I went outside around 9pm, because the stupid chicken was standing in the middle of the lawn again (& i had to put her away in case a cat or something attacks her), & as I passed the floodlights at the back of the house, there was a cloud of giant moths fluttering around the light. I went nuts & ran for my life, but smacked into a glass door and banged my head. The damned moths started coming at me, so I took off again, & grabbed the chicken to put in her cage as I was running. When I opened her cage door, there was a BIG huntsman spider clinging on the inside of the door (about 5 inches in diameter) and I panicked & used the chicken to smash the spider like a flyswatter (the chicken didnt like this much) then I ran for it back inside. When I got inside, everyone was laughing, because they'd been watching me screaming & running around outside. My brother says "Hey there's a moth IN YOUR HAIR!!" and I freaked again- "GET THE MOTHER%^*%^ THING OFF ME!!! ^%*^%*^%*%^*%^$^&&!!!!! AAAAAAARGH!!!!" But then I realised he was joking.. Does anyone else suffer from this weird phobia?? I have ever since I was little. I hate moths. They're like flying spiders to me. They've got lots of little twitching legs, and they fly around everywhere & get tangled in your hair & they're awful & crunchy when you swat them. I really freak out badly when I see one, & I'm 20 years old?? I used to do this when I was 5, but I havent outgrown it. I cant walk outside at night in summer because of this :( Help? :(

Sorry I can't help you with a shared dread mine is spiders but I can sympathise with what you went throught as my family thinks it is really funny watching me freak out over spiders. The best I can suggest is perhaps a hypnotherapist to try and help you do things to work through this, perhaps even find out why. There are some who specialise in aiding people with phobias. Goodluck. As for the family - just think mean thoughts and be patient and wait - something will happen to afford you some small comfort of revenge on them.

I had to crack up laughing when I read your story, not because of your fear, but because the same thing happened to me when I lived in Utah on a chicken farm. I have severe mottephobia too, so the only thing I can tell you is to move to a place where it's really cold all the time...no moths!

No advice, but I can relate. I have a phobia of another sort. I get so embarressed sometimes. I wish people would understand that the despair people have from phobias are real!

I also have a brutal mottephobia. What I had to do was (finally) move out of my parents house where they hatched by the dozens in the summer. I dreaded summer and could hardly sleep in my room when I knew there were moths all around. The only thing I could do while I was at home was kill them with an electrified racket or in the morning when they are sluggish. I would literally have panic attacks and would be in tears during fits of rage at moths flying around my face. I had to move to a place where moths dont have nooks and crannies to breed in. I havent seen a moth in two years. Luckily moths are only really an issue during the summer. This is how I learned to hate summer weather. The other thing that I would do is hang bug zappers in known bad areas. It smells something awful though when they burn.

Wow, I had no idea that there were so many of us mottephobics! I only just found out that there is even a name for this phobia and I have suffered from it all my life (I'm 47 yrs old..argh). The most terrifying are the large sphinx moths that look like hummingbirds (shudder), but I'm afraid of all but the tiny ones. I cant kill anything and wish them no ill will, but I wish they would all keep far away. The most embarrassing thing is to be driving with friends in the car and to have a moth fly in the window...I've had to pull over and run out of the car (impossible to drive with one fluttering around your head!) while my friends laughed and tried to get the moths out for me. My son loves to crinkle baggies at the back of my neck because I always think it is a moth and I let out a squeel and duck! One of my brothers and two cousins are also mottephobic...can it really be genetic?