Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
I posted this in a different group, and someone suggested I also share it here. Thank you so much for reading! Really!!!!!
There was a fire at my neighbors house over the summer, sparked by arcing power lines, caused by the most intense thunderstorm we've had in years. Eventually, 2 houses and 3 garages on my block caught fire. I spent 6 hours on the street (we couldn't go back in our homes in case they caught on fire as well) watching the firemen try to put out the fires as they kept getting reignited by the lines, until at last DTE could shut off the power. During this time is when the new fires were ignited. It took those 6 hours because there were 7 other fires in my hometown alone. The arcing powerlines sounded like giant booms everytime they had a surge, and I had a new panic attack each time that sound happened. It was just so loud, and I realized each boom meant a new spark that could light a new fire. It felt like the whole world was on fire when it grew dark, and you could see the light and smoke, and even hear that sound, coming from fires blocks away.
Now, every thunderstorm has me incapacitated in my bed, trying to drown out the sound of the thunder and rain with music. Each boom of thunder sounds so similar to the sound of the angry powerlines, and I'm terrified to do anything except be ready to run outside like last time. I can't breathe, sleep or do anything that could distract me from being ready to run. On worse days, I have panic attacks until I'm sure the storm is over. Everything just feels so unstable.
Does anyone have ways of calming down during intense moments like these? Ways of focusing on what's really happening, rather than what happened in the past?
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When i was in the ER February 16th 2025, i was being admitted to ICU where i was for 3 weeks, then had to relearn to walk for 3 weeks in another hospital rehab floor, the nurse told me something that made me feel for over 18 months now that i was finally *safe*. She told me that the guy who raped and beat me 21 years ago now almost 20 years at that time, was in prison as of a month before that...
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Sometimes, I think I have ODD. I can be oppositional. It seems that the only times that I feel like cleaning are when I should be doing something else or I have to go somewhere. Well, not everytime but most of the time. Yesterday, I was supposed to be doing online training for work but instead, I decided to work on my kitchen table. Most of the time, I don't know where to start and give...
I would suggest talking to your neighbors and maybe a psychologist about your feelings. Maybe they can help calm down the awful feelings.
Take care and many hugs.
Hope that helps, and I hope it gets better for you
This very post could serve as an example of sharing within my therapy support network. How 'bout it? Did it help any?
Don't know if this has anything to do with your case, or not. Just sharing. . .
For what it's worth
I adore both thunderstorms and fire, though I do prefer my fires safely contained within a fire ring.
Continued support while you sort what works for you.
Good luck finding something that works for you.
Anxiety that goes acute at a common 'distress' signal is the body and brain natural response to danger when the signal occurs again.
In learning that thunderstorms are floating in your mind at rest, you've given those thoughts a way to release.
There are many methods you can use to help find your better balance. Finding the one(s) that work for you will take work.
Keeping a daily journal is an excellent way to see and add to your toolkit of 'calm'.
Here, you will find support, encouragement, and understanding,