Hello everyone,
I recently moved from Ohio to Illinois and it was supposed to be a 8-9 hour car drive. But we have a 7 month old and a three year old, so we had to stop about 5 times to get out and walk/potty breaks, ect. I was VERY afraid to go. when I told my mom goodbye in Ohio, I told her that I hoped I didn't die on the trip and that I would see her again (my anxiety is very much about dying). I do not like being in a car. Last year at this time, I could not drive at all. I had very bad panic attacks just being in a car with my husband driving. When college classes started again in January, I forced myself to start driving again, but I still had anxiety.
Anyhow... I am also terrified of storms and when we had just gotten into Illinois (and past the storm in Indiana), a tornado warning alert came on the radio. Apparently, the tornado was headed for a town that was about 5 miles down the road! Fortunately, just before the warning, I had asked my husband to pull into a rest area because the rain was coming down in sheets and I didn't want us hydroplaning or anything. Now, I did have some anxiety at the rest station, but I just paced around and told myself that it was just anxiety. There were some other people there that looked pretty scared too! I made it and after we left the rest station, there were some pretty awesome and scary lightning bolts everywhere. I'm not sure if anyone heard, but it was the same day as the Indy 500, which they ended up delaying the race due to weather, then they cut it 20 laps short because of tornados. We left Indianapolis about 20-30 minutes before the really bad storm hit there. The trip ended up taking 11 hours for us altogether!
Yesterday there was a tornado warning for the county which I reside and the counties to the west and southwest of me. I was alone, besides the kids who were asleep and the tornado siren warning was sounding, so I just called my mom and talked to her. Amazingly, I stayed moderately calm (I have always had bad anxiety from storms, even when I didn't have anxiety disorder).
Anyhow, I just wanted to post this since it's a big accomplishment for me! Oh, I am still on week 2 of the program too, so I can't wait to see how I do when I finish the program!
take care!!

Awesome! Totally awesome!

Hi Ocean!

You're on Week 2??? You're amazing!! You moved to a new state at a time in the program when a lot of people feel held back to the point of being completely stuck.... I am so proud of you and your willingness to challenge your fears. CONGRATS CONGRATS CONGRATS!!!

Good for you! That is great progress to be making after only Session Two. Storms can be pretty anxiety-provoking for anyone. I went through a hurricane last year and it was really interesting to see how my co-workers were acting the day before the storm was supposed to hit. A lot of them were pretty agitated as they made preparations for the storm - it made me realize that everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. The trick is not to get overly sensitized by it when it takes over during a genuinely distressing event.