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SERIOUS fear of caterpillars.
I have looked around the internet for answers to this question, WHY am I afraid of caterpillars, and HOW do I conquer my phobia?
All I have found is stupid little girls saying "eeew they are so gross! how do i get over my fear?" Well, first thing, I don't think they are "Gross" or "Icky" I think they are absolutely horrifying. And I mean it. They scare the heck out of me, not gross me out or disgust me, but they terrify me. I can't look at a picture of one without having that mini-heart attack and feeling dizzy. If I see one in real life, I automatically scream and run, and sometimes I can't stop myself from crying when I see one. Just hearing someone talk about caterpillars frightens me, and then I am paranoid all day and I continuously check the ground for them.
This is a serious phobia and a serious question so I would appreciate it if I didn't get any answers saying "Aaww get over it they are little and slow and cute!" Because that doesnt really help me.
I have read on the internet that I could go to a therapist, hypnotist, or do other things such as just be in the same room as one and gradually make my way closer until I am not scared any more. This seems like a good idea, but I am mostly interested in WHY I am afraid of caterpillars.
BTW, this fear has gone on for years, and I have had many many nightmares about caterpillars. Last night I had a nightmare that there were caterpillars everywhere I turned and when I tired to walk around them they just kept appearing infront of me.
I have once had a bad dream that caterpillars were all over my yard. In the dream I was sitting outside with my Mum and Sister, then there were a few caterpillars on the floor, then more started to appear, and by then I was terrified, then they were EVERYWHERE. They were FLYING (like caterpillars with little butterfly wings) and HOPPING at me (like springs or grass hoppers). I was running around trying to get away from them and then eventually I woke up.
I am not afraid of butterflies or any flying bugs, I am kind of frightened by creepy-crawly bugs, but nothing scares me like caterpillars.
If it helps, I also have an extreme fear of heights (I can't sit on something that is two meters tall) and I can't look up at a tall building without almost fainting.
Please help answer: Why am I afraid of caterpillars? Also, does having nightmares about caterpillars mean anything?
Thank you.
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Believe me, I have the same problem. I have a terrible fear of them, the sight of them makes me run, scream, cry, and hyperventilate. I've been trying to get over it, but I can't get to horrible thought out of my head. I know how you feel, one day I thought if I were forced, would I rather swim in a pool of caterpillars or die, and I honestly couldn't decide. I've tried MANY thing, even trying to get close to one, but I really couldn't.
Anyways, on to your question. Many fears are caused by bad childhood memories that you had with them. If this is not it, it may just be how they look that frightens you. For example, the reason I hate caterpillars is because when I was very young, I ran into my friends woods, and caterpillars were EVERYWHERE. My friends mother had clans of them for studying, but everywhere I turned hung caterpillars on thread. Also when I was standing under a tree, I looked down at my shirt and a BIG caterpillar was crawling up my shirt. I always imagine that picture when thinking of caterpillars. See, I had bad memories. Maybe you could try replacing them with good memories, if possible. That may be why you're scared of them though.
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This question came to me why i am so terrified of caterpillars. i cant help it but just why do they exist, however i researched and was reading on them a while back (the article on wikipedia) i must say every single one of those picture gave me the creep!
the funny part now - please dont laugh-
when i was almost finish my hair (which was tied up) fell on the back of my neck and there it was my mini heart attack :-(
sad news - I live in the caribbean and i would see them all over ! im to dont find them disgusting or anything im just freaking out when i see one or anyhting that look like it as is alive ,last week me and my bf went to the rainforest and the only thing on my mind was what if i see one of these worm, luckily he is a sweet bf he told me he will kill them before it gets to me - but i saw butterfly that looked like caterpillar , that same black and yellow neon colour and i was screaming for my life...
i dont no want causes the fair but i had it since i was like 5 years old. and no im never getting close to one otherwise i will die ! serious heart attack
its a very big problem when i see one , but sometimes when im with my friends i dont want them to no im afraid of them because i dont want them to chase me with any because it would be my ause of death
-I WISH THEY DIDNT EXIST- this is my only fear , i would rather be in a cage with a lion than being near one of those caterpillar
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I had a simmilar fear. The reason it is called a phobia is because it is an irrational fear. Most of the time the fear is justifide. The reason why is typically because at one time in your life you were tramatized, perhaps an older kid through a cterpiller on you and it scared you or perhaps it is indirect. Those reasons are typically different for every person.
