Relapsing into this stupid fear

[textsfromthemoon]

I want you to notice what you did. You changed factual statements into reassurance seeking questions. Take the question marks away and you have facts with no room for anxiety and speculation.

Positive thoughts

Wow thank you so much, this actually really helps!! Everytime I've started to feel anxious I've come back and re-read what I said and it really helps me to feel calmer!

Thank you to everyone who has responded, I appreiciate it

[textsfromthemoon]

So I wanted to share partly because venting helps and partly because I'm proud of myself for doing something logical (for once lol), I was proud of myself for not googling today, got home from work around 12:30 and thought I would relax while scrolling Reddit on my phone, open up the Reddit app and what do I see on my front page but a post about freaking rabies, of course my HA took over and I started reading everything (BIG MISTAKE DUH!!) and I got myself all worked up (again..DUHHH )

Anyway by this point its 2:30am and I'm here convinced yet again somehow I'm the victim of the ever popular and sneaky ninja bat, I of course immediately want to reassurance seek and wake my boyfriend up but then I remembered this thread and thought...lets try using logic. Anyway this lead me to try instead of looking up something terrifying lets look up something logical, which lead me to learn that even the smallest bats where I live have an average wingspan of 11 inches!! That would be like someone chucking a ruler at me and me somehow not noticing! That would be one hell of a ninja bat for sure for it to bite my hand without me seeing it so feeling much calmer now and even though I took a bit of a step back tonight I think brought myself back to where I need to be, this is probably kind of a pointless edition to my post but felt like sharing

[Midnight-mouse]

...lets try using logic.

I took a bit of a step back tonight I think brought myself back to where I need to be, this is probably kind of a pointless edition to my post but felt like sharing

On the contrary! This is exactly the sort of thing that should be updated on! You did great to use logic to calm yourself as opposed to relying on the temporary reassurances of others.

Go you! - seriously and wholeheartedly.

Positive vibes,

Mouse x



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fishmanpa]

Good job MMouse!

Positive thoughts

[textsfromthemoon]

On the contrary! This is exactly the sort of thing that should be updated on! You did great to use logic to calm yourself as opposed to relying on the temporary reassurances of others.

Go you! - seriously and wholeheartedly.

Positive vibes,

Mouse x



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow thank you so much I really appreciate that! I've had some anxious moments but as a whole I've felt SO much better today so it definitely helped more than reassurance seeking does I'm hoping to overcome this fear for good this time

[Midnight-mouse]

I've felt SO much better today so it definitely helped more than reassurance seeking does

This it what it’s all about, it’s hard work sometimes but if we are going to feel better the change in thoughts has to come from ourselves. No one else can impart the change in us, you should feel proud of your self for taking the steps to take control, I know it’s a very tough step to take.

Positive vibes,

Mouse



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[textsfromthemoon]

Thank you so much Midnight-mouse! I won't lie and say I haven't been experiencing anxiety from this situation but I am trying to work through the feelings and so far they are slowly and steadily getting better and easier to manage, I'm hoping that this can be last rabies "scare" because I am so done with it

[Midnight-mouse]

because I am so done with it

I often find that when I get mad *at* the conditions and get fed up of them, I can fight back and it’s possible to make much more progress. Even in the way you have worded your reply it’s clear your aware that it’s anxiety causing your feelings of concern and you know you can fight that, I promise you are strong enough to fight.

Positive vibes,

Mouse



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[textsfromthemoon]

Thats actually a good idea, I think being mad and realizing its anxiety is helping a lot, I even saw a post online (on Reddit again wtf is going on on there!) that mentioned rabies last night, I got anxious for a minute but I tried to just force the thought out of my mind and tried my best not to spiral, I was anxious for a bit but feel okay today!

On a somewhat related note, does anyone know what kind of therapist would be best to see for a fear like this? I am interested in trying out therapy for my HA, I went to just regular talk therapy in high school for self harm and later anxiety/emet it helped but I'm not sure just generic therapy would work for something like HA?

[textsfromthemoon]

Sorry I keep coming back to this thread but I don’t want to flood up the board with new ones, so I’ve been doing okay with everything but I had a nightmare about bat bites/rabies last night and now I’m starting to feel anxious again, especially since Wednesday is 3 weeks since it all happened, I don’t think about it continually or anything but sometimes my mind will just create a thought about me getting rabies and I have to try my best not to spiral, I don’t want to be thinking about this for the next 3-8 weeks when my brain will let me consider myself “safe”
One technique that helps that I actually learned here is when I get scared or start to feel overwhelmed telling myself “we can worry about this later” and then moving the thought from my mind for the time being, I forget what it’s called but I saw it in another thread on NMP. Any other techniques that you guys use to fight anxious thoughts?