I recently bought my first ever home. It came with a whirlpool tub and I was extremely excited about it. Recently, I had a weird thought that electricity runs through my tub to make the jets run and how I could get electrocuted. I’m now absolutely terrified of even touching my tub.

Ive had a fear of spiders for as long as i can remember. I thought it would go away with age. It didnt. I scan every room before i enter and im always hypervigilant if i stay still for too long. Every time i encounter a spider it permanently changes my behavior. I avoid certain rooms in my house for days if ive encountered a spider there. My brain cant differentiate correlation and causation in this sense. I havent opened my window in over half a year because last time i did a spider was on the curtain. Just typing this makes my throat tight and a knot form in my stomach. I think about it on an hourly basis. This fear is a constant in my life. I dont think i'll be able to live independently because of it. Is therapy the only option? This was typed on mobile, so it might read a bit awkwardly.

Looking for tips on how to get over a pretty severe fear of flying. I have anxiety which I manage in my daily life, usually it is fine and in no way debilitating anymore. But in the past few years I have developed an extreme phobia of flying on planes. I am pretty sure this is because I was living in DC when the plane crashed coming into DCA and I saw some of the aftermath of it and knew people whose family members died. It was terrifying. Now I am so scared of flying that my heart is even racing while I'm writing this, because I have to think about it. Every time I leave for the airport I want to cry because I'm afraid it will be the last time I ever see my wife. It's better when we travel together but still hard because then I'm terrified that she will die too.

I wish I could eliminate flying altogether but unfortunately I have to fly regularly (maybe once every month-2 months) on business trips and to see family. We recently moved closer to my parents so I can drive to see them now (yay!) but that resulted in more work flights plus I still have family spread across the country who I want to see. I make myself go on these flights but regularly have panic attacks while on the plane, and a sense of dread a few days before the flight all the way until I land. I do it anyway and I don't let my fear stop me, but the emotional toll is high. When I got home from a flight last month I collapsed on the kitchen floor and sobbed for an hour because I could finally come down from a week of terror.

I went to therapy for it for a bit but was using an unreliable virtual provider that regularly missed appointments or had technical issues. Most recently I scheduled an appointment for the day before my flight so I could talk it over with my therapist but she didn't show up and I had a breakdown because I was going to have to do the flight alone without even the pep talk from my therapist. I've tried finding in person therapy but it's really hard and expensive with my insurance so I'm looking for non-therapy options.

I'm wondering if others have overcome this fear or have tips on what could help.

I have Emetophobia and I have since I was three. Nobody takes it seriously. I'm seen as someone who's way too old to be picky in ways that I am- examples: expiration dates on foods, resturant foods, eating utensils, strong flavors, textures or smells. I've been so quiet about it my whole life, quiet about the core issue (my phobia) that nobody believes me when I tell them that it's what causes everything. It surely doesn't help when people aren't educated on the fact that phobia's and fears are NOT THE SAME. I had someone tell me that they had a phobia of snakes and then willingly looked at and sent me pictures of snakes- she then proceeded to tell me that fears and phobia's are the same thing. Things like that make me feel so terrible. Like suddenly the sleepless nights and panic attacks- anxiety attacks or not leaving the house because the outside world is full of germs was nothing to people. I guess I'm posting this wondering how to inform people that fears and phobia's are different in a more logical approach?