Why am I so scared of Wasps?
Posted on February 2, 2010 by Adam
Ever since I was little I’ve always been scared of wasps. Now I can’t remember much of being a kid but what I can remember is running away from wasps and bees like I’d die if I got stung. I’ve never been stung before either so it’s not like I have a reason to be scared. Then again I’ve never been run over by a bus but I’m still scared of that! So where does my fear come from?
Well nobody in my family is allergic to wasp stings as far as I know so I shouldn’t have any fear of dying, and indeed I don’t. I just don’t want to get stung for some reason. Sure it hurts but if it’s not going to kill me, why am I so scared? Falling over hurts but I’m not scared of that and the sun burns the hell out of me which also hurts and again, I’m not scared of that either. So if it’s not the pain, what is it? Is it a bug thing? No. I’ve no fear of bugs or any flying insect really except for the wasps and bees. Sure, I’ll run like hell when I hear a buzzing but once I realise it’s not a wasp, the fear instantly drops. Also they look evil but so does a cat when you’ve pissed it off but that just makes me want to irritate it more!
Do you have to experience pain to suffer a phobia? A lot of people suffer from arachnophobia which is a fear of spiders but I can almost guarantee that none of them got hurt by one. In fact, spiders just like wasps do very little to us as they’re more scared of us than we are! So just encountering a spider whilst in their youth could trigger this fear later on in life.
So without true knowledge of my Spheksophobia’s origins I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just scared of them. No reason at all but probably because of an encounter whilst I was young. One probably landed on me and my imagination and young brain probably thought I’d die or something and my fear was born. At these days my fear is more controllable. If a wasp flies in, I now walk calmly out compared to the arm flailing run I used to do before!
And yes, the picture below does freak me out…
Comments (12)
What you mean you calming walk away – that’s rubbish!! you still run out the door with arms flying!!!
I hate the little things.
Perhaps you are worried about them because 90% of society are also worried about them?
We could have a phobia here, which has only come about because every one thinks that the correct way of seeing these little pests is ‘freak out’ and if you don’t follow the norm then your strange….now that is food for thought.
I suffer from Claurophobia quite badly actually. But i was reading that a phobia is in our sense a irrational fear of something that we do not understand, like the fear of a small insect or of a man with face painting. However, most phobias are quite rational, a fear of heights….well yes you could die, fear of flying…again not always a promising end. Even wasps can be seen as a rational fear, when they sting they hurt and a lot of people have reactions to these stings so, best stay safe and avoid them. My problem is the smile or fake smaile on a clown, why do they need to cover their face, In fairness to clowns they could commit a crime and the police would never take you serious….i was attacked by a clown…what with a squirting flower…serious eveil.
Now i would like to meet someone with a real phobia a real irrational fear like allodoxaphobia ( a fear of opinions). How would you realise you have this?
I also have an extreme fear of wasps. I wish I could get over it but I just CAN’T. I absolutely hate the fall weather when the wasps are the worst. Everyone says to stay calm – but until you suffer from such a phobia – it’s not that easy to just walk away.
It almost feels like I’m going to have a panic attack – it’s the one thing in life that I’m absolutely terrified of.
Silly but it’s real to me.
I have a really awful phobia of wasps and bees too
I’m actually pretty scared of the large moths as well… these are the only insects which really scare the hell out of me! I don’t even react when I see a spider lol… Last night there was a wasp in my room, sitting on my curtain, I have no idea how the hell it got in my room as my window wasn’t open but I’m very glad that someone else was home with me last night or I would have never have gotten it out… after it was gone, I knew I was safe but I kept waking up all through the night because I was afraid of another coming in from god knows where.
I hate being afraid of wasps and bees, I don’t know how to get over it and everyone laughs at me because they don’t understand how I could be afraid of such tiny things!
Now you see mine is just wasps and bees. Bees not so much because I know they won’t hurt me unless I hurt it. Wasps will come get you for almost no reason!
I’m not scared of things that look similar to wasps actually. Things like hoverflys. They have the same yellow and black markings but i’m not scared of them! I am scared at first though as i’ll think it is a wasp, but when I realised it’s not, the fear goes away!
I also had a wasp the other day. It was at work and it was huge! i’ve no idea how it got in though but i’m also glad there was someone in the office to get rid of it. I do have the ability to kill them myself though but only if I have to. My problem is that I get carried away. I get a surge of courage and then turn into a psycho wasp killer. I won’t be happy until it’s no recognisable as a wasp at all!
I have a similar problem. If a wasp is in a room, i’m not fully happy unless I actually see it leave or die. If I leave one in my bedroom for an hour and it’s gone when I come back I am still extremely nervous!
One of the things that my fiancee learnt recently is that my imagination also plays a large part in my fear. I was eating lunch one day at the pub and a wasp paid a visit. It landed on my burger and had a good walk around. After it was gone I couldn’t eat the burger anymore as I could still “see it” on the burger!
I have the same problem. I was cleaning furniture today when one got a little close. I sprayed him with the jet setting on my hose. Completely unaffected he charges me 6 of his friends also. I ran like hell even leaving the hose on. I can’t have such a dumb fear my dad hates that im afraid of a little thing. Also I can’t join the Marines like this I need to get over this but I can’t.
I am petrified from them, i just went up to do the toilet and as i sat on the toilet seat i spotted a wasp and luckily had enough time to get out of the bathroom, i ended up spraying furniture poish on it after i had tried crushing it with a catalogue. i just want to not be so afraid.
Did the furniture polish kill it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed a wasp? I think that’s another blog post!
I have a wasp in the kitchen right now, I need to go to the loo but cant as ill have to go into the zone that the wasp is in. I even have wasp killer but unfortunately it is in the kitchen. I have always been scared of wasps and bees, mostly wasps though, I am particularly sensitive to the seemingly angry buzzing sound they make. Wish I wernt so scared. I need to pluck up the courage and try to kill this fear, and the wasp. And I didnt ;like the wasp picture either but I did force myself to touch it!
I’m on holiday in Italy, and just this morning I had wasps all over my breakfast. My mum said it would go away, but then severel others came along. I’ve been afraid of wasp’s since my friends party when I was 6 and got stung. I wish I wasn’t afraid of them beceause I like bee’s another animals! That picture is of an angry wasp, (I think!) and I do not like it either!
i am terriffied of wasps whenever 1 comes near i screem and stay in my house.but i love bees there soooo cute! what should i do