A grandad overcomes his fear of moths after decades of anxiety, allowing him to enjoy his garden again with his wife.
Darwen: So, there’s this grandad who was totally freaked out by moths for years. Can you believe it? He’s 59 and has been scared stiff of these little bugs since his 20s when he worked at an envelope factory. That place was like a moth magnet, and they’d just fly into him all the time. He said it scared the life out of him!
Every time he saw a moth, he thought they were out to get him. It got so bad that he couldn’t even chill in his garden with his wife, Bev, during summer. They had to skip camping trips and all that fun stuff because he was just dreading the season when those pesky bugs would be around.
Feeling bad for Bev, who was super understanding, he decided enough was enough. He wanted to take back control of his life. So, he signed up for this experiment at a clinic in Amsterdam that helps folks with fears. It was a big step for him!
In October 2023, he tried this Memory Reconsolidation treatment, and wow, it was a game changer! He even rescued a caterpillar from his shed afterward. Can you imagine? He found the clinic through an ad for a Channel 4 show called The Fear Clinic, which is set to air on January 21 and features his journey.
The treatment involved chatting with a psychologist and then facing his fear head-on by spending five minutes in a room with 30 to 40 moths. He said it was tough, but the goal was to stay in there no matter what. After that, he took a beta-blocker to chill out and went back to his hotel, told to avoid thinking about the experience.
And just like that, he felt different! The next day, he even asked to hold a moth. He thought it would be all clumsy, but it turned out to be soft and gentle. What a turnaround!
