Yesterday I challenged myself by going to a Water Park that had been the scene of one of my early anxiety episodes a few years ago. I had anticipatory anxiety the night before and also felt quite nervous and a little nauseous when we first arrived. However, I kept telling myself that the feelings and physical sensations would subside and were nothing to panic over. I also reminded myself that I was facing memories of a past anxiety attack and that I was not necessarily going to have the same experience this time. The first couple of water slides I went on caused some physical symptoms but I remembered to remind myself "Maybe this is just excitement I'm feeling...it is normal to have a little adrenal rush and rapid hearbeat going down a winding water slide." I let my husband go on one water slide by himself while I did some deep breathing and distracted myself by watching some gymnasts and high divers perform. After this, I calmed down and actually had a good time for the rest of the day! I still had a bit of a tense, nervous feeling but it was manageable. Floating along the lazy river was actually very relaxing!

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good for you.... Keep up the good work!!!!

Carolina,

I just want to say I think this is incredible that you did this. Choosing to think something differently than what you would normally think when you get those excitement feelings will lead you out of that wildnerness of fear and angst. Way to go, you applied the skills and they worked, under some challenging conditions. Kudos to you. You rock.

Thank you for this story, because I can honestly say I know EXACTLY how you feel. About five years ago I got really nervous on the way to a water park and made myself sick. My mom is going to take my brother to that same park soon, and I was thinking about going to challenge myself (I've been challenging myself a lot this summer!) and your story helped me realize that I'm not the only one! Congratulations and thank you again.