Thats good. I've been trying to find out what its called for a while now. I've just been calling myself a wormaphobic.
However "childish" it sounds it got the point across. Like anything with the word "phobia" at the end would.
But is it Scoleciphobia or helminthphobia.
And is it only for certin worms (gross...), or all kinds?

Hi,

It is really stupid to include an image of "worm" on this page. If a person is afraid of something like that, how would she read that ???

Please remove that IMAGE.

Thanks,
P.

They are also afraid of worm images?

It is a web site, not real life. The worm cannot jump out of the screen.

Fear of worms is called Scoleciphobia, and fear of becoming infested with worms is Helminthphobia. I suffer from both. I get panick attacks when I see them on the grass when it's raining. And even though they are "not going to jump from the picture" , I'm not able to see them in pictures. Is also difficult to even say the name. The picture in this website is not a worm, is a caterpillar, not afraid of those. Only maggots, worms, and parasites.

to tell you the truth i can barely write this comment because of the constant shaking of my hands...i cant believe someone would put the picture of a catipillar on this web site...THATS INSANE!! its been raining lately so i have spent the last 3 days straight crying in my room and the only way i can leave is if this really attractive guy carries me...what do i do??? help!!!

Are you kidding?

I am also kind of confused why they would put a picture of a caterpillar on this page... I know it's not a worm, but still. So I guess I have Scoleciphobia, because I have a very big fear of worms. I am 18 and I've been afraid of worms every since I can rememeber. At my old house each and everytime it rained there would be a worm infront of the door. I had to have my dad or brother carry me over the worm just so I could get to the car and go to school, up until I was in 2nd grade. Then my family thought I was just being dramatic, but I would stay in the house crying, not being able to get around the worm. My brother would tell me to just jump over it, but I couldn't. Somebody had to move the worm just so I could leave the house. Then from 7th grade to 11th grade I had to walk to school because we moved. The side walks were lined with grass. I dreaded walking on rainy days, because thats when "they" would come out. so finally I learned how to jump over them, but it would cause me such anxiety that i would usually just cross the street. So walking to school would take twice as long because I would be continiously crossing back and forth. But finally I started getting rides! And now I have graduated from high school and am in college where i haven't had any bad encounters with worms. But because of this "worm phobia" I try not to eat pork, canned meat, or hotdogs, unless I burned them. I try and avoid grass, and NEVER go on wet grass. Well if anybody has any suggestions or ANYTHING let me know.

i am terrified of worms and have also been calling myself wormaphobic. when it rains and they come up on to the pavement i cant even step outside without shaking and almost crying. i have major panic attakcs over them and it is horrible. i cant even lay in the grass without wondering if there is a worm around. in the summer i have to pick weeds out of the flwoer garden as a chore and it is one of the most horrible things in the world. i have ended up loosing almost all of my favorite shirts to my sister as a plea for her to pick them for me. i dont know why anyone would put a picture of a worm or catapiller on this page even if they cant come out and attack you, it seems mean.

Does anyone know the term for a phobia of caterpillars?

I am deathly afraid of worms as well. It seems that after it rains they know to be in the right spots. The college that I attended was in a hilly area so when it rained the worms would run down the asphalt with the water leaving them by the hundreds. My frieds thought my fear was funny. Some people just dont understand fears. I do not know what triggered my fear but I constantly study different types and species from land dwelling to the parasitic species. I have learned so much about them until I feel that can become a Nematologist with ease. I have a dog that I keep wormed. Too afraid to detox myself...scared to see what may be lurking inside of me.

OH MY GOD!!! I feel as though a weight has been lifted from me!!! I was telling my boss this morning about my fear of worms and he found this website for me. I feel a sense of hope just knowing that I am not alone and that there are others who go through what i've been living with all my life. When everyone is excited about Sring approaching, I dread getting out of bed in the morning because I know "they're" out. My husband has carried me to the car after unsucessfully trying to coach me past "them". I'm tierd of being called crazy and i'm excited to know that there is hope for me.

Hi,
I'm 31 years old and i've been living in fear of worms for as long as i can remember. I'm also very scared when its raining that they will come into my home. I had experience when i was renting an apartment and everytime i open my door i would see these worms in the hallway or sometimes when i go to take a shower their in between the door and it scares me alot. Sometimes i would find worms in my room where i sleep, once i came from work one night and saw one crawling on my bed spread uuhhh!"that was disgusting" Thats when i decided i had to move from that place. And the bad thing was there were 3 apts but, i was the only one cloose to the entrance of the yard so, they would always come to my room. My landlord thought it was my airco that keep them coming in my apt because sometimes i would find 5 to 6 worms in my room like 3 or 4 times a week and when its raining its worst. My fear is when i see worms crawling i would cream and my hair on my skin would starts to raise then i'd have this fright in me as thought their going to hurt me, then after that i would keep imagining its still there or keep looking around to see if there another. I also have dreams of all kinds of worms and scream out in my sleep.
I'm really terrified and need some advice. HELP ME!!!

I couldn't leave this page without seeing something...I never in my life have met anyone else with a worm phobia, and it's crazy to see there's people who have the same reaction to them. Everyone always laughs at my intense fear but don't understand that it's a PHOBIA and cannot be helped. I get panic attacks, cry, you name it. the other day a friend of mine rake the worms off the driveway for me so i could run into my house. haha.

the comment above this honestly gave me the chills.

Ok, that is not a worm but a caterpillar. Anyways. I have a terrbile fear of worms. I don't know why. They don't bite, they've no teeth. They don't have a brain to plan how to get to you, they don't even have legs to chase you around and one stomping alone could splat them so this fear of them is ridiculous but it's real.
Anyways, thanx for this post and God bless

