Bloody Groundhog Day

[up a ladder]

So I am back again and mainly due to having to go back to work after Christmas.
Anyway I have suffered for years and mainly anticipatory annxiety. What I am completely stumped by is why, despite perpetual proof that it always works out okay, I still suffer crippling anxiety.
The same fears, the same beliefs, the same events and no matter how many times I go through and come out feeling fine, the next event is the same.

If this were a couple of years like this I could see that it can take a while, but I have the same anxiety about meetings, flying, being away from home I have had for 25 years despite 100s of successes.

[Speranza]

Oh bless you, I must apologise for laughing when I saw the thread title.

I SO know what you mean!

However sometimes things change. Hang in there...

[pulisa]

It's a farce what they tell you about things getting easier the more times you do them, isn't it?!:D Always good to have a sense of humour about it though!

[up a ladder]

Thanks for making me smile. It does help being with others who can make sense of my ramblings..

[pulisa]

You make perfect sense to me!

[Jo1970]

And me. Doesn't matter how many times I have been through this, I always feel back to square 1 when I have a flare up

[ankietyjoe]

The key is to fix the reaction you're having, not the thing you're doing.

It doesn't matter whether you're going to the shops, attending a meeting, changing jobs etc etc. The success isn't doing those things, the success is not reacting to the anxiety.

If you beat the reaction, the win will come with you whatever you're doing.

[Catherine S]

I've never really learned how to deal with my awful claustrophobia and have had it since childhood (no bad stuff triggered it though). It does control me...I can't get on a train if I can see that it's full so I let trains go without me while waiting for one that's not standing room only.

Also the usual stuff like always sitting next to the aisle in a cinema or theatre and leaving as soon as the movie or show ends to avoid the crush. I hate motorways because I feel trapped on them and look for A-roads wherever possible. I can't sit in the back seat of a car if it's only got 2 doors. Any situation where I can't easily escape. I do find taking a daily beta blocker helps but it doesn't cure.

I absolutely related to that chap in the news last week who used the emergency door to get off the plane stuck on the tarmac, and ended up sitting on the wing! He said he had to get out because of his claustrophobia :ohmy:

So I have the same anticipatory anxiety as you up_a_ladder, and afer 40-something years I think I might be stuck with it.

Cath S ☺

[pulisa]

The key is to fix the reaction you're having, not the thing you're doing.

It doesn't matter whether you're going to the shops, attending a meeting, changing jobs etc etc. The success isn't doing those things, the success is not reacting to the anxiety.

If you beat the reaction, the win will come with you whatever you're doing.

Well for some people this is the key but not for all.

[AntsyVee]

I've never really learned how to deal with my awful claustrophobia and have had it since childhood (no bad stuff triggered it though). It does control me...I can't get on a train if I can see that it's full so I let trains go without me while waiting for one that's not standing room only.

Also the usual stuff like always sitting next to the aisle in a cinema or theatre and leaving as soon as the movie or show ends to avoid the crush. I hate motorways because I feel trapped on them and look for A-roads wherever possible. I can't sit in the back seat of a car if it's only got 2 doors. Any situation where I can't easily escape. I do find taking a daily beta blocker helps but it doesn't cure.

I absolutely related to that chap in the news last week who used the emergency door to get off the plane stuck on the tarmac, and ended up sitting on the wing! He said he had to get out because of his claustrophobia :ohmy:

So I have the same anticipatory anxiety as you up_a_ladder, and afer 40-something years I think I might be stuck with it.

Cath S ☺

The older I get, the worse my claustrophobia gets, no matter how much exposure therapy I do and no matter how many times I force myself to take the elevator at work. It’s gotten so bad that I even dread going a certain way to our local airport because I can no longer take going in the tunnel under the runway.

[ankietyjoe]

Well for some people this is the key but not for all.


Why would it not be the key for all? It's the cornerstone of almost all therapeutic solutions.

[pulisa]

That maybe so but as you can see we aren't all textbook cases unfortunately no matter how much practice we put in over the decades.

[Catherine S]

The older I get, the worse my claustrophobia gets, no matter how much exposure therapy I do and no matter how many times I force myself to take the elevator at work. It’s gotten so bad that I even dread going a certain way to our local airport because I can no longer take going in the tunnel under the runway.

Don't talk to me about tunnels Antsy, in Liverpool there are two of them under the river Mersey :D

[up a ladder]

Thanks all. This is really helping.
Some interesting issues for me.

When this first hit me, I had major issues driving on motorways. Getting my hair cut was impossible if it was not in my own house. Queing in shops.
None of these now worry me at all. So there was a shift (why??)

What has stayed is meetings, being away from home & flying.
I've done all of these but still, my stomach drops when I have to think about it. I booked a family holiday last year to Orlando and cancelled because I could not face the flight. That has caused me so much self loathing that every time I look at my son I feel raging guilt (we told him work made me cancel)

I didnt see the news about the man on the plane, but that would be me. I would happily fly if I could be strapped to the wing or on a plane without passengers, but when I have flown and heard the seal pressurise on the door it takes a monumental effort to keep me on the plane.