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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Deneb on May 14, 2006, at 21:30:27
A spider just fell on my left shoulder and then quickly walked down my leg to the floor. I usually trap them, but this time I got a piece of tissue and squished it.
I'm afraid of spiders. I'm very surprised my heart didn't race a mile a minute just now. I'm actually really calm about it. Weird!
Has anyone ever experienced this sudden and inexplicable lack of a fear response in response to a known trigger of fear?
Deneb*
Posted by happyflower on May 14, 2006, at 22:04:49
In reply to A spider fell on me!, posted by Deneb on May 14, 2006, at 21:30:27
Nope, not with spiders, this post gives me the creeps ! LOL I HATE SPIDERS! even more than slugs! Hey, you can be little miss muffet! LOL or maybe that is muffy's job. :-)
Posted by javableue on May 14, 2006, at 22:26:34
In reply to A spider fell on me!, posted by Deneb on May 14, 2006, at 21:30:27
Ick! I count myself lucky I've only had nightmares about that.
I have the weird lack of fear reaction a lot when a risky situation comes up while driving. It enables me to take what measures I can to avoid an accident. I don't think I could in good conscience allow myself to drive otherwise; for me, the fear reaction is too detrimental to acting wisely.
jb
Posted by Deneb on May 14, 2006, at 23:37:02
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me!, posted by happyflower on May 14, 2006, at 22:04:49
I hate most creepy crawly things. Spiders especially. I don't know why I didn't scream. I've been known to scream when a bug pops out of nowhere near or on me.
I think maybe it happened so fast that fear didn't have time to set in? no...that doesn't make much sense...the whole fight or flight thing happens pretty darn quickly.
I'm glad I didn't freak out. I'm surprised I'm not freaking out after the fact. Maybe I'm not quite here right now...dissociation maybe?
> Hey, you can be little miss muffet! LOL or maybe that is muffy's job. :-)
LOL
Deneb*
Posted by Deneb on May 14, 2006, at 23:43:58
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me! » Deneb, posted by javableue on May 14, 2006, at 22:26:34
> Ick! I count myself lucky I've only had nightmares about that.
Yeah, me too. Sometimes I'm afraid to go to bed after finding a spider and losing a spider without catching it. I'm afraid the spider will crawl across my face when I'm sleeping. Ugh...Shudder...
> I have the weird lack of fear reaction a lot when a risky situation comes up while driving. It enables me to take what measures I can to avoid an accident.That's freaky...calm and collected when a car is about to back up into yours? I would freak, I think. I can't drive, so I don't know for sure, but if my grip on the steering wheel is an indication of my anxiety, then mine is through the roof while driving. LOL
Deneb*
Posted by javableue on May 14, 2006, at 23:47:55
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me! » javableue, posted by Deneb on May 14, 2006, at 23:43:58
>That's freaky...calm and collected when a car is about to back up into yours? I would freak, I think. I can't drive, so I don't know for sure, but if my grip on the steering wheel is an indication of my anxiety, then mine is through the roof while driving. LOL
I tend to be "calmer" during more drastic situations where I need to act - now! Parking-related stuff, on the other hand... yikes. And I can't pay too much attention to other drivers when they're mad at me or I freak out.
It takes time to get used to driving, or even just the idea of it. It's almost scary how much it becomes automatic after even, in my case, a little more than a year.
jb
Posted by Phillipa on May 15, 2006, at 16:06:34
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me! » Deneb, posted by javableue on May 14, 2006, at 23:47:55
Deneb you really would have freaked out as when I was a teen a spider bit me in the center of my lip while I was sleeping. Searched the room as they come in pairs and couldn't find the other one. Lip swelled up. It was horrible. Love Phillipa
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 15, 2006, at 16:59:30
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me!, posted by Phillipa on May 15, 2006, at 16:06:34
> Deneb you really would have freaked out as when I was a teen a spider bit me in the center of my lip while I was sleeping. Searched the room as they come in pairs and couldn't find the other one. Lip swelled up. It was horrible. Love Phillipa
I know of no evidence that spiders come in pairs. They are solitary creatures, to the best of my knowledge. Coincidence might bring two close together, but they do not have social interactions except during mating. Any arachnophiles out there?
Lar
Posted by happyflower on May 15, 2006, at 18:49:44
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me!, posted by Phillipa on May 15, 2006, at 16:06:34
Well I heard once that the average person swallows at least 20 spiders in their lifetime during sleep. I guess they are attracted to the smell of our breath.
Posted by llrrrpp on May 15, 2006, at 19:06:26
In reply to spider trigger, don't read if they scare you » Phillipa, posted by happyflower on May 15, 2006, at 18:49:44
yuck- this thread is morbidly fascinating! I guess I should take it as a sign of my autonomic nervous system being supressed that my heart isn't racing by now. I was bitten by a spider in my sleep several years ago, but it was behind my knee. My eyes were swollen shut for almost a week (apparent allergy to mystery spider) and I was a complete medical mystery until the little fang marks were found!
Isn't it funny how "fear" can be experienced on so many levels, ranging from a visceral automatic response to a very cooly detached, explicit cognitive avoidance of unpleasant consequences?
Deneb, I'm impressed with your "coolness". I'm jealous, in fact. If only we could bottle such a thing (wait- I think we have!)
