While not wishing to endorse a particular product or brand, I would like to report the effectiveness of a cheap and readily available device in the management of insect and spider phobia (the ‘Bug Katcha’, from Betterware). The device consists of a clear Perspex box with a sliding door mounted on a long handle, allowing the offending insect to be entrapped from a distance and released without manual contact.

Having in jest presented a severely spider-phobic psychiatrist friend with such an item, I was pleased to hear that its use had provided effective exposure in vivo and led to a marked reduction in symptoms of anxiety. She became able to talk about and to be in a room with spiders without displaying visible signs of arousal. As many non-arachnophobes prefer not to handle spiders directly, her functioning seems to have been restored to an acceptable level.

This device may provide a practical and cost-effective way to reduce the manifestations of simple insect and spider phobias.