Critters
05-15-2011, 02:22 AM
Hi! I'm new, and so pleased to see that there are others who suffer from this anxiety. Well, not pleased, exactly. But kind of relieved.
I can drive in the small town where I live but am absolutely terrified of city or suburban traffic. I'm a pastor, and people often ask why I'm serving a small church in a small town. I really am happy enough, but I also know I could never live in a city or suburb, because of my phobia.
Yesterday I had to, though. My dad lives in a suburb of Milwaukee, and had to go to the hospital. Neither of my siblings (who both live in cities and drive in city traffic all the time!) would take time off work to help. So, I had to face my single greatest fear. It was horrifying, and the whole time I'm scared to death, I'm trying to keep my dad from noticing.
We got to the hospital, and they took him in for his procedure. I went into the waiting room, and started to break out in a cold sweat, became light headed and short of breath. I was afraid to tell anyone for fear they'd hospitalize me. Besides, I've had this kind of thing happen before, and have been told it's a panic attack.
It was also a wake up call. My siblings are just not going to step up and help out. It falls to me. My mom has been gone for 5 years, and someone will need to drive my dad to doctors appointments more and more as he gets older. I've tried to get him to move to the country, but he likes the Milwaukee area.
So, I have to do something. I started googling to see if there were others who had this phobia. What a surprise! Not only am I not the only one, but there's a program to help. I'll definitely be ordering the program.
Thanks for letting me introduce myself. I look forward to learning from you all!
I can drive in the small town where I live but am absolutely terrified of city or suburban traffic. I'm a pastor, and people often ask why I'm serving a small church in a small town. I really am happy enough, but I also know I could never live in a city or suburb, because of my phobia.
Yesterday I had to, though. My dad lives in a suburb of Milwaukee, and had to go to the hospital. Neither of my siblings (who both live in cities and drive in city traffic all the time!) would take time off work to help. So, I had to face my single greatest fear. It was horrifying, and the whole time I'm scared to death, I'm trying to keep my dad from noticing.
We got to the hospital, and they took him in for his procedure. I went into the waiting room, and started to break out in a cold sweat, became light headed and short of breath. I was afraid to tell anyone for fear they'd hospitalize me. Besides, I've had this kind of thing happen before, and have been told it's a panic attack.
It was also a wake up call. My siblings are just not going to step up and help out. It falls to me. My mom has been gone for 5 years, and someone will need to drive my dad to doctors appointments more and more as he gets older. I've tried to get him to move to the country, but he likes the Milwaukee area.
So, I have to do something. I started googling to see if there were others who had this phobia. What a surprise! Not only am I not the only one, but there's a program to help. I'll definitely be ordering the program.
Thanks for letting me introduce myself. I look forward to learning from you all!