#advicefromcat

Ft. Lady Meow

I am going to talk about the weather. Yes, the weather. The sun is out, coming partly through the window and glinting off every reflective object that it can touch. It is warm and glowing, the birds are singing, and the sky is blue. There is a calm breeze, and everything is still and seemingly perfect, like a postcard on display. Now, if you have heliophobia, this is probably your worst nightmare. You are inside, moving to anywhere in your environment that you can avoid shade, even if that means sitting in the bathroom with all the lights off. You are using an umbrella if you do have to go outside, covered in a coat and heavy clothing that feels like it is suffocating you just as much as your anxiety does on a daily basis. There is nothing worse than wanting to go about normal, fun daily activities without having to have anxiety about the sun or finding shade when you park or not being able to go into certain rooms or not being able to work in class. And the worst part isn't that you can't do these things, but that you are not LETTING yourself do these things. That is the worst part about heliophobia, and any other phobia imaginable; you do have the ability and power to face the things that you fear, but you do not have the ability to allow yourself. It is easy for someone who doesn't have a phobia to say "just get over it" or "just go in the sun" or "just eat," but that in no way has any beneficial aspect to the person who actually lives with that phobia. No one else can magically "fix" a phobia or any other form of anxiety. All anyone else can do is support an individual through hard times, and that will go farther in the long run than making a person feel like they are wrong for not being able to let themselves do what their fear is keeping them from doing, or that they "should" be able to do something that they "can't."