I just found this website this morning. I have been TERRIFIED!! of worms, (the kind that comes out when it rains). I have been terrified since childhood about 8-9 years old. I'm 32 now, and still terrified. My maternal grandmother used to be afraid of them but no longer is. I think the phobia has been passed down to me. Also i have a 6 year old daughter she will be turning 7 years old this July 2007. My daughter this morning went out to the end of the driveway and looked down guess what she saw, WORMS!! Her fear has just set in! She had a full panic attack at the end of the driveway this morning because of worms. Is this hereditary?? my daughter was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified), An Anxiety disorder over any bug that flies, and has ADHD, Also before she was diagnosed with PDD-NOS she was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder. My mom says I was the same way but was not dignosed with the disorders that my daughter has. Is there a link to worm phobia and my daughter's disorder?????????
Thanks. Margaret

hi im zac and my best friens chelsea has a problem wiht worms lol she even looks liek one she is very odd and she claims to be a vegetarian

i knew i wasn't crazy with all the phobias out there i knew there had to be one for worms....eewww just writing that word creeps me out. my friends think i'm pathetic and don't understand that i am seriously afraid of them. i've been afraid of them since i can remember and it has to do with the bad experiences i've had with worms. one of them was watching someone cough up one when i was about 4 y/o. now whenever i get a little itch in my throat i swallow really quickly or get something to drink and take the biggest gulp down because i would die if one of those critters ever came out of my mouth...eewwww.....grossssssss!!!!!!!!! and forget about when it rains and there is grass around. i tip toe all the the way cuz god forbid i step on one of them i would probably cut my own foot off or i'd leave the shoe there. i might sound pathetic but its that serious. worms, slugs snail caterpillars, maggots big ones, tiny ones, medium ones i dont care they all gross me out. and seriously get that damn caterpillar off the site....i'm afraid of those too even though they turn into beautiful butterflies.

This is ridiculous. I have been terrified/freaked out by worms for as long as I can remember. The problem is, all the posts so far have been by women. Being a boy, its twice as humiliating. I can still remember from the age of 6 to even 13 having my mother walk me to the bus and guide me away from them. I dread mornings after it rains. I've never been so happy to find other nut jobs like me, but also terrified of hearing their stories. When i was younger 5 or 6, i remember being at an Arbor Day thing in the grass. Anyway worms were crawling around every where, and my friends were throwing them at each other(including me) and girls. I stood up to avoid the whole thing only to shake out three worms crawling up my pants around my thigh. They spazed out and it was the worst feeling I've ever had. After i yelled i was sent to the principle's office for not respecting the holiday. People think I'm crazy, i think I'm crazy. I still get totally irrational when I'm around them. A kid messing with me brought on near my face, and i i swung my trumpet at his face when i was 14. He got 12 stitches below his eye. The thing is its not a fear like when you watch a scary movie, or hear about serial killers. Its just an awful feeling inside that makes you want to just leave the area and be in a clean room or something. I want to help myself, but I'm almost sure i would never make it through any treatment. i guess we can just sympathize with each other, and take solace in the fact that were not alone. like the guy who was afraid of the whole world turning into a piece of fruit.

It is so nice to finally come across people who have the same fear of worms that I do. Nobody gets it, hell I don't get it. All I know that ever since I was a little girl I've been terrified of them, and most things wormlike. This would include all types of worms, magots, slugs, centapieds, and most caterpillars. I have no problem with snakes though and I'm not nessecarily afraid of becoming infested with them.
The thought of stepping on one is enough to make me cry. When it rains it's the absolute worst. Seeing them in a parking lot or side walk is always a challenge. I look rediculous hopping around them. I actually panic. I will tear up, and can't breath. My hands clentch and heart races. Seeing them everywhere is just too much. I HATE them and it only seems to be getting worse.
I remember having to be carried to the bus stop when i was little anytime it rained, beacuse I would be such a wreck. Surprisingly enough, my little brother never tourtured me with the threat of comming in contact with one. That's not to say others haven't though. Some people just think they are too funnny when the throw one at me ect.
One time I was swimming in a lake, my friend had been fishing and decieded that it would be funny to throw one at me. Well, it went down my one piece bathing suit. I almost drowned. Luckily I managed to pull it together to get out of the water and rip off my bathing suit by my tent. I felt disgusting the rest of the day. Don't worry. I smacked the shit out of him when he got the courage to get back onto land.
Needless to say I don't go fishing with people who use any type of worm as bait anymore.
Well good luck to all of you on rainy days.

I've researched this word about 6 months ago, scoleciphobia, so it's not new to me. But this website is. It never came up when I was researching how to brand my fear. It's not just the "W" word I'm afraid of, it's anything slimy. Caterp....'s and silk w...'s, snai...'s, slu...'s and centipe...'s make me want to vomit. I'm not as bad as most of you, but I can cry in an instant and feel shaky and want to throw up. But I've never needed to be carried to my car.

When I read articles on nature and see something slimy (insects, not snakes) I have to take a Sharpee and black it all out and only then can I read it. Same with whales, when I see a picture of them with those nasty crustaceans and barnacles growing all over them I have to sit there coloring the entire picture in with a black marker. It reminds me of scaly, crusty, rotted flesh - like ancient leprosy. But I digress....

To that Randy person who questioned a worm (or caterpillar) not being able to jump out of the screen, I think you are misunderstanding the fear. It's not the fear of it harming us necessarily, or "getting" us, but it's the thing itself that scares us. So whether it is real life, or a picture in a website or magazine, makes no difference. Would you be grossed out if you saw a picture of body parts strewn across the highway?
**It's just a picture, it won't get you.** It's the same effect, it's profusely disgusting.

The irony with me is I used to play with worms and put snails in my mouth when I was a kid. I am guessing that is why I am so direly afraid of them today. One time when I was a teenager I ran barefoot through the grass and found a baby slug on my foot, the size of a granule of a nerd candy. I screamed and cried. It was horrific.

To be honest, I would never want to cure my fear. Why would I want to be at peace with worms and slugs and vile creatures like that? No thank you. Plus it's not ruining my life. If anything it's keeping me safe from those horrid, slimy, lilliputian enemies. In my head it's logical. People that aren't afraid are the ones with problems. They should learn to be afraid more than I should learn to not be afraid.

A few years ago I was watching Road Rules I think it was, and each castmate made a dish with insects and the person eating it didn't know until after they ate it. One person I think had something like macaroni and cheese made with worms, probably pasta too. And of course they were grossed out, but that was it. Every now and again I replay that in my head and think what I would've done if I were that person. And I always come up with the same conclusion: I would be in jail right now. I would have beaten the castmate to a pulp (I am against violence), smashed every camera belonging to the camera crew, and then I would have filed a lawsuit against the writers and the network. And then I could never eat macaroni and cheese again as long as I lived.

ok so we saw a picture in a book of a girls legs and someone told us it was from worms. can worms kill you or give you a disease? and if so what kind of worms? do all worms carry diseases?

Okay im not at all afraid of worms like earthworms or caterpillers etc.. what im afraid of (very specifically) is maggots. I will cry and sometimes even vomit or pass out on sight and just.. ugh its an unbareable fear. Is there a name for specifically the fear of maggots or is that just included with the worms?

Fear of maggots is also under scoleciphobia.

