Anxiety from trauma

[jrreed360]

I've had this worry, one that's been with me for a while now and it's is very bothersome. It has to do with the sky and it's openness or emptiness. On a vacation in Disney World, i rode a ride called "Mission: SPACE." During this ride, you sit in a small, compact shuddle type enclosing with 3 others. You stare at this screen and it's suppost to be as if your sitting in a space staring up at the sky. Well, anxiety was already built up in me, from a comment my brother made about how a "couple people have died from heart attacks on this ride." So, yeah it sent me in sort of a panic, but i didn't want to wuss out and not go on the ride. We finally bored out "shuttle" and sit in our seats, put our seatbelts on(some good g-force on this ride), and then i hear a long list of emergeny precautions, i'm sure more than i've ever heard on any ride before. This wasn't helping my state of anxiety at all. As we encounter the beginning of the ride i'm locked in a small "shuttle" in a seatbelt and all that's in front of me is a screen that is showing the tip of a space shuttle and the open blue sky. The ride finally started and there's a vibration and the screen shows our space shuttle in first person fly up to outer space. All i know is that my breathing went way out of wack and i was scared to death. I knew there was no escaping the ride and i had to sit through this entire moment of terror. After the ride was done, i was completely relieved that i wasn't dead.
When i look back at this time period, i was never having any panic attacks other than what happened on that ride. About a year later though i was stuck in my home, afraid of the outside world. My anxiety has gotten a lot better, but i still have fear of looking at the sky. At night when riding in a car and i see the moon, it immediately strikes my mind and i start having a shortness of breaths. I'm not sure how to fix it, i've had therapy for general anxiety and take medication, but i don't believe it has conquered over that fear a bit. If anyone has any similar experiences and could share there ways of dealing with it or atleast share there story and worries at all, i would really appreciate it and would defiently like to talk more about it. Though, i believe i've said more than enough for now. =P
-Thanks

[northstar]

hi jr, sorry to see that this ride left you with such fear :( it sounds like you pretty much know the trigger of your anxiety though, which is a great thing, many people have no idea what started it. if you know what triggers it then you can work with it :)

you say you've been to therapy before, have you thought about going back to deal with this particular issue? or have you looked into cognitive behaviour therapy? or hypnotherapy? all of these things can help you to deal with known fears. i'm glad you found the medication helpful, but you also need to deal with the trauma that this has left you with.

you can also look at it this way, you say your anxiety has gotten a lot better, that's fantastic :) recovery is never quick, it may just take you another while to keep working at it and feel good again.

feel free to post as much as you like, you'll find lots of friendly helpful people here!

[crysjbp]

Hi,

Just like to tell you that I had a friend who went through the same thing as you. Everytime she would look at the sky at night or even the ocean she would "freak" out. She said it gave her a feeling of emptines and just made her feel horible. The positive advice I can give you is that it eventually went away. Just stay positive and remember to stay calm, it will pass. :D

[jrreed360]

Thanks for the reply northstar. I do understand that anxiety can take a while to recover at all. I still have my bad days, but am so greatful i have good days, so it's always pushing me in a sense to progress through it even more.

Crysjbp, it sounds almost exactly the same. I've never been to the ocean before, but when i even think about, that is the first thought or fear to come to my mind.