Please help! I have a really bad phobia .. how can I get over it?

Question

I am so scared to death of centipedes! (the ones found in houses). i saw one for the first time last month and was ok with it, but now i see them around the house and i really can't take it. im afraid to walk, sit, shower, or do anything for that matter. im always paranoid staring at ceilings and think twice before doing anything! cant even sleep. i know this is insane, but im afraid it'll pop out from somewhere and if it even touches me .. oh h**l. i get so scared when i see one forget about killing it .. i wont go near it. how can i calm myself? pleasee help! and this is totally serious. until you've had an irrational fear of something i guess you won't understand :(

Answer 1

a phobia is a learned behavior so you have to unlearn it by exposing yourself to it. first read up about centipedes then slowly expose yourself to them until the feelings slowly subside.

Answer 2

A lot of people have phobias; don't worry about what other people will think of you! I think it's good that you posted it here so you can get some advice about how to overcome it.

A lot of people with phobias find a form of cognitive behavioral therapy called exposure therapy (or sometimes "exposure and response prevention") to be really useful. Under the guidance of a therapist, the person with the phobia will be exposed to a little bit of the phobia at a time (for example: talking about centipedes. Next: reading a description of a centipede. Next: looking at a picture of a centipede) over the course of a few months until the person becomes more comfortable with whatever is causing the phobia. It's graduated steps so that you feel comfortable being exposed a little bit at a time until you can be around centipedes and not lose sleep worrying about them being around.

If you're having trouble sleeping and you feel like it's interfering with your life, it might be a good idea to seek this type of therapy so that you can take back over your life instead of letting your fear of centipedes rule your waking (and sleeping) hours! Good luck. :)

Answer 3

The only real way to get over a phobia (and I think that your particular brand of phobia is called insectophobia) that I know of that works is to confront your fear head on.  Pick up a centipede and hold it in your hand (carefully; centipedes bite).  Catch a centipede and keep it in a jar where you'll be forced to see it every day.  I know it seems like an extreme thing to do, but if you don't confront your fear, you'll have to deal with it for the rest of your life.  I used to suffer from acrophobia (fear of heights) for years until I confronted the fear head on.  Now heights don't bother me at all.

Answer 4

this type of thing happens to me all the time. DONT LOOK UP CENTIPEDES IT WILL MAKE THINGS WORSE! just trust me on that one. call an exterminator and get him to kill them all. see if you can find out how they are getting in and fix that. once you have done that look around the house and you wont find any and then try to relax. this is going to sound like im simplifying your problem but try to think of something else

Answer 5

Buy a bug bomb you idiot! obviously.