Pugbear

Hi everyone.

I saw someone else had posted a message about phobias and so i thought i would ask about mine.

i know this is an incredibly common phobia, but i really do think mine is more serious.

I am absolutely petrified of spiders. My heart beats incredibly fast, i get very hot and sweaty and take short breaths. I feel in a total state of panic.

I feel this has been worsened by some events. When i was in school i had a very large spider crawling on my neck and it ran down my chest. Thats was very scary. The i was driving one day, i pulled down the sun shield and a very large spider dropped down right in front of my face, i crashed into the wall and sold the car the next day. i was too scared to get in it again. There has also been one in my bed...and many many more that have scared me.

Im just getting to the point where i have had enough. Im only 21 and its controlling my life. I daren't go into the bathroom because i saw a spider in there that wasn't dealt with...i dread the next time i have to pee...and just silly things like this all the time.

I am going to America in the summer to teach on a summer camp, and i am petrified i will come across some big spiders but i know i cant let this stop me.

i know this sounds trivial to some people, and i know myself that its stupid, they cant hurt me. But i just cant describe how scared of them i am .

Does anyone have any ideas at all?

Thanks