Bit of an unusual question.....
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:12 am
Hi all,
I will try and be brief.I have a daughter who is extremely arachnophobic.In fact her fear has now begun to extend to large insects e.g craneflies etc She has been this way since 5 or 6 years old.The thing is the fear is now beginning to dominate and affect us all.For the last two nights we have had little sleep because she was convinced she had seen one in the house.( I usually dispose of them before she can spot them) When she did drop off to sleep for a couple of hours she awoke with nightmares about them.When she sees even a small spider, I have observed that she has a physical reaction.She turns pale and has even said herself that she gets dizzy.She is twitchy for hours after , jumping at the slightest trigger or even the word spider.
I had to recently take every book off her shelf before she would do her homework because she was convinced that she has seen one crawling onto a shelf.She has recently been convinced she can hear one in her room.
I have pondered if this is some kind of attention seeking but I don't believe it to be so.I can see her physically react and it makes her so very unhappy.Futhermore OH just tells her to grow up and stop being "a baby" which upsets her.Fear, it seem to me is neither age related nor logical.
This time of year is especially bad but generally the fear is escalating and dominating as time goes on.
So....anyone any ideas? I did go to the GP where we used to live and he was stumped and said the NHS offered nothing , e.g counselling/therapy to a child.We really cannot afford private therapy- I have made inquiries and costs are shocking.
I have tried all the talking through/logic approach etc but phobias are not rational.
Has anyone any experience of this or something similar with their children that they could share.She is in puberty and perhaps phobias peak at certain ages - I don't know.This is definitely taking a big turn for the worse though.Any ideas appreciated.Thanks.
I will try and be brief.I have a daughter who is extremely arachnophobic.In fact her fear has now begun to extend to large insects e.g craneflies etc She has been this way since 5 or 6 years old.The thing is the fear is now beginning to dominate and affect us all.For the last two nights we have had little sleep because she was convinced she had seen one in the house.( I usually dispose of them before she can spot them) When she did drop off to sleep for a couple of hours she awoke with nightmares about them.When she sees even a small spider, I have observed that she has a physical reaction.She turns pale and has even said herself that she gets dizzy.She is twitchy for hours after , jumping at the slightest trigger or even the word spider.
I had to recently take every book off her shelf before she would do her homework because she was convinced that she has seen one crawling onto a shelf.She has recently been convinced she can hear one in her room.
I have pondered if this is some kind of attention seeking but I don't believe it to be so.I can see her physically react and it makes her so very unhappy.Futhermore OH just tells her to grow up and stop being "a baby" which upsets her.Fear, it seem to me is neither age related nor logical.
This time of year is especially bad but generally the fear is escalating and dominating as time goes on.
So....anyone any ideas? I did go to the GP where we used to live and he was stumped and said the NHS offered nothing , e.g counselling/therapy to a child.We really cannot afford private therapy- I have made inquiries and costs are shocking.
I have tried all the talking through/logic approach etc but phobias are not rational.
Has anyone any experience of this or something similar with their children that they could share.She is in puberty and perhaps phobias peak at certain ages - I don't know.This is definitely taking a big turn for the worse though.Any ideas appreciated.Thanks.