And Sometimes They Do

In therapy, one of the techniques used for combatting anxiety is to take deep breaths, say all of your possible dire situations out loud, and calmly remind yourself that they are quite unlikely to happen. In forms of anxiety that are completely based on the misfiring of chemicals in your brain, this works quite often. You breathe, you list, and then you dismiss. I won't say that it's always simple. Sometimes that process has to be repeated over and over. It can and does work, however, if the anxiety is formed out of chemicals only and nothing of substance.

Here's the thing. This is not the only time people experience anxiety. Panic attacks can be triggered over many different scenarios and many times, they are based around things that have happened to you already. If you've been bullied before, you can get panicky about new people. If you've been in a room with a fire, you might get anxious if you don't know where the exits are. Even in situations like this, people will often ask you what is the worst that can happen. Often you don't tell them, just as it's often difficult to put into words why you might be crying or shaking.

Even still, people who are trying to improve their mental health and be brave despite all the emotions that are jabbing them with a knife will still do their best to breathe, list, and dismiss. I went to a movie today. I'd fallen a couple of nights ago and wasn't feeling that confident about my abilities to wander around the theater without lots of pain and exhaustion. I panicked about it even but tried my best to focus on the positives and move forward. After all, it was a movie we both wanted to see and I had my walker so if things got too bad, I could use it to steady myself for a moment.

Breathe breathe. Because what was the worst that could happen? It was wet and I slip in water and fall? I've fallen at the theater before and I survived.  I would be laughed at? Eh, fuck them. Who cares what they think.  I would be forced to be in an uncomfortable position for a while to the point where my walker was causing me more pain than helping me? What were the chances of that?

Most of the time, these things never happen.

And . . . sometimes they do.

When we got to the theater, what we assumed would be the first showing and one we could just walk into was not. We ended up having to wait for long damned while. I had to sit on the walker and it's only comfortable for about three minutes. Past that, it gets painful. My feet don't touch the ground well and I have to tiptoe to keep it steady. It makes my back hurt and twists me a little. The longer we waited, the more agony I was in. My poor roommate had to stand that whole time and hold a wet drink that kept trying to slip out of his fingers.

Okay though, here's the part where the therapy deepens. If you breathe, list, and then CANNOT dismiss something, you look at it from another angle. Will you survive it? Will you be okay after the situation is over? In this case, I was. I lived. I'm in pain and I had to reschedule some things, I'm glad I went and I'm glad I faced down my panic. I'm not happy we had to wait that long because that seriously sucked.

Anyway, when you find yourself being anxious about something, try the breathe, list, dismiss. If you can't dismiss, analyze the situation to see if it's still worth your while. If it is, do it anyway. If not, well, honestly,  that's not panic. That's your mind telling you not to do the bad thing. It's important to know that difference as well.