Why You Should Check Inside Your Pillows This Fall: “I Felt Sick”

A woman has made a public service announcement online, warning people not to jump into bed without checking everywhere first. Why? Because he discovered a huge spider resting between the bed pillow and the pillowcase.

The video, posted to @livinginneutral_, has garnered more than 4.2 million views since it was shared on October 11. Text layered over the footage reads: “This is your cue to check your pillows this fall (autumn).”

The clip, titled “I felt SICK. Bruce Almighty just came back to my bed,” has more than 87,000 likes at the time of writing. It’s safe to say the message has resonated, as arachnophobes have taken to the comments to share their thoughts. It turns out that other users have had similar experiences, with many saying they now can’t go to sleep without checking it out.

“No, because I found one behind my pillow and now I have to check it every night,” one user wrote. The original poster replied: “Once it happens to you, I don’t think you’ll skip a pillow check for the rest of your life.”

“I look under my pillows every night, shake my duvet and then look around the ceiling and corners,” commented another, with the poster vowing to do the same. He added that he had no idea that spiders like to get cozy in bed.

In fact, spiders are more likely to invade homes during the winter, but it’s not because they’re attracted to the heat. Romney Pest Control in Texas says spiders are highly adaptable creatures that can live in a wide range of environments. As cold-blooded animals, they enter a state called diapause during the winter, which is similar to hibernation.

Other comments included: “I absolutely did not need to watch this while lying in the dark in bed” and “I could have lived the rest of my life without watching this video. The way I fear spiders is ridiculous.”

TikTok users aren’t the only ones with these fears. A 2022 YouGov poll found that spiders are one of the top fears of Americans. The survey of 1,000 adults showed that women are generally more likely than men to express fear, particularly scary ones.

The biggest gender difference was with snakes, where women were 20 percent more likely than men to be afraid of them. Females also showed significantly more fear of spiders, insects and crowded spaces. Overall, 30% of respondents were afraid of snakes, 28% of heights and 24% of spiders.

The Cleveland Clinic suggests seeing your primary health care provider or a psychologist to address your fear. Additionally, you can try the following methods to help you feel more comfortable:

• Practice relaxation techniques: try deep breathing exercises (inhale slowly through the nose, hold for three seconds and exhale slowly through the mouth), meditation, mindfulness or progressive muscle relaxation (tenses and relaxes different muscle groups).
• Focus on calming thoughts: Visualize and focus on something that brings you peace and calm.

Newsweek reached out to @livinginneutral_ for comment via TikTok. We have not been able to verify the details of the case.

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