I finally decided to look up the word for my aversion to worms. It's not just worms though. It's caterpillars, maggots, slugs, anything that even remotely looks like a worm. I especially can't stand the fuzzy ones. They gross me out so bad. When I was in high school my mother used to love to hang her towels outside to dry after a wash and I was horrified of ever finding a worm on one. Well, it happened one morning. I was just out of the shower and was drying myself with a towel when one of those little yellow fuzzy ones got on my back. I scrubbed my skin off just about and didn't go to school that day because I was so upset and grossed out. One of those same yellow worms made it's way into my apartment when my first child was only about 10 months old and he had it in his mouth and I had to finger sweep his mouth to get it out. Only the head was left. I was soooo traumatized. I can't believe I touched it. I NEVER would have done that had it not been for the fact that it was in my child's mouth. I just can't stand to even see one. If there is one on my porch I will not go outside until it is removed. The way they crawl makes me gag. I have no idea why I feel this way about worms. They are just the grossest thing in the world to me. I've never had anything traumatic happen to me when I was a child concerning worms so I have no idea why I feel that way about them but I would never ever try to seek help that involves me trying to touch a worm or get used to them. Worms I can live without.

Coming across this website is great. I never would of imagined that there were other people that had the same fear of worms, caterpillars, maggots, slugs,snails,etc. that I do. It completely paralyzes me most of the time. I've had this fear since I was a small child and am now 30 years old. Like most of the responses I've read on here, my fear is not due to some sort of traumatic experience that I've encountered with a worm,etc. I'm not sure why or how it developed. The mere sight of one of these type creatures just sickens me so bad. I constantly feel scared and anxious if I see one. Sometimes they get on my porch or sidewalk and I can't go on until I know it has been completely distroyed to the point of not being able to recognize it. Luckily my boyfriend does this for me most times. My other friends and family do not understand at all. They think I'm being silly. And lately I have been having nightmares about it almost every night. It's just nice to know that others can relate, even if I don't know you personally. God Bless all of you and hopefully one day this fear will be gone from all of our lives.

Like Naya posted, it's just maggots that I despise. Earthworms and the like are fine. You can throw all the gore in the world at me and I won't even blink, but so much as one maggot can make me go ashen white and dizzy. I'm a large man, so I'm sure it's hilarious to see me in that state, (I know I'd laugh), but when I see a maggot I'm gripped in uncontrollable terror and disgust, and it usually takes a day or two to fully recover. Gods forbid I ever touch one, I'd likely have to be committed.

Is there any kind of specialized therapy for this phobia? It's unrealistic to expect to never see a maggot again, and I'd like to be prepared the next time it happens.

You guys & girls ROCK!!!!
I'm sooo glad I'm not alone - earthworms, caterpillars, maggots, parasites... I HATE them all, just the thought drives me crazy. And it's so frustrating to look out at my backyard and not be able to go and make my own vegetable garden, plant lots of flowers...
I'm thinking about doing cognitive therapy, 'cause I really want to do some gardening and I must get rid of my phobia for earthworms & caterpillars... If anyone has any experience with it let me know. Since the whole concept is to expose you little by little to your fears, I keep postponing looking up info about it.
Take care - I'll be back!

i am really afraid of worms, yet still i want to become a forensic scientist. i really need to get over my fair because this is what i want to become.

I been afraid of worms since I could walk!!! Dunno what did it but I wish it didnt happen!!! As a kid I read How to Eat Fried Worms but that didnt help and last year or so they came out with the movie and seeing the previews scared the hell out of me!! Im so glad that ppl feel the same way I do because my boyfriend think its a silly phobia!!

Worms..?? When i was a lil girl i always wondered why God created such ugly and scary creatures as worms. I hate them so much and am terrified at em. Worms are the reason why i asked my husband to cremate my remains if i die. I would never let worms have a party over my dead body..i mean it!! they are my biggest enemy ever..yet i've never had the courage to even step on one!!

Wow what a relief to see that other people are scared of worms too. I've been afraid of them as long as I can remember - people tell me it must be from a traumatic experience but I can remember being in preschool not wanting to touch any of the earthworms on the ground while all the other kids were eating them and putting them in their hair. It's just gotten worse and recently it's been really bad. I've stopped eating meat altogether - not because I don't like it - because I'm afraid that maggots could have somehow gotten into it. I know they can't hurt me and I know my fear is totally groundless but I can't overcome it.
Has ANYONE found a way to overcome this fear?

Oh my God!!!

I'm so happy I found this page. I've had my fear of worms since the fourth grade and it started with my best friend being totally grossed out by them. I couldn't understand why but after seeing her scream and panic every time she saw them I started having bad dreams about eating them and throwing them up etc. so ever since I'm so afraid of them! I get panic attacks, I want to flee the area and I HATE the way they crawl around! The woman who posted a comment saying she had them crawling in her bedroom is gonna give me nightmares for a long time, that's so disgusting! Why is the sense of fleeing and panic attacks related to worms and caterpillars and such? I can't see how they've ever posed a threat to us ever..

im s**t scared of worms, if any 1 knows a good way to overcome it please e-mail me. cheers

Ugh, that is sick, i mean the picture. I had a horrible feeling there would be an image on this page. I had to scroll down the page really frantically! I find maggots and caterpillars really really sickening. Maybe it started out as a thought of them gnawing into my skin (sorry people!). Then recently, i stumbled across a really frightening picture of a translucent maggot gnawing on a cherry. I was hyperventilating! I can remember seeing a bright green tube writhing about in the grass....ergh, it was a caterpillar believe it or not. I guess earthworms and slugs are ok. Anyway, just wondering if this phobia really is an obstacle in life??

Actually, I may know a way to combat this phobia....go fishing! Oh no, all those different coloured magg---......

Like many of you I am also terrified of worms,caterpillars, maggots, slugs etc... When I see one lying still, I get nausea, when it wiggles or moves my heart jumps a beat, I scream from shock then nearly jump out of my skin, this experience will then proceed to affect the rest of my day sometimes days. I am 33yrs and have never known anybody else to have this phoebia, until my 2yr old came running into the house screaming in fear of something, it took a while to calm him down, when I asked my husband what happened, he said he was digging in the garden and saw a worm. My son has never seen me in a panic attack, I have several exits from my house, so if rains I always have a safe passage, and I always avoid any contact with grass, trees, plants etc...Could I have passed this phoebia on to my son. I also have asked my husband to cremate me as the thought of my worst enemy having a banquet on my body is just to much to bear. My phoebia nearly rules my life not one day goes by when I'm not on full alert of the wiggly ones, if I have to go to the park or a concert where you have to sit on the grass, I always take a blanket to sit on, usually frozen in the middle on full alert of the enemy. I am worried should one day someone throw one of the enemy at me, I would become a raving lunatic and KILL KILL KILL.....that's why you should take this phoebia very very seriously.

