Acarophobia

I've never been formally diagnosed but I'm pretty sure I have a textbook phobia of ticks.  Acarophobia is an exaggerated or irrational fear of mites, ticks, small insects and worms.  Basically, I'm scared of being infested with ticks. Period.  I don't care about mites or worms; I play with worms in my garden but when I see a tick I FREAK OUT.  Just ask Bob. 

Bob and his mom go morel hunting every Spring.  I went once and I loved it until I got back to their house and found a tick or two on me.  And, the next morning on my way to work, while driving my car, I nearly ran off the road when I looked in the rearview mirror at myself and saw a tick on my ear.  Oh my gosh!  It was terrifying!  I no longer go into the woods during warmer months because I'm afraid of getting ticks on me and when Bob goes mushroom hunting I demand he take a shower at his parent's house before coming home and that he wash his clothes at their house.

Last week when I was setting up my gnome home under the tree I was happily seated on the grass making the rock path and never once thought about ticks or other bugs which might be crawling on me.  Then that night before I got into the bathtub I found a tick crawling near my underwear line.  It was a little one.  It crawled on my hand and I screamed for Bob.  Of course, he had his headphones on so I had to scream several times.  Being a little miffed that I interrupted his Netflix movie he strolled down the hall to see why I was yelling. He confirmed that it was a tick. I made him practically strip search my body then I made like the movie "Silkwood" and got into the shower and scrubbed my skin until it was practically raw.  I checked my body another time when I got out then twice more the next day.  No more sitting in the grass for me!

I don't think it's the fear of having a bug crawl on me, but this particular bug, the tick, carries disease that once you get it (ie. Lyme Disease) you are pretty much screwed and I know of someone who got Lyme disease from a tick bite several years earlier and has daily pain, etc.  And they are sneaky little suckers and they cling to your skin and suck your blood.  It's so gross that I'm itching right now as I write this post.  I'd better stop now.