Planning ahead for potential anxiety trigger...

[golddustgirl1000]

Hey guys,

So I have a very well known fear of bats and rabies..I’ve gone through the last few years with this for a while and am slowly having more time in between without anxieties about it..

Anyway.. on Saturday I’m atyending a wedding, actually I’m photographing it and went to scout out the location yesterday... so here is the thing... they told me there are bats there.. and that they come out towards evening and look like drunk birds... I know what they look like :/

Unfortunately the whole thing is outside from 5-10... when I’m photographing I’m in the zone... my question is.. how do I ( ahead of time) plan to not worry... I know I’ll start to think.. oh what if it bit me and I didn’t notice..

[Fishmanpa]

Sounds like your anxiety has already planned ahead :( Sadly, facts (Ninja painless biting bats don't exist) don't typically quell the worry.

Positive thought

[axolotl]

my question is.. how do I ( ahead of time) plan to not worry

I realise you can't always logic away these things, but remember all the hundreds of wedding receptions that will have happened here (and every other outdoor, bat-inhabited wedding venue in America) with literally no-one ever getting bitten by rabid bats, and all the scores of wedding guests around you that aren't giving the bats a second thought and enjoying their evening, as that's what non-anxious people do. Some may even enjoy watching them - I would be.

Also remember you're multiplying very unlikely things together here.

You'll be bitten by a bat x you'll not notice x that bad will be rabid.

Very unlikely x very unlikely x very unlikely = astronomically unlikely, in this case as close to impossible as it can be.

Ultimately you have to allow your brain to have the thoughts and give them the (lack of) respect they deserve. Hey what if one of these bats bites you? Yeah what if it does? I'm having a drink and a sausage roll, shush brain. That takes work though.