#afriad

What if someone's standing behind me?!😰

“Do you want something to eat?  Or a drink?” X asked, hovering near where Y sat, staring blankly ahead.  “Y? Where do you think you are?”  Y shook their head, just slightly.  “Are you scared?”  They didn’t reply.  X took a slow step forwards, and another, and another, until they were in front of Y.  “I’m going to hold your hand and I’m just going to stay here until you remember where you are, so that you know I’m here with you and you must be safe.”

The DSM states that it’s common for people to have multiple specific phobias and the average person with this diagnosis has 3 specific objects or situations that they fear. Also, approximately 75% of people with specific phobia hear more than one situation or object. So if you have one phobia, chances are you have another. Which I guess makes sense if it’s anxiety driven, and we all know how anxiety can only get worse the more we avoid things that cause it. It’s almost as if by giving into it we are proving all it’s false thoughts and beliefs. And because phobias cause us to be scared and can push us into fight or flight, the part of the brain they know is involved in phobias is our amygdala and related structures.