Hi,it is the first time I hear of anybody with the same phobia. I can´t even use the name and I called them the wriggly things. I don´t know how it started but everytime I am stressed it gets worse. When I was living in England I was very brave and I even plant flowers in the garden using two pairs of gloves (one on top of the other) and a very long instrument so I wouldn´t have to touch the earth, but then I saw one and I have to run home and wash my hands with bleach. The worse thing is not to make people move them for me to be able to enter or leave a place, or to have to cross the streets when it is raining. The worse thing is that the bastards seam to follow me. I keep finding them in food (I only thank god it is not when I am eating). I have found them in fish (so my husband had to bleach the entire kitchen for me to be able to enter the room again), I found them in meat,in vegetables even in a cookie. I have been so scared lately than I got my husband into buying worming tablets for me. I took them and I didn´t sleep two nights in fear of what could happen. I don´t eat fish anymore o pork and I literally inspect my vegetables with a magnifiying glass before cooking them. To prepare fish for my familly I have to wear marygold glaves and bleach everything inmediatly after I. I hate them with a passion and the thoght of one close to me gives me taquicardia. As well as some of you I have asked my family to incinerated me when I die. Every time I find one I spend one or two days without eating and I can´t even drink coffee because it is not transparent and I can´t see if there is anything inside. I really hate them with a passion and as I can see I am not the only one. If you have any tip to overcame this fear without having to be exposed to one please tell me becausse I am running out of things to eat.

Ever since I was little, I've been terrified of worms. My older cousin jokes that I was buried alive in a past life and was eaten by worms, but sometimes it's really hard to deal with. I'm in marching band at my local high school and sometimes when it rains I can't go onto the practice field without crying the whole time because there are earth worms everywhere. Once my parents were watching that special on parasites, 'Eaten Alive' and I walked in on them. I didn't eat or sleep for three days. If I wasn't hypoglycemic I would become a vegetarian. I'm so terrified of maggots or parasites in my food. I don't even eat lunch at school anymore. People thought it was funny in elementary school and they put a bunch of worms in my chair, but they thought different when I started crying and hyerpventalating. It's not a nice thing to live with.

Like many of you I thought that I was the only one and of course that no one else understood. I believe that I can trace my fear back to a specific instance. When I was little we used to walk up a hill to get to my grandma's house and the hill had crab apples that would fall. This would naturally attract all kinds of worms and caterpillars. I was terrified the entire time. The real incident however occurred when my cousin and I were on a tricycle out back of my grandma's house where the ground was covered with crab apples and worms & caterpillars. The little brat took off on the tricycle and left me there screaming and crying hysterically. She knew that I was afraid of them and it's been downhill for me ever since.

Although I don't like caterpillars and the thought of earthworms on a rainy day causes a mixture of fear, grossness, and all out frsutration (I have to avoid stepping on them), the worst fear is maggots (ewwww!). I HATE the word and I truly believe that worms are out to get me and that they know what they are doing when they come out. I think that they are trying to ruin me and intentionally cause pain/trauma. I know this is all irrational but after all it is called a phobia for a reason.

I put all flour in the fridge and pancake mix or anything open has to be put in zip lock bags if they are to be stored in the cabinet. I have had an instance or two when not doing this has caused a horrid surprised that left me screaming and crying.

Lastly this fear is waying heavy on my decision to get a dog as I hear that they get and always have (albeit dormant) worms in the bodies even if they are wormed. The thought of doggy butt worms is too much and that's a dog that I just couldn't bring my self to help should the incident happen.

om gosh...
i'm so afraid of everything that looks like worm... except snakes...

hours ago... our backyard floor have maggots.
i kinda like freak out...
i don't actually want any worms beside me....

and now... i'm sick... i can't stand them....
i'm paranoid about worms...

when we ate dinner... i thought the spaghetti noodles are worms...

Wow! I thought I was the only one? I've been laughed at for my fear of worms or anything that looks or moves like a worm.

As a child I had worms and I thought I was going to die. That was the first time that I found out that we have worms inside of us. I was so scared I drank clorox bleach trying to kill them.

Then there was a time my mother was being evil and she made me stand in a worm patch. I peed myself instantly.

A time I bought cod fish from the supermarket. I put it in lime and salt to kill the rawness. When I went to season the fish I started to complain about bones when the deli woman said it was bone free. To my surprise I started to pull out bones until it frigging moved in my dam hands. OMG the fish was filled with worms. I passed out! Cod fish is popular for having worms so PLEASE don't buy cod fish.

I don't eat pork because I know pork has worms and I cook all my meat myself. My poor husband thinks I overcook the meat because I'm trying to get it extra well done.

When it rains I hate to go outside and I'll often call out sick because of worms being outside. I don't stand under trees and I'm always looking down when I'm walking.

Is there a dam cure for this phobia? When I see them in person or on TV I literally start to gag or throw up. Not to mention I can't breathe and ecperience severe chest pains.

Oh my lord!!!!!!
I honestly thought I was the only one. I didn't even know there was a name for this totally irrational fear of the icky ones. I'm 18, and I've already made arrangements to be cremated because I don't want to be buried in the same ground they are in. Which makes no sense.
I usually make every effort imaginable, whether it be crossing the street, staying inside, or running the other way to avoid them... but the other day, I was walking to work, almost late, and they were everywhere. I ran.. and didn't step on any... but I was still hyperventilating, and crying by the time I got to work, and I had to calm myself down by drinking lots of water, and eating sugar... and imagining things that arent them.
Yeah, I'm also afeared of maggots but not so much as the icky ones.. and grubs too..

I thought I was alone on this phobia too - didn't even know it had a name until today... Thank you!!!
I am 41 years old. I didn't realize I had a fear of worms until I reached Jr. High. I used to walk to school most every day with a couple of boys I had known since 3rd grade. I was a tomboy and they were my best friends... We were walking to school one morning after a long spring rain the night before so there were plenty of worms on the streets and sidewalks. One of the boys must've noticed me tiptoeing around the worms to avoid stepping on them - next thing I know, they are both picking up worms and tossing them at me! I ran to school as fast as I could, never looking back. I can't tell you how many nightmares I have had since that day, or how many times I've avoided going outside after a long rain... At least I'm not alone!
Thanks for all the reassuring posts, everyone.

