Bat or Not a Bat?

[Carys]

Sorry, I know you are really upset and stressed, but RABID BAT SALIVA ?! How the flip could a bat access your bathroom, then not be seen, then chuck up foamy saliva on your floor, then exit the bathroom. Rabid creatures don't around 'chucking up saliva' anyway. This is beyond imaginable, its even further than fiction. Its soap or cat puke !!!

[venusbluejeans]

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

Emmz

[Nile]

OKAY NEW ONE. Someone talk me out of this!

My cat was super interested in a curtain for some reason (he was basically trying to climb on it and sniffing it like crazy) and I, being a bat-phobic idiot, worried he was acting like this because there was a bat on the curtain. I checked the curtain (it was in a closed room, so the hypothetical bat wouldn’t have anywhere to go) and didn’t see anything. I put it on the floor for my cat to check out, and he just kept sniffing it and tried to pee on it! LOL, so after that I assumed he had smelled one of the other cats on it, since the curtain was on the back of the couch for a few days.

But a few minutes later, my ear started to burn and sting, so I worried that a bat bit it while I was checking. I tried to check behind my ear, but couldn’t see a bite. And on top of that, I never even saw a bat!

This is totally in my head, right? No reason to worry?

[nomorepanic]

You need to try and work through this yourself and tell yourself how impossible all of this sounds because it is.

We can't keep reassuring you that these aren't bats because it is something you need to get clear in your own mind.

Are you getting any help for the anxiety?

[venusbluejeans]

Please could you reply to the PM which I have sent you this evening?

[Nile]

You need to try and work through this yourself and tell yourself how impossible all of this sounds because it is.

We can't keep reassuring you that these aren't bats because it is something you need to get clear in your own mind.

Are you getting any help for the anxiety?

I have a medication, but I can’t afford therapy right now. 😕 I usually take a day to get over it and have someone talk some rationality into me. Works for me for right now, until I can get CBT.

I know the situations sound crazy, but usually I can get over if someone tells me it’s not realistic.

[Fishmanpa]

Respectfully, why does someone have to tell you it's unrealistic? Are you honestly saying you cannot read what you wrote and comprehend that?

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

You've got triggers sparking intrusive thoughts and your reaction to them feeds the cycle, as it does with all fear. Try to lessen this reaction, it will help but it's hard to do at first because it feels so strong.

Try to imagine your subconscious is just blurting out options or possibilities but with the insight of the logical conscious mind. This doesn't mean they have to be real or even possible, just that the subconscious needs a decision on them. Try to dismiss them as irrelevant and move on and your subconscious will learn they aren't worth sending out.

It takes time but it works and your CBT is going to aim to do something very similar. There are differences in the technique at the point of reaction but it's all about halting a negative reaction which feeds the cycle and learning to replace it with a positive/neutral one which feeds the cycle. This doesn't mean anxiety stops, it may even temporarily worsen since the subconscious is demanding a negative reaction so it's an exposure to your feelings, therefore you have to be prepared to accept anxiety will continue but that doesn't mean anything about the fear's context, it's just that you have a disorder that needs time & repetition to undo.

It doesn't matter much how outlandish a thought may be, it's the fact it comes with feelings of anxiety. If a thought of a ninja bat riding a chariot with rabies popped into the mind of a non anxious you, you wouldn't care. That would be the end of it. Add feelings of anxiety/panic to any situation and the reaction we aim towards is panic/anxiety to feed that cycle. So, whether you have seen a bat flying around in a room or whether you live in a country where bats don't exist but still fear bats with rabies, it's all about the fear itself. Regardless, the same is needed to tackle it as it shouldn't be in the subconscious.

[paranoid-viking]

NOT a bat.

What are you doing to treat your anxiety? Your problem is anxiety and NOT, I repaet NOT rabies.

All of the rabies posters here should really ask question about how to get the treatment for they massivly irrational fear of rabies instead of asking us to give us reassurance #50 000 that there is no such things as invisible bats.

---------- Post added at 18:15 ---------- Previous post was at 18:14 ----------

You've got triggers sparking intrusive thoughts and your reaction to them feeds the cycle, as it does with all fear. Try to lessen this reaction, it will help but it's hard to do at first because it feels so strong.

Try to imagine your subconscious is just blurting out options or possibilities but with the insight of the logical conscious mind. This doesn't mean they have to be real or even possible, just that the subconscious needs a decision on them. Try to dismiss them as irrelevant and move on and your subconscious will learn they aren't worth sending out.

It takes time but it works and your CBT is going to aim to do something very similar. There are differences in the technique at the point of reaction but it's all about halting a negative reaction which feeds the cycle and learning to replace it with a positive/neutral one which feeds the cycle. This doesn't mean anxiety stops, it may even temporarily worsen since the subconscious is demanding a negative reaction so it's an exposure to your feelings, therefore you have to be prepared to accept anxiety will continue but that doesn't mean anything about the fear's context, it's just that you have a disorder that needs time & repetition to undo.

It doesn't matter much how outlandish a thought may be, it's the fact it comes with feelings of anxiety. If a thought of a ninja bat riding a chariot with rabies popped into the mind of a non anxious you, you wouldn't care. That would be the end of it. Add feelings of anxiety/panic to any situation and the reaction we aim towards is panic/anxiety to feed that cycle. So, whether you have seen a bat flying around in a room or whether you live in a country where bats don't exist but still fear bats with rabies, it's all about the fear itself. Regardless, the same is needed to tackle it as it shouldn't be in the subconscious.

Yes; it is similar to the fear of being abducted by aliens. I have been a rabies fearer myself(mind you; that was after a trip to a country where rabies does exist and at that time claimed maybe 50 human lives per year)and I can wholeheartly say that rabies fear is outlandish beyond belief. I tried to rationalise my outlandish paranoia myself but with hindsight I se how crazy it was and that everypne who told me that this was riddicilous and crazy were 100% right.

[EmmerLooeez]

Oh Nile I feel really sad for you reading this. I know you feel like you need reassurance, but that is the worst thing that we can give you. It might work there and then but you'll need more and feed the whole messy cycle, becoming more unwell.

If you can't afford therapy could you maybe purchase a book or some worksheets? Try and do some self-help.

When you read your posts back after the initial panic, can you see that they are illogical? If so then perhaps you writing them down may help, that way you can reassure yourselves after you notice that none of them were really happening. Does that make sense? Even now try and think of times that you feared bats and rabies and know that you were illogical then, tell yourself you're being illogical now. Your brain will instinctually think something along the lines of "yes I might try that later but I need something for NOW", do this now.