Overcome the Fear of Spiders

Overcome your  Arachnophobia  - Fear of Spiders. For some people, it is an almost paralyzing fear. There are some ways to lessen your fears. Try reading this wiki to get a grip on your terror.

Steps

 * 1) Expose yourself and face your fears - You must face your fear to overcome it. When there is a spider around, don't automatically smash it.  Take time to examine the spider, but at a distance that if it is life-threatening, you have time to do your justice to it.Some spiders look perfectly normal but can be life threatening, so keep your distance.Even those small innocent ones have been known to injure.
 * 2) Accept and understand that spiders are a natural part of this world - Know that spiders are everywhere, and unavoidable. You will never fully escape the presence of spiders.
 * 3) Educate yourself on spiders - Know which spiders native to your region of the world are harmful and know what they look like. There are very few spiders in some countries that are actually deadly. Other areas of the world have more risky varieties.  For those that may be harmful, there is almost always a cure at your local hospital.
 * 4) Learn to overcome your fearful behavior - Spiders don't hate you because you hate them. Even though you may daily stomp away at these pests, it isn't every day that they come plunging at you meat-hungry.  Don't over-react.
 * 5)  Start the process of overcoming your fear - Have someone you trust and feel safe with buy some toy spiders and some pictures. To truly overcome your fear, you have to learn how to deal with spiders in your presence. Starting with something small like a toy or picture helps a lot. Sit near the person you trust and have them slowly and quietly take out the toy or picture and try to sit still for a couple of seconds. Each day when you feel comfortable, try to increase your time spent with the toy spider or picture. When you feel safe or comfortable enough, try touching the toy or picture. Again as time goes by when you feel even more comfortable, increase your time spent having contact with the toy or picture.
 * 6) When you see a spider on the wall, stand far away from it and keep looking at it 'till you stop feeling scared. Then, slowly move a little closer and stand for some time. Keep doing it till you are next to or very close to the spider. Keep in mind that it will not harm you. Then try to scare the spider away. Keep chasing it out of the window, room or whatever it is on/in. When you have done that you will feel that you are not scared of spiders anymore.

Tips

 * Spiders are more afraid of you than you are of them.
 * When overcoming your fear, don't be upset if your time actually decreases. Phobias are not easy to overcome and it takes patience.
 * If you're helping someone overcome a phobia of spiders, make sure they are comfortable and don't try to scare them, remember they are trusting you to help them and saying or doing something that scares them will most likely make their phobia worse.
 * Try to figure out why you're afraid of spiders or what it is about them that makes them scary to you. Talk to a trustworthy friend or family member and have them help you slowly overcome your specific reason of fearing spiders.
 * Try watching little children movies or reading little children's story books on spiders.
 * Remember that even though there are spiders all over the world, not every single one of them is going to come into contact with you.
 * Spiders are very good at keeping your home free of other bugs and pests, if there were no spiders in the world, we'd be up to our necks in bugs!
 * Take the time out to appreciate the beauty of these creatures, watch documentaries and learn more about them.
 * Learning the good and better sides of spiders rather than thinking of all the scary parts helps you feel more comfortable when seeing an spider.
 * Accept that some amount of arachnophobia may be natural and a lifelong part of you. Even professional arachnologists may have left-over arachnophobia.

Warnings

 * Some spiders  ARE dangerous. Be careful even if you aren't scared of them.  A tiny bite can leave a big impact when playing with the wrong spider. An important step you can take includes learning to identify all the venomous spiders in your area. Also, learn about the common habitat of these spiders. The Black Widow, for example, is one of the easiest spiders to identify and can be extremely numerous in old trashpiles and dark places.
 * Don't think that the spiders in horror movies or stories are how spiders act in real life! Spiders do not see humans as prey or try to hunt them.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Get Rid of Spiders
 * How to Get Spiders Out of Your House Without Killing Them
 * How to Remove Spiders from Your Home Safely
 * How to Kill a Venomous Spider