Hi; I'm so afraid of worms, I can't look at pictures of them. The worst is small ones like maggots or larvae.

Right now I'm freaked out because my cats have fleas and I just saw the larvae in their cat bed. I made a family member wash it and vacuum the whole house, but I'm so freaked out, I can barely sleep.

I'm like addicted to Valium and Klonopin right now because I'd go crazy without being completely sedated, but it's barely enough.

If anyone wants to chat about their fear of worms, please email me. (astral_stardust@yahoo.com) I'd love to talk to others because I don't know anyone else who has the fear.

i have a worm phobia too. it's gotten better since i have been forced to deal with them at times for my job
9landscaping) but if a co-worker is around i make them take over. it reallly does seem like a ridiculous phobia since they are fairly small, slow, and harmless compared to other bugs or insects - however i wanna know what to do to get rid of this phobia. i'm done with it! and why are so many posted comments by females? is there a connection with this phobia to gender? thanks...

My girlfriend has a problem fearing of worms. I was looking all over the web, trying to find the 'cure' for that, on my mother language, and still without results. I found this web page, and figured out that all posts here are about HAVING that problem, no solutions. Is there any solution, does any of you guys working on that fear with some psyhologist, or maybe get rid of fear?
Respect,
Vladimir

Hi everyone, I was reading all your stories and I can relate. I'm a middle-aged woman who has had this phobia her whole life! It has been awful, as most of you know. I found this site because I have been searching for and looking at pictures of worms, YES! I almost can't believe it, I also could NOT even look at pictures before. I'm overcoming my phobia, by myself and it isn't costing me anything. I'm going to share the secret with everyone so you can all help yourselves. The simple treatment you can do yourself is called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). The creator Gary Craig will let you download the technique for free, just google for it, or you can go to youtube.com and put it EFT and there are many different videos to help and direct you, this is all for free. Just keep at it, I've just started but already my phobia is very much lessened, and I know that I'll keep at it and I'll get rid of it completely. All of you young people will not have to live your whole lives with this now. Best of luck to you all!

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knows where this fear comes from. I am so afraid of worms, reptiles (including frogs), mice, rats even caterpillars. But I am ok with spiders and butterflies. Ever since I was about 4 yrs old I have been deathly afraid. It has gotten worse over the years and then back in October when I was taking the pool down for the season. A few worms were under the pool, but in my mind there was millions and I could see them in front of my eyes a black streak just like when your pictures taken and you see the spots from the flash. I felt like they were all over me and crawling. Needless to say I felt like I was having a breakdown and scared my elder daughter to death as she had to calm me down and keep telling me nothing was there and they can't hurt me. I am so afraid that I have told my family that when my time comes I want to be cremated as I do not want to be buried with fear of them getting to me. After the rain, my husband and son have to check the sidewalk before I step out and remove them, I can't walk barefoot on the grass.

My husband and family think I may have been traumatized as a child and the regression is coming out in adult hood. I do remember as a small child my uncle whom was only 7 years older than I would tease me with all sorts of creatures. But I would have thought growing up that way I could laugh it off.

It does have something to do with the look as I can hold a rat or mouse, but if the tail touches my skin, it's gone I have thrown them out of fear.

The other weird thing is if I am gardening, I must know they belong because if I am wearing a gardening glove I can pick it up and put it in another spot in the garden, but only little ones, large ones my husband or son have to move them.

I am also afraid to touch fish, I am not afraid of the species, but the thought of the slime and taking it off the hook. If anyone comes near me I have massive panic attacks and have even run into traffic and almost hit by a car to get away.

If anyone has any information or where to get help. Please, please let me know.

Thanks

I don't believe this. I thought I was the only one. I read all these comments and could feel the horrible tightening the rapid breathing, the heart racing, and the burning sensation on my skin my muscles tensing....I like all of you as soon as I see....those of ANY kind but not snakes (which are vertebrates) though they have a jump factor when I don't know they are coming, I begin scrunching up...if I make myself look longer to try to get over it...I almost verge on panic attack. I sob and cannot get it out of my mind. Let me begin by saying I have an invertebrate phobia in general. This is a challenge for me because I started keeping a salt water tank. For as long as I remember I have been afraid of anything that looks or moves like....well in this house and my friends outside the house know to use the code word "politicians" how fitting. I love my saltwater tank. It is however inevitable that they end up with invertebrates of some sort of the smaller usually variety in them. I have a bristleworm colony living in my tank and the smaller ones aren't bothering me for a change they look like little bugs. But ...big mama as I call it came out to eat some of the left over flakes under a rock tonight and I flipped I mean I screamed for my roommate who is trying to help me work through something called doyletics to trace down what age I started having this problem and address it. I recommen at least giving it a try. www.doyletics.com. Can't hurt in any case. I did notice that I can at least THINK about certain types of politicians easier than I could before. Not fr very long. And I m still in a teanse fight or flight mode after meeting up with 'big mama' God I want to decimate that whole population blech. I can't even go scuba diving or snorkeling, it's very hard for me to look at sea anemoney's, anything with tentacles like jellyfish or even corals! There are hard corals that are more like stone less problem with. many many sea slugs are beautiful...but....think to hard about it or look to long and I need to turn the page. Starfish absolutely freak me out. At our local fish store which has a phenomenal fish and invertebrate room i can only spend a little time looking at those things. IN fact I almost had a full blown sweat tears panic attack IN the room and had to go sit in the car to calm down where I burst into tears. Does anyone else find that GROUPS of these...politicians also seem to make it worse? Or thinking of things in swarms (God even thinking about it makes me want to scream and cry). I am also afraid of seaplants because of the way it feels though I can now touch seaweed on the beach if it has dried a little. IT's not so bad, feels a little like a stiffer thicker wet cornstalk. I was TERRIFIED and I mean run screaming TERRIFIED of MOSS yes green MOSS when I was a little kid. I can deal with it now. Not my favorite but it's not bad. Maybe it's the amorphousness of things as a kid you have certain paradigms that fit but new things can be scary. I don't know. I'd sure like to know why I feel this way. And for those of you that pray please please pray that big mama doesn't show it's ugly self anymore because I can't stand this. And I love my fishies. I'm not fond of insects. Oddly enough my favorite denizen of my tank is an invertebrate technically, a small hermit crab, named Samuel. I love him to death. Go figure. Used to live near a lake when I was a little girl an remember standing there on the beach with my mom and being terrified of the way the waterlililies seemed to move toward us when the wind blew even though they were rooted that's probably why...I thought they were coming....and when we went in that lake I stayed WELL away from them. Hate swimming in lakes because can't see th bottom and feel seaweed feels like seaweed....or politicians.
help.

please, please, please take the picture off!! My gosh, for those of us who know how crazy we are to have this fear and are looking for answers, the LAST thing we want to do is to go somewhere where there is a picture of the thing we fear most.

