, stick with it! Think of it like the gym, just 5 more reps!
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Full reference:
Liya Panayotova (Nov 25, 2015). "Avoiders" with Mild Phobia Step 1. Retrieved Sep 15, 2024 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/e/mild-arachnophobia-step-1
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