I, actually am an arachnophile, but only specific arachnae; I allow a few cobweb spiders to survive the suction tube of the vacuum in an effort to keep worse creepy-crawlies under control. They also help with the inevitable fruit flies, come warmer weather. And only in my living room, never the bedroom (yikes!)
Posted by happyflower on May 15, 2006, at 19:44:49
In reply to Re: spider trigger, don't read if they scare you, posted by llrrrpp on May 15, 2006, at 19:06:26
Because they attack you as you sleep! errie suckers, they are worse than slugs.
Anyone remember the movie on TV in the 70's called Kingdom of the Spiders? Eek!
I remembering runing down a path as a kid right into a huge web that stretched across the whole path. Then the dang spider and the web was stuck to my shirt. Talk about a nightmare!
Then a few years ago I was taking a nice relaxing bath in a whirlpool tub. Well down, down came this spider! I was screaming bloody murder as I got out. Well I didn't know what to do, for it was in water! Well eventually it went into the jets and was cut up into thousands of nastly little parts. My DH had to clean the tub because those parts even gave me the creeps. Yup, don't like those scary things.
Posted by Deneb on May 15, 2006, at 20:04:55
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me! » Deneb, posted by javableue on May 14, 2006, at 23:47:55
> I tend to be "calmer" during more drastic situations where I need to act - now! Parking-related stuff, on the other hand... yikes.
Wow, I'm impressed. So you're cool when it matters. :-)
> And I can't pay too much attention to other drivers when they're mad at me or I freak out.
I don't know how I would react to an angry driver. Freak out, probably. LOL
> It takes time to get used to driving, or even just the idea of it. It's almost scary how much it becomes automatic after even, in my case, a little more than a year.
Wow, one year is all it takes for driving to become automatic? I'm looking forward to when that happens.
Deneb*
Posted by Deneb on May 15, 2006, at 20:07:08
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me!, posted by Phillipa on May 15, 2006, at 16:06:34
> Deneb you really would have freaked out as when I was a teen a spider bit me in the center of my lip while I was sleeping.
That's horrifying! Yikes. On the lip...that must have really hurt. Ouch. Maybe I should sleep with some mosquito netting around me...
Deneb*
Posted by Deneb on May 15, 2006, at 20:13:01
In reply to spider trigger, don't read if they scare you » Phillipa, posted by happyflower on May 15, 2006, at 18:49:44
> Well I heard once that the average person swallows at least 20 spiders in their lifetime during sleep. I guess they are attracted to the smell of our breath.
Aaaahhh! That means I've swallowed about 6 spiders!
Deneb*
Posted by happyflower on May 15, 2006, at 20:28:23
In reply to Re: spider trigger, don't read if they scare you » happyflower, posted by Deneb on May 15, 2006, at 20:13:01
You know how if you rinse a spider down the drain, after he dries out, he will crawl right back out? Well I wonder if when you swallow those suckers, what happens? Okay, sorry everyone.
Posted by Phillipa on May 15, 2006, at 21:16:26
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me! » Phillipa, posted by Larry Hoover on May 15, 2006, at 16:59:30
Lar you made me laugh hard to do these days. You mean my Mother lied and searched for days for the other spicer? Love Phillipa I'm remembering this one.
Posted by javableue on May 15, 2006, at 21:16:54
In reply to Re: A spider fell on me! » javableue, posted by Deneb on May 15, 2006, at 20:04:55
> Wow, I'm impressed. So you're cool when it matters. :-)
And only when it matters. ;)
> I don't know how I would react to an angry driver. Freak out, probably. LOL
I think my dad ruined me in this regard... he has a serious problem with road rage and I hear his voice, in a sense, every time I see a driver frustrated with me. If there's something of that sort in your background, it may help to keep that in mind from the get-go. I find it helpful to forget there are drivers to get mad in the first place and just think of it as cars which occasionally do foolish things. :)
> Wow, one year is all it takes for driving to become automatic? I'm looking forward to when that happens.
There are still lots of things I have to hesitate about... parking is a big one, as is highway driving, which is not surprising as I don't do much of either. The danger of being at my level is, I think, the fact that it feels automatic, but my skills are not well enough honed for it to be safe for me to rely on that. In other words, I need to focus a lot more than I feel I do.
I found the effect, however, came more from having driven on my own than the time itself. My first time driving alone was for work... I worked at a car show and had to help drive some of the (new!) cars from the loading dock to the parking lot. It was crazy stressful but quite the confidence booster... not that I recommend that route, particularly, but a lot of it comes simply through gaining confidence in your abilities.
jb
Posted by TexasChic on May 15, 2006, at 22:55:03
In reply to A spider fell on me!, posted by Deneb on May 14, 2006, at 21:30:27
For some reason spiders don't bother me all that much. Neither do snakes, lizards, frogs, or mice. But bugs freak me out. Especially big ones like waterbugs. I have such an adversion I can barely even smash them. I actually had to leave my house one time and go sleep at my Mom's because I couldn't kill one.
One summer for some reason they were really bad. I woke up at least 4 different times to have one crawling on me in bed! I couldn't sleep well for a long, long time. I actually felt traumatized. One of the things I love about having my kitty is he kills them before I ever have to see them (alive).
I feel the same way about crickets and grasshoppers. I almost had a wreck one time because I discovered there was a grasshopper on my pants leg (after I got on the highway). And you can imagine how I felt when I briefly worked at Petco and had to bag up crickets a million times a day. That was horrible!
-T
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