I am going to be very brave talking about an irrational fear of mine, and I need everyone to be so cool and chill about it please.
I have an irrational fear of daddy long legs. Yes, the completely harmless spider that literally CAN'T hurt a human. I know.
You do not have to tell me that this is a stupid fear that I shouldn't have and that I should get over it. I am trying. I have been working on it for a very, very long time.
I know exactly where the fear started. The exact inciting incident.
I was at my first ever year of overnight girl scout camp, only 7 or 8, a little kid. The camp hosted a variety of age groups who kept to their own sections of the camp for the most part. There was only one kitchen and canteen, though, and it could only hold one age group at a time. While waiting for your turn to go eat a meal, you would sit at picnic tables and be led through camp songs.
These picnic tables sat outside all of the time, and as such, plenty of critters decided they were as good a place as any to hang out. We were warned that anyone who got up from their bench for any reason short of an actual emergency would lose out on dessert. The bugs were more afraid of us than we were of them.
I was always a hyper-obedient child because I was terrified of getting in trouble, especially by adults other than my parents. So even as my leg tickled, I did not move. I watched in frozen terror as not just one or two daddy long legs crawled all over my legs, but a growing number. There were 6 or 7 by the time I stood up and screamed bloody murder and tried desperately to shake them off (which was not hard to do because they're not the hardiest of creatures)
I lost out on dessert. I was mad about it then, but I was more mad about the way the camp counselors rolled their eyes and ridiculed me for crying about the spiders touching me. Most or all of the spiders fell off and scattered in my frenzy, and since none of the counselors had actually been looking at me until I was screaming, they refused to believe there had ever been more than one MAYBE two spiders on me in the first place. I got called a liar for the rest of that week of camp. My parents still sent me back the next year, and several after that.
Every time I see one, I can feel that awful crawling sensation all over again. It extends to any insect-like creatures with thin little spindly legs. Crane flies give me the shivers, but I can handle them. House centipedes are the most terrifying final boss, they move so fucking fast. We don't know how they keep getting in, but our apartment always has several daddy long legs and house centipedes in it at all times. I get the awful shivers several times a day over them.
I don't really have an ending for this post. Just be kind to people with irrational fears? I promise I'm not going to come onto someone's post talking about loving them and go on a tirade about torching the house.
If you have tips for getting over an irrational fear, I'm all ears.
turnnoffyourmind
jacobvanloon
vaporwave
theartofmadeline
tangentwithtanner
dededos
kianamaiart
baratheonpilled