I always thought I was the only one. Everyone makes fun of me because i get so freaked out by earthworms. I can't tell you how many times I have been told how they can't hurt you and then the people try to get me to touch one or hold one. After a rain I look like I'm dancing as I go down the side walk, trying to avoid the worms. If I hear a sound under my foot as I walk it takes everything inside of me to look and make sure it wasn't a bug or a worm, the strange thing is I HAVE to look. I have also told my family I want to be creamated--I don't like the thought of being in the ground with worms. I can't even look at gummy worms, those fake fishing worms or look at them on tv. I had someone put one down my shirt in the back and I froze, I tried to talk or scream and nothing would come out. Thank God my Dad was there to rescue me, he got the worm off of me and acted like it was normal to act like I did. He never made fun of me like every one else. I can't handle any bugs but earthworms, slugs and maggots are the worse.

Ah my god! Im the only person i know who has this phobia. As kids wed play football on a field and on a couple of occasions id hear my friends or some other kids like "wow, check out this worm" and id literally run about 800 metres home, as fast as i could and wouldnt slow down till i got in the door! The worst thing was i felt whenever i went to the football matches everyone would gang up on me and hold me down and lower one onto my face or drop one down my pants or something. Its bad enough writing about it! The long ones, that you can see moving along make me leap in fear. I played for a really good rugby side too and thank god no one found out. I was on the bottom of a ruck once with like 4 people on top of me, and i turned to my side and saw a worm about 3 feet away from me. Somehow i managed to lift myself out of this ruck and just run back into a deep position, haha! I didnt make another low tackle that game, in fear of landing face first in worm!

OMG. I thought I was the ONLY one! haha... its a relief to know this is more common than i thought. I wish i knew what triggered my irrational fear. There are other things that gross me out but nothing gives me anxiety like the thought of coming in contact with a worm. UGH.

hi, i am larry and i am 12. i guess i am the youngest to post such things.i hate worms and my neck feels ticklish whenever i see a worm. i was even more afraid of worms when a prefect showed them close to my face. i was only 7 then!i am a singaporean and luckily for me,it is a small country and i have to be cremated when i die,unless i am a president. i guess i am going to die 6 years later, in national service where i have to go through training,even crawling through mud, where there are countless earthworms! last time on holiday,i saw a worm in the toilet! i then couldn`t sleep and needed 2 days till i recover.i seriously need a cure!

Good God yes. Worms are quite possibly my one and only phobia. In general I'm a rather strong stomached individual, and am pretty unphased by most things, but one earth worm writhing its way out of the grass is enough to make me recoil in disgust. I hate them, especially the way they stretch out and contract when they move. Creepy little bastards. I think I can trace it back to when I was 4 or 5, and some kids had cut a worm in half and yet it was still wriggling about. Just didn't sit well with me.

stupid worms. i wish they all explode and die. like this, no more earthworms and we live without fear.

why on earth have an image of a caterpillar up? I screamed before I could stop myself when the page loaded......at least I now know I am far from being the only one with what others see as an irrational fear of worms and caterpillars, parisitic and not........I've come to terms with it ( though I've been flinching with every second line I type) I figure they have as much right to be here as we do, only, they don't complain about having to put up with us...... No matter how hard I try though I cannot bring myself to be in their presence for long, in fact, the sight alone gets me panicking and the slightest movement and I bolt as far as possible...without a care as to how foolish I may appear......Why...? It started when I was nine and we did a chapter on parasitic worms in science, at ten I had a caterpillar fall on the back of my neck, and that coupled with the constant fear of being crept up on by these creatures has just intensified over the years, to the point where I cannot stand buerflies and moths, I avoid walking under trees other than in winter, and when in nature I am constanty looking over every inch of grass around me for as far as I can see...........and at the other extreme u have people who think their cute and like to prove so by picking them up.........(shiver)

that picture seriously freaks the hell out of me...
i feel like vomiting everytime i saw a caterpillar..even picture of it...looks like im not the only one scared of that little thing

I am not afraid of worms, I just hate them. I always have a driveway full after a rain. I cannot step on them because I then have worm guts on my shoes. If they dry up and it rains again, they are reconstituted and are gooshier than before. I do have ocd so I am sure that has something to do with it. Does anyone know how to keep them off the driveway?

i hate worms . so isgusting

Thank God for this site. There is no real information around the internet whatsoever.

My fear of worms probably started from my paranoia of parasites (tapeworms in particular) and definitely elevated from there. The worst nightmares I've had are about worms. I'm not too incredibly scared of maggots or caterpillars (though I will shudder at the thought of them too) , it's mainly worms-- worms of ALL kinds.

I have the biggest problem with earthworms because those are the ones I've come across the most. Like many others here, I absolutely dread going outside the day after it rains-- I can't stand seeing them wriggling and squirming on the sidewalks. The dead ones even freak me out sometimes.

I was helping my friend clean her backyard the morning after a party and since it was raining the night before, I moved the ashtray and found a worm under it. I ran and never went back to that area.

I was taking a zoology class and when I was thumbing through the book, I came across the chapter on worms with many photos and I swear I started crying. We also had to dissect a LIVE earthworm for that class and they were LARGE-- it was horrifying.

i am so afraid of worms and everyone just makes fun of me for it i remember one time at my neighbors pool i almost stepped on a big slimy one and my bf noticed, he picked it up with a dust pan and chased me around with it, i screamed, cried yelled, everything i also have the walking on the sidewalk with them problem and if you walk with me and point and say worm i will scream, jump and cry even if there is none, also every little stick or tree debris looks like a worm when its raining, of all my fears this is my worst and ill never be able to get over it even thought in about 3rd grade my best friend forced me to hold one for like 2 seconds, worst memory ever, oh and my dad threw a couple at me from a distance =P

i'm so scared of worms, caterpillars, maggots or what else that resembles them. i can't even touch a page of a book if it has a colored picture of anything like it. i get paralyzed with fear just seeing one when it rains. the mere mention of it freaks me out and paralyzes me instantly i break into sweat. it's horrible. i don't remember how i got the phobia but it's been here ever since i could remember. i remember this one class way back 2nd year and we had to bring worms, cultured or not and i couldn't do the experiment at all. i won't touch it, i won't get near it. i even cried. i love when it rains but the idea that its wet and there'll be worms scares me so much, i look everywhere i walk.

