Help Overcoming an Irrational Fear

[Dave 5,715]

Now, when I was younger, I was really quite afraid of spiders. Like, completely immobolized in to fear type of scared. But as time has gone on, I've more or less overcome that fear. I mean, I'm still not wild about spiders, but seeing them in movies or games generally doesn't bother me. But I've encountered a bit of a strange relapse. I'm struggling my way through Dark Souls 2, and one of the bosses happens to be a giant spider. And for some reason, I can't bring myself to face it. Like, I get to the place where the boss is located, and I literally get all the symptoms of being scared, from wobbly knees to twists in the stomach. Now, I've watched the playthroughs of other people fighting the boss, and it doesn't bother me. I've seen the darn thing, and in youtube form, I'm completely fine. But the moment I actually have to do the deed myself, I can't seem to suck it up. I've tried rationalizing it with myself about how absolutely silly it is, but it doesn't seem to help: in fact, the more I analyze it, the more it seems to be difficult to just do it.

 

Does anyone have any advice on how I should advance? Because I really want to beat this game.

[Robbie the Wise 5,050]

The best way to beat a fear is to confront it head on. Try not expecting the spider to come maybe you can surprise yourself into the going through with it. Btw a fear of spiders is not that irrational everyone is afraid of something.

[Dracozombie 4,554]

I wish I could wave a magic wand to cure someone's phobia, but unfortunately, I am not a wizard in real life.  The most I can say is that there's a difference between watching a Youtube video of a game, and playing it yourself.  I can watch, say, a Silent Hill playthrough without batting an eyelash, but when I play it myself it's like ASLKGHALKNGLEH THIS IS SO SCARY IT'S EXHAUSTING. It really is exhausting when something is scary, and you need to confront it yourself.  I can't really offer a solution to progress in a video game, when it's a real life phobia that's holding you back.

 

...

 

... well, I did manage to get through SH2 by lowering the game's volume and blaring upbeat, happy music to help distract me.  I was very surprised by how well it worked.

[Ghost 1,857]

I don't blame you. Dark Souls 2 is scary enough, that mixed with your fear of spiders must be just...horrible.

 

First off im really, truly sorry for how it's making you feel ): When I was playing the Resident Evil (5 I think?) demo on my 3DS, having those fvckers jump at me in 3D was so scary that I threw my DS across the room and eventually uninstalled the demo.

 

All I can think of is to Kick the boss' ass or ask a friend to beat it for you. If you do it yourself, Not only will you progress in the game, but you could have the satisfaction of beating a spider into the dust. Like this is obviously easier said than done so if you're like me and would rather avoid it, jsut ask a friend if they can beat it for you (: You don't gotta explain your situation to them unless you wanna, and they might feel honored that you asked em for help, ahaha.

 

I've asked that of friends, for game bosses that scared me too much. Same with my other friend, it's similar to you, actually - she is terrified of spiders and in one game, there were giant, disgusting spider monsters everywhere. I got past them for her and let her do the rest.

 

Again, sorry about your phobia, dude. Good luck with the game, I refuse to play DS 2 because of the bleed...that and I saw my friend fighting the four gargoyles at once and just said, "Nah bro. Nah. I aint doin this shit." But I'm loving dark souls one, probsbly will play demons souls after

[Javelin434 3,164]

Imagine that you're Le Chef, with a giant frying pan, intent on stamping out your fear and pulverizing that mofo son-of-b**ch, and then celebrate by sprinkling some nutmeg on that damn corpse before lighting it with a flamethrower...

 

Just my opinion. 

[Cricket 1,180]

I have a phobia/irrational fear of going underwater in video games...ever since I played Mario 64. Just. Nope.

Sorry, I wish I could help, but I still struggle with my fear as well. I guess the best thing we can do is just to confront it

[Dave 5,715]

Good news: I did manage to take a deep breath and go in, and did in fact beat the big eight legged jerkface. My strategy was to fight primarily using my peripheral vision so I didn't have to look directly at it, and with the sound off, which seemed to help a great deal. I can safely say that I probably wouldn't have been able to take it on if not for the well wishes of the people on this thread. So thank you all very much!

[Dracozombie 4,554]

Good news: I did manage to take a deep breath and go in, and did in fact beat the big eight legged jerkface. My strategy was to fight primarily using my peripheral vision so I didn't have to look directly at it, and with the sound off, which seemed to help a great deal. I can safely say that I probably wouldn't have been able to take it on if not for the well wishes of the people on this thread. So thank you all very much!

 

WHOOOOO!  Dave, the Spider Slayer!