Hello,
Thank you for creating such a helpful site.
I've been right down to the bottom but at the moment I'm living a fairly "normal" life. However, I'm still "nervous" in some situations. I face almost everything (some things I just can't) and therefore I find myself in uncomfortable situations. Most of the time I survive them but occasionally I feel panic rising. Increasingly I am lying to cope with the situation. I'll give you an example. 3 weeks ago I was in a meeting on the 13th floor of a building, I'm not superstitious but I don't like being in tall buildings. I was very aware of the windows and began to lose concentration and to have breathing problems. I couldn't sit still in my seat and knew that the panic was coming. What to do? I couldn't run away, not if I wanted to keep my job, so I told the person I was meeting with that I had a very bad back pain due to moving furniture the day before (not true!) This was something everyone can relate to and he was most sympathetic and offered advice. The panic subsided and afterwards every time I felt "nervous" I shifted in my seat and grimaced. I survived the meeting but on the way home I felt guilty about lying. The lying had helped me but is it a good thing? Since then I have used the bad back excuse on two occasions in two different meetings which weren't in tall buildings. Should I continue to lie to save myself or not?
Thanks
Bryn