Fears and Psychosis

Arachnophobia, more commonly known as the fear of spiders. It is said that roughly one in five people suffer from this fear. In some cases it just causes a slight discomfort in people when they see one of these creepy little critters crawling across their floor. In other cases, the fear is so overpowering that the person either goes into a panic attack or shuts down completely. In either case, the person can usually manage their fear, or find ways to prevent spiders from invading their private domains. But what happens when the fear becomes more than just a fear? What happens when a person's mind is so overrun with the fear that they become convinced they’re surrounded? One young woman was on the verge of finding out first hand exactly what happens in just such a case. Her family had installed central air in their home just a few years prior and it had been a welcomed blessing. The feeling of walking into a nice cool house after a long and exhausting day at work seemed to be a little slice of heaven for the young family. Everything was all fine and dandy up until recent days, when one of the daughters became convinced there was something living inside the vents. She had been hearing scratching, almost like a soft clawing, coming from the air vent in the floor next to her bed. As the sound grew louder she became convinced that whatever it was had been coming for her and she had armed herself with two cans of insect killer. Hesitant green orbs peered over the side of her bed as the noises grew louder, the cans held close to her as she watched and waited. She held her breath, her gaze glued to the vent. She watched as four legs stretched out from the inside of the vent, searching and moving, trying to find a way to squeeze the body through. Strands of hair roughly three inches long covered each thin, brown leg and she could see glowing orbs through the open vents gazing back at her. Fear took over and she emptied both cans on the beast, causing it to let out a shriek as it retreated into the depths of the air ducts that now ran throughout the house. 

Fearing the creature would return, the young woman moved her bed away from the vent and sat down upon it, her head now in her hands as she tried to calm herself down. It seemed as though she had been seeing more and more spiders in recent days and she had taken to keeping her closet fully stocked with as many cans of insect killer that she could fit in there. One would have to wonder how the daughter of a pest control specialist could be so afraid of spiders when her mother was one of the best exterminators in town. Even she wondered that at times, herself. The young woman laid down upon her bed and attempted to rest for the time being. Training had been canceled that day due to a last minute job on the far side of the city, so she had nothing planned for the rest of the day. As she allowed her mind and body to relax she slowly became more and more aware of just how quiet the house was. Sitting up once more she realized that she hadn’t heard any sounds at all in over two hours. The dogs hadn’t barked, she didn’t hear her younger twin brothers arguing or watching movies, there were no video games blasting, and she hadn’t heard her sister moving around or cooking. She knew the parents would be off on the job but the rest should’ve been at home. 

Cautiously she stood from her bed and moved to her door, opening it slowly before hesitantly taking a step into the hall. Arachnophobia wasn’t the only thing she suffered, she was also plagued by Autophobia, more commonly known as the fear of being alone or abandoned. As she made her way through the house she became painfully aware that she was alone, there were no signs anyone was home or had even been home at all. The laundry was finished and folded, there was no note on the table, and even the vehicles were gone from the garage. She could feel her heart beginning to pound in her chest as she began to panic but tried to hold it in. She turned and made her way back to her room where she grabbed her phone to call her parents. Three rings later and she got an automated message saying that the number didn’t exist. She tried to call everyone in the family but got the same message each time. 

The young woman felt the tears slowly fall down her cheeks as she frantically began to search her room, looking for anything that would have her family members phone numbers written on it. When she could find nothing her pulse began racing and her breathing became fast and shallow. Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she whipped her head around, hoping it was her father or someone else in her family. Instead she saw a massive spider, the size of a Great Dane, coming into her room. She realized it must have been the one trying to get in through her air vents and quickly looked for a can of spray, as the beast was between her and her closet now. When she could find none she grabbed her pistol, only used for protection, and readied herself for an attack. More spiders of the same size entered the room and she quickly found herself wrapped in their silk webbing, unable to move. She was forced to watch as the beasts drug her from her home and into the depths of the forest, knowing she would never make it out alive.

As the young blonde struggled to get free, she was unaware that her surroundings were not what she saw them to be. Two figures stood on the opposite side of a plexiglass wall, a locked door keeping them safe from the young woman. She had no idea that what she perceived as spider silks was, in fact, a straight jacket. Likewise, she didn’t realize the spiders she had been attacked by were actually her family whom she had walked right past while searching the seemingly-empty house for them. A man in a white lab coat stood beside the girl's father, both of them watching as the teenager continued to struggle and cry within the secured room. “I’m sorry, Mr. Martin,” the doctor started as he turned his gaze to the man beside him, “I’m afraid your daughter is suffering from a level of psychosis that I haven’t seen before. We will do everything we can, I promise you that, but I do not want to get your hopes up. I will start her on some medication and have a trained therapist try to talk her out of this mental state, but it seems as though her fears have completely overtaken her mind.” As the doctor moved away to get the treatment plan in order, the young father stood watching his daughter. The others had gone home to straighten the girl's room back up so that it would be ready for her if she was ever allowed to come home, but he had opted to stay and talk with the doctors. Fearful green orbs soon caught his gaze through the plexiglass and for a moment it seemed as if she recognized him, but then another scream ripped itself from her throat and he had to look away. Her future had been so bright only weeks ago and now she had fallen to a place that he could not help her escape from. She was trapped within the depths of her own mind due to a psychotic break and inescapable living nightmares brought on by her fears… He knew that she would have to save herself this time, no one else would be able to help her until she was able to tell reality from illusion.