As a child, I was severely arachnophobic. I overcame this fear by slowly exposing myself to spiders when my family went tent camping. I am privileged enough to say waking up in a tent face-to-face with daddy-long-legs who had crawled under the rainfly remain some of the most terrifying moments of my childhood.
One time at night, I was sitting in the tent in the dark, reading, when one daddy-long-legs spider managed to get into the tent. I was laying down, and I suddenly felt the sensation of long spindly legs caressing my forehead. Afterwards, I begged to be allowed to sleep in the car. My father forbade it.
I learned in therapy years later that this sort of controlling behavior is what led to my development of a subjegation schema. Schemas are maladaptive beliefs we hold. A subjegation schema is always letting others decide what to do or where to go, and not advocating for yourself in social situations. This schema comes from having one or more controlling parents.
Did you ever go to therapy? What did you learn? Comment to let me know!
Did you have any fears that you were forced to face? How did you cope, and did you ever recover? Comment to let me know!
Things We Forget 
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