Abby Connolly
Have you ever had someone make fun of you for being afraid of something? It can be extremely invalidating and alienating, especially if the ridicule comes from a parent.
One woman is upset with her husband for berating their daughter about her fear of bugs.
Her daughter’s name is Cal, and she’s 18-years-old. When Cal was around 12, she was stung by two bees which really upset her.
Later, she was once stung by a wasp that she didn’t know was hiding in her bathing suit, and that event traumatized her more. Since then, she’s been very afraid of all kinds of bugs, especially ones that sting.
Cal has been speaking with a therapist about her intense fear and has begun to make some progress.
“I know this cannot go on forever, and we are slowly working on making her less bothered by their presence because if you panic, a bug is more likely to attack,” she said.
Now, Cal can usually walk past bugs she sees without completely freaking out and isn’t afraid of the tiny ones she sees occasionally.
However, Cal had a setback when she found a large, brown grasshopper in their living room. The landlord of their apartment is getting ready to host his daughter’s wedding and has hung up a lot of outdoor lights, which have been attracting bugs.
Cal needed to grab something from the living room but didn’t know what to do about the bug in the moment, so she fearfully stood in the living room and called out for her dad so he could help take care of it for her.
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