Entomophobia - Extreme fear of bugs and insects

[Soberlicious96]

Hey everyone.

I'm a fairly regular poster on here, so I'm certainly not new to how this works. But tonight, I just wanted to share something to get it off my chest, and maybe see if there are others out there who have the same, or similar condition as me;

I am as scared as all mighty get-out of bugs and insects. I know that they are about a millionth of the size of me, and most of them probably don't even bite or sting ........ but I just FREAK OUT a LOT as soon as there is the first sign of bugs in the warmer weather.

I recently had a holiday to somewhere where, even though the weather was warm, there didn't seem to be any bugs at all! It was great! And now that I'm back home .... there they are. With all their wings and all the legs and their friggin creepy flying crawling ways. I just hate them.

Thismorning I walked out my front door into a single strand of a spiders web and became all ninja-like; waving my arms around frantically and almost screaming ..... because of one little web strand.

I know it's irrational, and I know that most of the time there is no really great threat to me ....... so why am I SO SCARED of them. Every time I see a bug .... and some days even just a house fly can get to my nerves ...... I just panic. My heart rate just about doubles, I become shaky, my palms are sweaty, my chest tightens and my mouth dries out ........ it's just horrible. And I've been like this all my life.

Sometimes, not as often as I'd like, I'm sort of okay ......... but I don't really know why it's only sometimes and not all the time?

Anyway, anyone have the same issue? And if yes, what do you to do manage or overcome it? Advice welcome. Thankyou in advance.

[Here_I_am]

Hi Soberlicious96,

Yep... I'm with you. 🙂

And add fish and birds to the list, too!

I can be walking down the street in a group of people, and a flying insect will crash right into me; it's like they're out to get me! Of all the people walking in the group, why am I the only one that seems to get clocked in the face by a beetle or grasshopper? And birds just seem to get really angry with me for no reason at all. One time I was walking into the shops from the carpark with my family, and this bird just took issue with my shoes and tried real hard to get them off me. This happens ALL THE TIME! I ride a motorbike, and when I speak with other motorcyclists their is probably less than 2% that can recount a story of a bird messing their proverbial up. But most days I either have to dodge out of the way as a bird kamikaze's straight at me whilst I'm riding, or I have to swerve out of the way as they simply refuse to get off the road when I'm riding (I live in Darwin, and we have some BIG birds up here too). A wasp once built a nest in my backpack. What the ???? Has that even ever happened to anyone else? I went to get my phone out, and grabbed a handful of wasp nest. I threw it as quickly and as far as I could, and sure enough three wasps come out all angry and surly at me.

... Don't even get me started on fish!

[44Max44]

I'm with you on this one.

As a kid, I didn't care about bugs at all, I even have many memories of handling them and not caring whatsoever, things that I'd run in the opposite direction of nowadays I just held in my hand as if it was a puppy or something... but nowadays I hate them and can't be anywhere near them without freaking out.

I especially hate flying or jumping bugs, I can't even be in the same room as them because I'm too scared that they'll pounce at any second. I know that the majority of them are harmless but regardless I just can't stand them at all. I just hate how unpredictable bugs are, they could go from not moving at all to running/flying right at you in a split second and I hate it.

I think the thing that scares me the most about them is just not knowing what they are a lot of the time. I don't know if it's a harmless bug or one that could bite/sting me and put me in the hospital, so because of this I just treat every bug as if they are one of the dangerous ones.


You're far from alone with having this fear, in fact, I think the fear of bugs is one of the most common phobias there are.