Self Diagnosing the A Word

(P.S. I was going to put up an image of a spider but all of the ones I found creeped me out-so you get this cute cartoon instead.)

So I have apparently become a doctor this week and have self diagnosed a serious problem using the ever reliable medical information found on the internet. I’ve always been inexplicably afraid of spiders, but recently I’ve been wondering if I might legitimately have arachnophobia. I detest spiders. Even just seeing a spider makes tense up and freeze. I feel panic start to rise and my heart starts t to race. Of course I’m using very reliable sources like Wikipedia but just take a look at what about.com has to say.

If you have arachnophobia, you will probably go out of your way to ensure that you do not come in to contact with a spider. If you find a spider in your home, you may react in one of two ways: either screaming and running away or freezing in place. You may be unable to kill or trap the spider yourself, relying on a friend or family member to rescue you from the situation. If you are alone, you may actually leave the house rather than deal with the spider.

This is exactly what happened to me a week or two ago. I was staying at my parent’s house and getting ready to go to bed. I see a Godzilla sized spider climbing along the base of my wall.  Of course I feel anxiety set in so I weigh my options. I could grab a shoe and smash the infernal creature. That’s out because that would require me getting even closer to the demon spider. I could grab the vacuum sitting outside of my bedroom door. Nope. I would just worry the spider would crawl back out and come attack me. So what do I decide to do. Nothing! I get my pajamas on, turn out the light, leave my bedroom, and sleep on the living room couch. How lame is that? I am a big fat chicken. The best part of this story is that I found the spider in my shower the next morning and had my Dad come and kill it.

The internet tries to lull you into a false sense of security. One website had a list of facts such as most spiders are not capable of penetrating human skin. Most spiders will bite humans only in self-defense. Most spider bites have no more effect than a bee sting or mosquito bite. But then in also casually mentioned that most venomous spiders are not capable of injecting enough venom to warrant medical intervention and of those that can,only a few cases are recorded to be fatal.

So you’re saying there is still a chance a spider could land me in the hospital?

Do you have any irrational fears or phobias?