Oh my, I am 52 years old, and have a terrible fear of the gyspy moth caterpillars in particular. I dislike all worms, but that one, scares me profusely. I cannot walk pass, around, across the street, or get out of my car if I even think some are near, and around this time of year they are. I am been afraid since I can remember, and do not have a clue as to why. I do not like this fear, and it gets worse as I get older. I wonder if sometimes I need to see a special doctor because of this fear.....I can take it much longer..........

wow. im not alone after all : ) my phobia is also intense!
i cant go outside when its raining or just did rain without being terrified. i cant stand them. whenever i see a worm i feel like theyre all over me and i start seeing them even if theyre not there. i start sweating, shaking and crying. once i was on the beach and i saw a worm and i started hysterical crying and my dad had to carry be back to our tent. but worms(and centipedes) are the only bugs that scare the hell out of me. just worms. i refuse to take part in the planting my friends and i are supposed to do in front of our church cause worms ALWAYS show up. they get cups of them and name them. they chase me with them. lol.
my god i wish i could get over this. : /

I also am happy to have found this site. I didn't know so many people were afraid of worms. I can remember when I was quite young that I wasn't afraid of worms and would pick them up. Then sometime around 4 or 5 years old I became afraid of them. We had a maid that was terrified of them and maybe she frightened me or once the neighbors Catawba worms were all over our yard and when I went in and told my mother, she said I mustn't touch them and when I asked why, she said they were nasty. I even found one of the catawbas in my bed once. I am 75 years old and have managed to control the fear a lot by just forcing myself to be close to them and watching them. I still can't imagine touching them. No fear of snakes, though or spiders (can pick them up) and love lizards. Just hate the earthworms and caterpillars and of course maggots, and anything that looks like a worm. Have gotten used to the pictures finally. My husband fishes with them and I won't get in the boat with him and if he turns any of them loose, I ask him to release them away from our yard. Also wanted to be cremated when I was younger, but not anymore as I don't think they can get into the sealed concrete vault. The fear is irrational, so if we could be not afraid of the picture, we could also be not afraid of the creature. After all, it can't hurt us either, usually. Went to play miniature golf with some friends once and saw a caterpillar on the ground and when one lady saw I was afraid of it, she said "it can't hurt you" and reached down and picked it up before I could tell her it was a pack saddle. She screamed when it stung her and she stomped it. Sorry, guess I shouldn't have told that to people who are afraid of them, but it was a little amusing. Keep working with your fear and hopefully you can make some progress as I have.

I am so scared of earth W.s!!!! yuck gross. i cried once b/c it was dark and i forgot the flashlight and i was stuck where everywhere on the pavements there were long, big earth W.s. I didn't have any good light to really see them and avoid stepping on them in advance. so it's usually i almost stepped on them. you know how it feels to just about setting your foot on the ground then all of a sudden you notice the slithering beast on the ground right, them shiny squirmy icky things.... eeeeuuugh!!! shutters.... i know, it's frustrating that not too many people understand this fear. I don't know any of my coworkers who are afraid of W.s and I'm 23....

i've read that earth W.s don't like anything too acidic, that they prefer soil that is above 4.5 pH. So if I poured vinegar onto the sidewalk, would that prevent the earth Ws from invading the sidewalk??

I too am deeply, deeply phobic of worms. It's really not a "fear" in the sense that most people understand it, because that implies something that causes me anxiety on a conscious level in my everyday life - I don't worry about them crawling into my bed at night or anything like that. I think "revulsion" is a better word to describe it, as 99% of the time the problem only arises in the actual presence of a worm (although I think I have a minor, related fear of helminthic infestation - specifically tapeworm and ascaris).

Earthworms are my primary nightmare; it all stems from them. There is something about them that just hits some fear-response trigger in my brain when I see one, my heart-rate and breathing speeds up, my intestines knot-up, my limbs turn to jelly and I have to turn and look away. Usually, breaking visual contact with them is enough to calm me down, as long as I'm not standing too close. There is just something horrifying beyond words about those sightless, faceless, mindless tubes of living, churning slime... and the way they move - undulating, twisting, rippling, ELONGATING (*shudder*), probing the air with their wet, featureless snouts. It's like something out of an H.P. Lovecraft nightmare.

I remember finding one in the garden as a very young child (about three) and being gripped by sickening horror at the realization that such an obscene thing could even exist in the same world as me. When I was older, about seven, I was walking home from school along an old wooded path, stamping on branches to make them snap, when I stepped on what I thought was a twig but was in fact a huge worm which lunged up and squirmed under my welly-boot. I screamed and didn't stop running until I got home. It must have been no bigger than a foot-and-a-half long, but in my memory it is exaggerated to a metre-long behemoth.

My physiological reaction to them is so severe I don't think I could ever overcome it through systematic desensetisation therapy. My reactions when confronted with worms in the past, such as people holding them and chasing me, have been extremely aggressive and I would probably lash out violently if forced to confront them even in a therapeutic environment. Or I'd just die.

I'm glad there are others out there like me. I knew there had to be. What I don't understand is why there aren't more people who react this way to worms. How many people are terrified of spiders? And you can RELATE to a spider - it has eyes and legs and a mouth and a body and it runs about weaving nets to catch bugs. It's kind of cute really. But a worm: it's blind and limbless and it has no body except for a strange segmented cylinder. It shouldn't even be alive, but it is and it moves and it crawls and it sucks at the dirt. I think worm-lovers are the one who are deluded, not us! :D

I was afraid to click on one of this websites in fear of seeing pictures of worms so thank you very much for the picture RUSTYBRICK you clearly dont know what a phobia is. Any how i too im terrified of worms but is because i had a bad experience as a child. I cant stand to even think about them it makes my skin crawl. I hate it when it rains cause thats when they like to come out of the ground in warm weather, i usually look away from the ground like up into the sky or something at eye level and stomp my feet until i reach my destination i know im just pathetic but i cant help it i tried once to overcome it and i almost fainted my blood pressure dropped and everything it was horrible i feel like the worst worm phobic person ever but hey guess im not alone.

