Afraid of insects? You have no idea what you're missing | Samuel Ramsey | TEDxMontgomeryBlairHS 

"People fear what they don't understand "... But I don't want to understand Cockroaches! !!!

I hate that people just laugh at me when I’m sobbing over these bugs. I live in Florida and there’s bugs EVERYWHERE during summer like you just wake up to a cockroach on the ceiling and when that happens I cant sleep even if it’s killed for two days

Especially the flying ones get me running :(

I wish bugs could communicate with us like speak the same languages as us maybe I’d probably be a little less scared then

I’m okay with butterflies caterpillars and dragonflies as long as they don’t touch me but everything else CANNOT GO NEAR ME even ladybugs freak me out

i had tears in my eyes looking at those photos. I have a serious bug/insect phobia and im trying soo hard to fix it but nothing is working.

I’m scared off sleeping in my bed, i fear spiders, mohts, and other insects.

anyone with fear of coacroaches ? I am scared to kill them even with broom😞😒

Having a fear of bugs (at least as bad as mine) feels like drowning, while everyone is shouting at you to breath. Nobody will ever know how many tears I’ve shed because of bugs, but I did this all by myself in my room, hiding it from everyone. When he showed the pray mantis... not gonna lie I cried.

I fear big insects that fly...especially the dark ones or with long feet (like the stink bug for example)...😫 I know they cannot do anything to me or that I am bigger then any insect but I fear they can somehow land on me and I feel them...I hate the feeling of an insect on my skin....

I can't even have an ant on me or else I'll start itching *everywhere* Damn he's a good speaker Edit: Thank for the likes! First time getting a big number :) Another thing. I can’t have the thought of bugs when i’m trying to sleep or else i’ll start itching everywhere and it won’t stop. I’ve had four occasions where i could not sleep.

Hearing about deadly insects made me fear all the other insects ..

these pictures made me feel like things were crawling on me

I have a son with entomophobia, hes seen every therapist possible... he doesnt go out in the spring or summer only in the fall and winter!!! It has made our family wonder qhat else can i do to help him get over this phobia safely!! Hes an amazing muscician in the works and hasnt been able to join symphonies or orchestras for the fact that they preform outdoors during spring and summer. I hope he can over come this phobia and learn about bugs this way he can continue to build a future...ty for this Ted talk ..i agree...people fear the unknown!!!! As a parent i wish i can give him my freedom from the fear of bugs so he can continue to rise up!!!

Still the biggest NOPE ever.

i have a terrible fear of incects. its ruining my life! any ideas on how 2 get over it?

My cousin : "There's a cockroach on the wall" Me : "It's okay, it won't touch you" Cockroach : *starts flying* Us : EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAAAAA

Cockroaches or anything that flies (except butterflies) gives me panic attacks.

I’m 11 and I’m still petrified and.. I can never tell other kids I’m scared of bugs because they land up threatening me and running after me with one in their hand and I just feel like crying because it’s hard to live when people do that to you, ik bugs don’t hurt I just can’t stand looking at them I cringe and start shaking bcuz I feel like they on me and I hate it... but I am going to try remember bugs are like humans, they run this planet and we need them.

I am soooooooooooooooooo scared of any type of bugs, when I see one near me I get up and run, One time there was a spider in my room and I couldn’t sleep until I knew it was dead, one time me and my mom were coming home from something and there was caterpillars everywhere, I wouldn’t get out of the car for a while because I didn’t want them to touch me,it was summer in a super hot day so my parents had to force me out, they said I couldn’t go to camp if I didn’t get out. So I opened the door and bolted to the house.