Something that helps with understanding phobia is to understand your trigger, or stimuli. You are not afraid of a caterpiller because of what it can do, but more so of what it is to you. You have applied a fear that couldn't be rationalized onto an object, in your case a caterpiller. I know I said a mouthful just there, allow me to explain. Fear is rational for the most part, fear of illness, of attack, or of looseing something, that is why we experiance it. Basically what I am saying is that fear can save your life. Phobias are a fear we cannot define, however real they may be. It is hard to describe in words but I'll take a crack at it.
Fear really is human understanding that we are loosing control. Again a mouthful, keep reading. Say you were walking down the street and you see a snake, you automatically react in a fear movement, whether you stop walking, you walk around or you run away. The reason why it is such a negative feeling is because you were controlled by that snake, inother words you lost control.
Where phobias fit in are where you percive a loss of control, ether a real loss or a less recognizable loss of control. Say perhaps dealing with the death of a loved one. This loss of control is very scary, and most of us don't take the time to understand exactly why, wether its because you don't want to show weakness or you are embarressed of your reaction to the emotion. The main reason in my example is because the person who has passed adds to your mortality. Where this example may not fit your case. Typically debilitating phobias have a similar root. In the case of a phobia, the stimuli becomes a "boogie man" to use a very childish metaphor.
In my case I was afraid of worms. Earth worms, caterpillars, grubs, but mostly maggots. Terrerfide of maggots. Not sure exactly why I was so adverse to wormlike creatures but I was, to the point, I am a very large man, strong and hearty, but I was a scared child when it came to worms.
The way I conqered that fear was first and most inportantly,I confided in a person I trusted, it was hard to reviel such a, in my mind, silly fear. But once I realized I could trust this person (a very small woman who served in the navy) the repair began. We worked together at a swimming pool. And when water splashed out the earthworms came out. She picked one up and described how it felt in her hand, and then I touched it. Slowly from there my fear of worms dulled
The key is finding out if it is fear of the unknown or a phobia. Both are normal and you are not insane for experiancing a common emotion
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I have an identical situation(with the exception of the fear of heights). Seriously, I am in the exact same situation. Reading this made me clench my fists in fear and gag. I do not know why we are afraid, it kind of just is. The nightmares may develop the fear further as they do for me.
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I too have a REAL fear of caterpillars, and JUST caterpillars... not worms or snakes or bugs in general, even though I don't particularly like them. And I have no fear of heights, although I am very clautrophbic in some situations.
It is so real that simply reading your post and responding is causing me to hyperventilate... I too, will cry and run if I should see one live, and pictures can cause the same reaction.
But thing that motivated me to answer your question was the fact that you mentioned a dream. My fear first started when I had a dream that there was a container of them under my pillow and they were crawling all over my face... etc.
I REALLY can't think about it, even just writing the word is becoming too much...
I don't know why I have the fear, or what to do about it, but I thought it might make you feel better to know it's not just you!
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Wow! We are so much alike...l feel the exact same way as you....I have panic attacks also...Im not sure why this is so or where it comes from but I think that this fear stems from a past life. If you dont believe in reincarnation then this wont be of much help to you. I think this a fear carried over from a past life. Im about to do a past life regression and see what I come up with...I suggest you do the same.
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From my perspective here, everyone has their fears. Though some people are deathly afraid of the more usual critters like spiders and snakes, in which case I could list off several people with the same horrific response as you have to caterpillars, I could understand how you just happen to be scared of caterpillars. I don't think you can really control what you're scared of, but I'd say give it a shot. Conquering your fear might be a fun little adventure to take on. :P
As far as nightmares, I'm sure there's someone a lot smarter than me who would suggest that they have some sort of deeper, psychological meaning to them, but I say that it's just because you're scared of them, so you have nightmares about them. I had a nightmare about a killer weasel once, and I doubt it had any sort of significant meaning other than the fact that I have a very awkward imagination.
So the bottom line: I wouldn't worry about your nightmares because they're bound to be weird, but focus on conquering that pesky fear of the unheard beast known as the caterpillar. (I find that closing your eyes and holding your breath tends to help ease the stress a bit when facing your fears. ;D)
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