Caterpillar Phobia

[MissMichelle]

I know this sounds strange to most people, but I have a terrible phobia of caterpillars. I can't even hear the word, or look at pictures of them without panicing. I don't know how to explain the full extent of my fear...you can only undertstand if you have a phobia yourself. I literally feel like I'm going to die whenever I see one.
Last year, in my old neighborhood, I used to run home screaming and crying because they were EVERYWHERE on the streets whenever I came home from school. My busdriver even went out of his way to drop me off right in front of my house. Now, I'm usually a strong person, and I rarely cry, but, the best way to make me cry instantly is to throw a caterpillar on me.

What should I do?? I live in Georgia and I can't find a couselor anywhere that specifically deals with kids my age (i'm 16) and I'm really scared b/z every counselor I read about says that they make you confront your fear so that they can see the extent of it . Can someone give me tips on how to overcome my fear?

[Unregistered]

www.redfox1985@hotmail.co.uk Hi I'm Jason Mckay. Your not alone ,I too have the same phobia ever since I was about 5 or around that age. I also have a phobia of butterflies, do you also have this fear? If I see either of them I always want to run away from them as fast as I possibly can! I also fear that when I die I'll come back as one!!!

[Manda101]

hello.. if you can read my story.. i have a phobia of the sky! i wish i just had a phobia of caterpillars.. but instead im scared o something were surrounded by! whenever i think or see the sky i feel like im going to die! i feel like its falling on me.... i know its crazy but.......ahh!!!

[searchingsam]

Miss Michelle,
Phobias can only be over come by facing them. Scary I know. But there is no other way. Thing is to go at your own pace (as long as it is not a crawl back wards :-}). Also, what are your goals? I mean, you don’t have to face your caterpillar phobia to the extent you pick one up. Though it would be nice but I love caterpillars so I am bias. Just being able to look at one and feel comfortable is enough. Most people don’t like picking up caterpillars, but they aren’t phobic to the extent it controls their life. Do you think picking one up is the sign of success? If so you may never give yourself the opportunity to even start to over come it, because what someone else’s success is, is not necessarily yours. Little steps to reach a comfort zone; your comfort zone.
Get someone to put a caterpillar in a jar (someone who is going to take you serious and not muck about). Place the jar a long, long way from you so that you can’t even see the critter inside. And make sure you do it where you aren’t going to get interrupted.
Now move toward the jar really slowly, even if it takes hours to reach the jar, remember little step by little step. Take a favourite book with you (I am serious) or an electronic game or drawing pad, or some knitting, what ever, it has to be something you really, really enjoy, even if it is a bar of chocolate you can nibble at. When you feel anxious on walking toward the jar stop for a brief moment and indulge in what ever it is that you have brought with you to enjoy. Then start moving toward the jar again. Do this for as long as needed. Keep reminding yourself that what is in the jar is safely locked away and it isn’t going to spring upon you or anything, you have locked it away so it is you who are in control of it and not the other way round. But every time you start feeling anxious side track yourself with what you enjoy so your brain starts to relate the caterpillar with the feeling of enjoyment not fear. You can turn your object of fear around to something that triggers joy, bit like Pavlov’s dogs I suppose, bell ringing before food stimulated the joy and they started salivating.
If you get too tired stop and take up this procedure a few hours later or the next day. Keep doing this consistantly till one day you are right up close to the jar and you can see you object of fear and remember, you are not asked to pick up the caterpillar, for it is up to you how far you want to take it. This is your ball park. You may find yourself picking the jar up as you turn into being the controller and not the controlled. You are the master, not the little critter. You may even want to take the lid off the jar. Don’t forget to put some holes in the jars lid and get your friend to feed it by the way, just in case this takes some few days. And if it does take some days, you will see your fear turn into a beautiful butterfly and fly away taking with it forever your own now past fears.
Agape,
Searchingsam

[OCO...the random chic]

I came across this post board because I was looking for the specific name of the Phobia of Caterpillars. I am PETRIFIED. MORTIFIED. TERRIFIED. And HORRIFIED TO DEATH of caterpillars. seeing a picture is a sure-fire way to make me complete a 40 yard dash without any warning. I will cry if i see a flash of them on TV i will literally have a full on attack and start shaking and all. the way they move, the way they look, the fact that you cant tell the *** from the face. Oh god. I had horrible re-occuring experiences with caterpillars as a child. One instance was with a few kids holding me down and putting one of those lil fuzzy ones on my face. I can stand them. i really REALLY cant. I can handle the sight of butterflies on clothing, pictures, television, even tattoos, but I have a mild phobia of them as well. They are just caterpillars with wings to me, and when i see one in person i dart into the other direction. they make my heart jump like **** for the simple fact that they can follow you! and somewhere along the line ive created this delusional disposition that butterflies eat people whole so i'd have a heart attack if ever one landed on me. i kno its ridiculous and at the most, incredulous to believe butterflies to be people eaters but i keep telling myself that caterpillars only grow pretty wings to entice people toward them so they may have them for dinner. insane, i know. as much as i tell myself its not true if like to tell myself that when i am near one! i hAUL ***. but id really like to kno what one classifies this phobia as. ive never once seen or heard the word for it. i dont think they kno we are out there. those that will have a panic attack at the sight of those repulsive creepy crawly things. they even haunt me in my nightmares. i dream im driving and get trapped in the car with a few and wreck out. ive actually ran in the path of a moving vehicle to run from a butterfly before, dangerous enough! fear takes over me! i would liek to get over it one day, but i kno that i am in no way ready for desensitization therapy. i would NEVER b able to b in the same room as a caterpillar, unless i am dead or passed out. my body goes str8 into fight or flight system and i kick and scream and am willing to bite, scratch, do whatever i have to do to escape the situation if restricted, so therapy like that is not a good suggestion for me. i can deal wit spiders, am most comfortable wit snakes, a lil iffy about worms, definitely dont like slugs and leeches but at least i can look at em. caterpillars will never be my friends! if anyone knows the name of this phobia please email it to me at blaziin169@yahoo.com!