I can take a freaking lion any time but not a fking flying roach

I hate freakin inscets, how do I stop thissssss :(

There's a lot to take away from this video, as I have also been having this phobia, and it's of flying insects. As long as they don't fly they don't get me running. I'm not afraid of them in the outdoors, but once they enter the house, especially if it's a small house (where I currently live), I get quite jumpy even from a housefly. I tried to deal with it through a number of ways by telling myself that it's a thousand times smaller than me, but it doesn't help. But I've made a major step: I put on my headphones with some hard rock music to get me pumped up and face the fear. In that way, it cancels out the buzzing sound and enables me to at least face them and kill them with this bug spray. I think this past one week, I killed like 15 houseflies, BIG ONES. Although I've been dealing with them, it's giving me a bit of anxiety and I have to keep checking if they are there, before I heat up my food, because they roam in the kitchen. Hope some of you guys relate to this :)

If I see one bug at night, I am standing in the middle of my room. Light, and phone. Don’t want to go to bed to see bugs on me-

This man is the perfect mix between pretty insane and incredibly wise

What's really strange is I find insects fascinating, but if one were to be near me or on me I'm terrified ! I went through a butterfly enclosure with a guy I support at work and I was on constant edge all the way through the room, and they were huuuge! 😂

yeah i think i'll skip on becoming an entomologist

I was attacked by fire ants several times when I was 3 years old. I used step on fire ant houses when I would play on my grandads farm in Louisiana. Thousands of them would chomping on me all over. I use to get stung by bees and wasp a lot too. I’m still traumatized. I think I need to be hypnotized to get over this bs.

This person thinks someone who has a fear of insects is gonna be like “ok I’ll just stop being afraid of insects then”

I am absolutely petrified of bugs, especially stink bugs or any other bug that flies.

I hate bugs. Like if I see a fricking butterfly flying to me I’ll start dodging my life out of existence like literally.

I’m watching this while currently locked out of my room cause of a wasp

It runs my life. I live in south Louisiana they’re everywhere they come into your house. I live my life in fear and I stay inside

BUTTERFLIES, BEETLES, ROACHES, GRASSHOPPERS, OH MY GOD- THEY'RE TERRIFYING ASFFFF

Yeah I cried.. Also, I had childhood trauma where they crawled inside my ear, spiders were biting my face, a centipede was in my hair, I had over 70 bug bites. I had 30 ticks. I was in the hospital for blood loss and severe and poisonous bug bites. Now I understand they can do cool things, and I do respect honey bees and honey bees ONLY, but I either cry, have a panic attack, hyperventilate, or pass out when I see even small insects..

Everyday i wish to cover my entire body with cling wrap. Tired of checking every corner of every room every minute. Spend endless amount of time cleaning and keeping things as tidy as possible. It's exhausting

looking at these comments are giving me more things to think about

There's a roach in my room and I don't know where it went :')

I’m scared of bugs but not terrified but I don’t want to have to go in a room for 24 hours with cockroaches just to lose my fear

This moment when some fly thing is on your wall and you're trying not to be scared of it. I called him Günther btw

i just saw a cockroach hanging upside down on the loft stairs and it has wings :,> help me plz

Its 2:27 am and i found a water bug in my room. I'm shaking, sweating, and i cant sleep anymore. Im in my den downstairs and frantically looking around just in case it comes down stairs. Im so scared i can't think or type straight.

The adults around me would kill insects and would tell me terrifying facts about the ones outside and to this day wonder why I’m afraid of everything. 🙃sigh🙃

_i cried because I went outside I don’t think i want to know what I’m missing_

I’m missing out on more than that. I don’t go outside because of my fear of them. I only go outside ushering the winter

I understand his point and how truly fascinating they are but I am just so disgusted by them at the same time and I have an uncontrollable physiological aversion to them

Funny story; I went camping about 2 months ago, and we had a lantern when it got dark. This attracted these GIANT FLYING BEETLES. I was absolutely terrified, and stayed in the tent for the entire time until we made the fire, and even then I was scared a bug would come, and freaked out whenever someone turned their flashlight on. :’)

This phobia is ruining me like every day 😍 the other day found a spider in the bathtub the other day and proceeded to have a breakdown even after like 20 minutes of it being dead and removed. Even when I was forced to go shower I stood at the other end and as far away as I could Even small flies are hellspawn to me what do I do abt this 😭

I haven't eating for 2 days because I saw a cockroach I'm so scared I can't go downstairs and get out of my room I'm so hungry.....

