do you know what to do when things are very scary even though nobody else is around? usually it’s when i’m trying to sleep. i think things are happening that aren’t and cry and feel scared for a long time until i fall asleep. this sucks and i don’t like it. do you know a way to be feel better faster?
very familiar with this game. when my wife first moved in with me, I spent like two months laying awake every night in sheer terror that the roof was going to fall in. there was in fact zero chance of that happening, I knew that and yet I was still afraid.
the truest cure for this was time paired with material improvements to my life, but what really helped in the meantime was coming to understand why it was happening. for the first time in my life, I had something that I was afraid to lose and no real reason to believe that I would lose it. if I'd had a valid reason to be afraid, it would have been easier to deal with, but because I didn't my brain manufactured an irrational fear.
as for what to do in-the-moment, distracting yourself is a viable option, but not really conducive to sleep. you can try standing up and making yourself physically large, spread your arms and legs wide and just occupy as much space as possible. do stupid poses. I do that in elevators before interviews, it helps a lot (tho make sure you're facing the door, lil awkward to get walked in on like that lol)
speaking out loud is another good trick, thinking anxious thoughts is a very different mental process than saying them out loud. that's why we ask people, "do you hear yourself?" if you thought or said something ridiculous, hearing yourself talk can give you enough distance to matter a lot. ever had the experience of telling someone you're afraid of something and finding that you're a lot less scared of it than you thought?
if all else fails, smoke weed and jerk off.