I was afraid to click on one of this websites in fear of seeing pictures of worms so thank you very much for the picture RUSTYBRICK you clearly dont know what a phobia is. Any how i too im terrified of worms but is because i had a bad experience as a child. I cant stand to even think about them it makes my skin crawl. I hate it when it rains cause thats when they like to come out of the ground in warm weather, i usually look away from the ground like up into the sky or something at eye level and stomp my feet until i reach my destination i know im just pathetic but i cant help it i tried once to overcome it and i almost fainted my blood pressure dropped and everything it was horrible i feel like the worst worm phobic person ever but hey guess im not alone.

OMG!! I am so scared of worms! i have been for awhile now! Im scared of pictures of them, hearing about them, and seeing them!! I hate them soooo much! I wish they would all just disapear and not come back :[ ... when it rains outside. i stay in and if there is a worm in my way my boyfriend has to kill it! or ill just stand there!! they scare me sooo much! *tear*

Wow I can't believe there are others like me! I I too have a specific phobia (meets DSM-IV criteria!) that is very well circumscribed to include slugs, snails, earthworms, catepillars, and larvae. Some similar sea creatures elicit the same response. I recognize that it is irrational. I don't think they're out to kill me, in fact, I'm even more grossed out by the idea of stepping on one. (probably because they are so fleshy) It definitely affects my daily routine, and living in Seattle has not made it easier on my phobia. There are LOTS of slugs here, and after a rainy day, I walk on the sidewalk with my eyes scanning up to half a block ahead of me. And I stop in front of my house to check for snails on the steps. If there are any, I go through the garage (if there are none in the driveway). Totally wacky, I know. I am trying systematic desensitization through exposure therapy. When there are tiny snails around, and their slimey little heads aren't sticking out too much, I try to go look at them. And as I walk home, i try to visualize them. So far, I'm making a little progress. I'm doing better with earthworms since it rains all the time, but the giant snails are still problematic.

by the way, I had to read the top part of this website with a piece of paper covering the gross catepillar.

Wow - this is amazing. So many are saying it, but I also thought I was the only one with this phobia. I am 41 and have been afraid of worms nearly my whole life. I know exactly what triggered it, but yet I can't get over it.
Everyone thinks it's funny and makes fun of me. But I feel sick to my stomach now from reading all your posts. Seeing worms before has actually made me vomit. Even that stupid bag of gummy worms makes me gag - just seeing it in the store.
People don't understand true phobias. Several years ago, I was helping run a kids camp. One of the other directors always made fun of my phobia. Well, I had to leave the lunch table for a few minutes to take care of something. When I came back and took a drink of my soda, there was something funny in it - they had put freeze-dried worms from the bait shop into my cup when I was gone. You can imagine what they became when they were added to the liquid. I acted like it was no big deal, but then I went into the bathroom and threw up and cried.
It's just nice to know that it's not something that I have just made up in my head.
As far as catterpillars - that picture doesn't bother me. They don't bother me - but any type of worm, maggots, slugs - I'm getting naseous just thinking about it.
Thank you all for sharing.

Wow! I'm glad there are other people who are afraid of/grossed out by worms... I don't mind caterpillars and such, but earthworms... uck. and anything slimy. I remember in the fifth grade a boy in my class chased me with an earthworm and I ran away screaming. I have since learned to mute my reactions but I still hate worms, I would never EVER touch one and I step around them on the sidewalk. I am terrified of being infested with parasitical worms but am too afraid to go to the doctor or get a wormer because I wouldn't want to see them come out... my mother thinks I am crazy. I try not to make a big deal out of it because then people think its funny to do things like throw worms at you...

I cannot believe there are so many others like myself. I never could understand why I have this fear and most of my life I have been teased about how ridiculous it is for me to be afraid of this little creature. I am 49 years old, and terrified of worms. It is not just worms but slugs and caterpillars - anything slow moving or slimy. As someone posted - it's that slow movement that just totally grosses me out and terrifies me. I cannot explain it. People just don't understand it and it obviously can't hurt you, but there is just something that does something to me physically. My heart starts to pound. I can't breathe. It almost feels as if I am being faced with an attacker. I know that sounds ridiculous, but the fear is just as intense. When I was young I wanted to be a vet, but I scratched that idea, because I would never be able to deal with worms. I don't garden, because of the worms. Once I was gardening with my sister-in-law and she pulled out this large earth worm, and stuck it in my face and said, "Ooh, look!" My shovel went 20 feet in the air, and I was two blocks away in 30 seconds, and that was the end of my gardening days. Another time I was at my mother-in-laws for a reunion. We were on the porch having a bbq, and most of us were seated. It had been raining and there were these large slugs. They had to be removed before I would even come out. When I finally came out, I sat down in a chair on the porch with my plate. My sister-in-law who knew I was terrified of worms came up to me and said, "Look, I have a surprise for you!" She stuck her hand in my face with a large slimy slug in it and I don't even know what happened because it happened so fast, but I was told I screamed, threw my plate which ended up on my father-in-law's lap, hit the street in 10 seconds (she lives on 5 acres) and was shaking like you wouldn't believe. My sister-in-law said "I didn't realize she was that scared". (yeah, right). I don't even like to tell people of my fear for fear they will try to tease me and do exactly what my in-laws did to me. I could go on and on with endless stories about how this phobia of mine, but most of these posts have covered it in one way or another.

Oh, god, THANK YOU!!!
I'm so relieved to finally find out that I'm not the only one with this terrible phobia.
I've had it since I was a little kid- and for no specific reason. I mean, I've never had any kind of traumatic experience with worms, caterpillars, slugs, millipedes, centipedes, snails, maggots, or anything of the sort, yet they scare me more than death!
Once, I had one (a caterpillar) crawl up my leg when I was outside walking. The minute I looked down I started crying and screaming... I immediately whacked it off, kicked my shoes off of my feet and into the woods somewhere, ran into my house and room, stripped myself of any clothing, and jumped in the shower and started scrubbing furiously. I changed into a completely new set of clothing, and refused to touch the old ones for a day or two.
...that was like 2 or 3 years ago, and I'm a teenager now, but the fear still runs strong.
And why, oh, WHY?????!!!!????
WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PUT UP A PICTURE OF AN ENORMOUS CATERPILLAR DIRECTLY ON THE FRONT PAGE???
I almost, but not quite, started hyperventilating. That was very traumatic.
...
Well, now that's over, I just wanted to say thanks to this site, and express my gratitude that I've found others with the same problem.
Very helpful.

P.S.
I am a proud vegetarian!

I just HATE caterpillars. Worms are also on my list, but caterpillars top them all (slugs, snails, maggots etc.) I almost ate one once that was on my salad and wouldn't eat anything fresh for 6 months afterwards