This guy talks about fear so much he should be the new Scarecrow

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

I have such severe bug phobia when I went to type spider and the spider emoji popped up for a second I thought it was an actual spider so I screamed, jumped of my bed and threw my iPad on the floor.

I just hate it that when I get scared at bugs my dad just yells because he isn’t scared of them 😢

I can’t handle centipedes or millipedes whenever I think about them I wanna jump out a window. I start itching and sweating skfjs and I end up imagining them crawling on me and NOPE

It’s Only The Cockroaches That I Cant Stand 😱😰😨

I’m watching this cuz I just had a cockroach on my bed

I can do spiders, I even believe Tarantula’s are the sweetest most misunderstood creatures. Saying that though I can’t handle cockroaches I CANT 🤮

Good TED talk Samuel. I love the part when you said people fear what they don't understand. I'm terrified of caterpillar, and scare on small insects even mites. I already tried to understand them by watched pictures, videos, and read everything about them, but I don't know why I'm still afraid. I don't know how to overcome this anymore. Really need help!

I can't even deal with flies. I just want to be able to go outside like a normal person

It makes me kinda glad knowing there's a lot of people with this fobias, but i really need to know if any of you has overcome the fear of croaches and how you achieved it. I feel it's getting worse :(

When i was younger i wasn't that scared of insects but now..i even feel itchy for an hour after killing them.. I don't know what to do and it's summer time..there are many cockroaches and bugs around. Someone please help me

Growing up dirt poor we ain’t have time to be afraid of insects. My grandma used to tell me if I was scared of a roach imagine how scared I would be of actual life threatening situations.

I'm scared that at night an earwig will crawl into my ear and pinch my eardum :(

I have two stories: 1. When I was around 6 years old my parents were watching some animal planet insect shows I don't know but the point is that I sat there adn watched a bit with them (i wasn't so scared that time but I was a little bit) and later I went to bed (like I normally do) AND I FRIKIN WOKE UP AT THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT SEEING BUNCH OF MOVING INSECTS WALKING ON ME!!!!!! I WAS NOT DREAMING!! I SCREADMED AND RAN TO MY PARENTS! IT WAS SOOO SCARY (sorry for caps but it was soooo scaryyyyyy).... And since that I can say I have phobia... 2. There was literally a spider in my room and I told my mom but she didn't wanna kill it because they eat some small bugs or wahtever but I wasn't planning on sleeping being scared that spider will "climb" on me. My mom told me it won't get down (on my bed or floor) but I still didn't want it in my room. I was like "Just put it anywhere else! Just not in my room 😭😭!" So she gently picked it up and put it outside the window. Then I was very happy 😊

I searched "fear of insects" just for entertainment because i love insects alot. They're very adorable and while there are a FEW harmful ones, its like saying you hate mammals because of rats

I have terrible Entomophobia but I also think they are super fascinating and cool! It really sucks not being able to enjoy something so cool in person because of instinctual terror

I am still scary of bug

Im trying to fight a Cockroach rn 😭 im SCARED DDDD

Please help whenever I see a cockroach I shout so loud that even my entire neighbourhood gets disturbed , my father scolds me for this saying that I am 17 years old and showing a childlike behaviour 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

majestic and terrifying

I'm scared of butterflies and ants.... I cant do bugs at all 😖😭

I can’t think about bugs or every time I touch something I think it’s on me. genuinely wanna cry because there’s a fly in my room rn

Honestly... I fear insects but i can't bring myself to kill em. Like, I bring up my shoe to kill a bug and then instead i freeze with fear and guilt in my brain i go like "NOOOOO, I'll feel badddddd, poor insectttttt"

I love ladybugs, butterflies, and moths, I don't even really care about cockroaches.... But CRAINFLIES.... Full on dropping to the floor sobbing and intense panic attacks at the sight of one

Dude, your dad is amazing.

This honestly helped me chill after a run in with a centipede in my bathroom.

I’m only terrified of stink bugs , 40 years of debilitating fear, can’t even look at a picture of them.