[Unregistered]

Hi, I am Sage and i have a super large fear of every single insect on the planet! I would scream until I die, and if one gets in the car with me either I will (a) scream and cry until my dad has to pull over, or (b) I will scream at a volume of 99 (really loud) and evertone gets mad at me, or (c) cry my eyes out while everyone ignores me and i have to open the window, This summer i screamed so loud my mother thought I was being eaten alive by a bear, but it was just because of a butterfly. I am 9 years old and sometimes my neighbor picks on me and my dad gets annoyed. I hate to go outside alone. Please write to me- lionfox@netscape.net. P.S. I would scream if I saw one up close

[Unregistered]

Wow- I am amazed there are others out there like me!!!
I too am scared of butterflies. I see one coming and my heart starts racing and I start having a panic attack. I sometimes run away from them. I hated fake butterflies. I NEVER would buy jewelery with it on it, or clothes. I say "would" because, I have gotten over the fear of the "fake" butterflies. Only by getting for others as gifts. It has also helped to find out why I have this fear. That took at least 5 years or so. I still, however, do not want to see a butterfly in real life. I grew up on a farm, and loved bugs and butterfies, I played with them all the time. Then I went to Florida for a vacation, and there was a butterfly farm. Those things flew at my face and at my eyes. Ever since then I can't stand them. I feel kind of like "spongebob" in a episode where they think a butterfly in a bubble, killed "wormy". I think that those who haven't seen that, but have a fear of butterflies should watch it, it is soooo us!!!! I don't really see an extreme amount of butterflies where I live now, so that is awesome. I also think I may have a fear of caterpillers, would kind of make sense! Caterpillars turn into butterflies, so for the girl who is afraid of caterpillers, are you also afraid of butterflies? I hope you can try to overcome your fear yourself, so you don't have to be forced into it by a counseler. You can slowly ease yourself into it. GOOD LUCK!!!!

[Unregistered]

OMG YOU'RE NOT ALONE!! I'm afraid of caterpillars too!!! It's really weird cuz I'm not afraid of any other bugs though, I'd let a taranchula crawl on my face, but even to come near a caterpillar makes me sick. I think I was traumitized or something when I was a kid. When I was little, my mom used to read me this book called squiggly wiggly and the caterpillar on there was cute and had a happy face and I thought that that was what they looked like....wrong!... Well, to my horror, my first encounter with this discusting animal was when I was like 6 and was playing on a tire swing. This huge nasty *** white furry discusting creature crawled on me and gave me a heart attack. AAHHH!!! just talking about it makes me feel like there all over me!!!!! It still brings me to tears. I'm 21 now and I was 6 then so this should tell you right there that the fact that I'm still horribly creeped out about this event means I have a serious problem with these bugs. But everyone I tell this to laughs at me. I've been teased about it since childhood. I used to cry so bad when some ignorent twit would pop up with one and be like "look!" I'm sorry you have this problem too but I'm glad I'm not alone.... If you find out a name, let me know ok? my email is xxpunxkittenxx@aol.com

[Unregistered]

Wow- I am amazed there are others out there like me!!!
I too am scared of butterflies. I see one coming and my heart starts racing and I start having a panic attack. I sometimes run away from them. I hated fake butterflies. I NEVER would buy jewelery with it on it, or clothes. I say "would" because, I have gotten over the fear of the "fake" butterflies. Only by getting for others as gifts. It has also helped to find out why I have this fear. That took at least 5 years or so. I still, however, do not want to see a butterfly in real life. I grew up on a farm, and loved bugs and butterfies, I played with them all the time. Then I went to Florida for a vacation, and there was a butterfly farm. Those things flew at my face and at my eyes. Ever since then I can't stand them. I feel kind of like "spongebob" in a episode where they think a butterfly in a bubble, killed "wormy". I think that those who haven't seen that, but have a fear of butterflies should watch it, it is soooo us!!!! I don't really see an extreme amount of butterflies where I live now, so that is awesome. I also think I may have a fear of caterpillers, would kind of make sense! Caterpillars turn into butterflies, so for the girl who is afraid of caterpillers, are you also afraid of butterflies? I hope you can try to overcome your fear yourself, so you don't have to be forced into it by a counseler. You can slowly ease yourself into it. GOOD LUCK!!!!

That episode scared the sh*t outta me. Oh by the way, that place your talking about is called Butterfly World. I live right by it....unfortunetly

[Unregistered]

Wow- I am amazed there are others out there like me!!!
I went to Florida for a vacation, and there was a butterfly farm. Those things flew at my face and at my eyes. Ever since then I can't stand them. I feel kind of like "spongebob" in a episode where they think a butterfly in a bubble, killed "wormy". I think that those who haven't seen that, but have a fear of butterflies should watch it, it is soooo us!!!!!

That episode scared the sh*t outta me. Oh by the way, that place your talking about is called Butterfly World. I live right by it....unfortunetly