It’s cicada season and I’m sitting in my car bawling my eyes out because they are around my door. It’s 11 pm, and I’m extremely tired. I can’t deal with this. I really need help.

Imagine he’s walking down the hallway and just hears *SmOoSh*

I was just outside a few minutes ago, and there were a bunch of huge bugs. I ran inside and watched this video... still terribly afraid 😱 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

There was a cockroach crawling on my screen door. I fricken covered the sides of the door with paper. And by sides i mean bottom top and right. After doing that for a long time and washing my hands for like 30 minutes, i got the news that it was already dead.

Number one rule for insects: if its bigger than a coin, its eldritch horror.

I know it’s a common belief that bees and wasps don’t sting unless provoked, but I’m living proof that this isn’t always true. I’ve been sitting still, I’ve been walking far away from any hive, I’ve been laying down, standing, whatever. And regardless, I’ve still been stung for no reason by passing wasps/bees. Once I was at least 30 feet away from a hive minding my own business passing by, and I got swarmed by like 10 bees. Like i said, I’ve never provoked them, I’ve never been too close to their hive, I’ve never swatted at them, yet I still get stung

Im fine with bugs but when they go in my personal space or touch me then I’m grossed out. I don’t even kill them I just keep my distance. But I’m Trying to get over that because I am passionate about working with animals so I’ll also be around bugs as a result.

I'm not afraid of what i don't understand. I fully understand bugs and find them super interesting. But tiny bugs cause this really strong anxiety reaction in me and I feel like they are all over me. I get super itchy and I have issues with my scalp, and the two combined cause me to constantly be scratching it till it bleeds. I'm also 'afraid' of bugs that are fast, where one moment you can see them and the next you can't. It's a control issue. Lastly, I'm not really afraid of them, but things like flies/gnats or any flying insect that doesn't understand personal space cause anxiety in me. It relates to the last one in that I'm pretty sure it's a control issue. But the noise of flies and bees also triggers my misophonia. But if any of these bugs are completely still, they don't bother me. I am scared of bees when they fly but I once sat for 5 minutes with a cute bee just resting on my hand. And I LOVE dragon/damsel flies. They are one of the most amazing creatures ever. Sometimes they intimidate me, but I've never had them cause me anxiety.

I am and have been a lifelong arachnophobic and no one is not an arachnophobic will never understand the phobia fear stress and anxiety that comes with it

I want to like bugs I really do... they're fascinating, and lowkey kinda cute! But whenever I see one my brain just *panics*

Just found 2 spiders in my room and ran out. Now I'm watching this

Now I am more afraid of insects bcs I've just realised that there are so many more crippy insects than I had ever known.

this definitely has helped

I just saw a terrifying thing near by bed, it looked like a giant spider but with wings and I screamed and ran to my dad to remove it somehow and I had a mini panic attack. Now here I am watching this video hoping I’ll be able to sleep tonight

The only bug I'm afraid of is bloody wasps

I am afraid of grasshoppers.I really want to overcome it but I don't know why,when I saw a grasshopper in front of me then I forget every thing and depressed badly.Can you please help me to overcome my fear

Am I the only one who is TERRIFIED of grasshoppers? If it's in a room, I am moving away from that room.

At this point, this is an audio for me because there’s no way I’m looking at a screen full of bugs 😭 my phobia is horrible I can’t

thank you for making my fear worse

Im here because there is a moth as big as my thumb somewhere in my room rn and i cant go in there i need hELP

I am sure I have a phobia I didn't sleep in my bed 2 days after I saw a big spider on my arm and worms on my leg

I have a huge fear of mosquitoes, it’s at a point where I’m petrified when I see it, I cannot move, I’m now hiding in my bathroom after staying frozen for 15 minutes because I saw a mosquitoes, and I’m too scared to kill it. I’m trying really hard to get over it. I can’t even tell me parents because they’re sleeping and they will get mad ( I don’t blame them ) 😢 😭 i don’t know what to do

Thank u so much I’m not scare of them but if they land on me... Oh no