Panic Attacks

Imagine for a moment that you're sitting in an airplane that's been having a pretty smooth flight so far. The fasten seatbelt sign is off, people are walking around the cabin, and things are uneventful. Slowly, as the minutes pass, you notice that it's been getting a bit choppier and more frequent bumps start to occur. The plane moves around like it's rolling over some small speed bumps in the air, and you also feel some side-to-side movements in the plane. As this happens, the seatbelt sign turns on and the captain asks people to take their seats and fasten their seatbelts. You see people move back to their seats, and you hear seatbelts click. It's often this moment that can bring worry and tension to people who fear turbulence -- not knowing how bad it will be, for how long, etc.

As the bumps continue, at one point you experience what feels like a quick dip—a sensation that may feel in the body like a large drop when it really lasts for maybe a second or two at the most. If you were outside of the plane looking at it, you wouldn't even notice the plane move. But from the inside of the plane, you feel this sudden drop throughout your body. In this moment, several people in the plane gasp out loud, and you even hear someone let out a quick scream. You can actually hear the sound of people's anxiety, and possibly their own fear of turbulence coming through. When you hear this your own anxiety also noticeably ramps up, and suddenly you're much more anxious and fearful than you were before, even if you were already feeling tense or nervous. Now, you're noticeably terrified, feeling that danger and worse case scenario is actually imminent instead of just a dreaded thought.  

Hearing People Gasp, Scream, and Cry During Turbulence Makes Danger Feel Real

Moments when people gasp and sometimes even scream in response to airplane turbulence can actually increase people's fear of flying. Hearing these external reactions of other people's fear and anxiety have stuck with them for years when hearing others around them gasping, screaming, or crying during turbulence. The experience of others' anxiety in the face of their own fear of flying and turbulence felt alarming, and had a way of validating and magnifying any of the fear they were already feeling.

Why does this happen?

Fear and Anxiety Validation

It's one thing to feel fear on the inside, but it's another to find out on the outside that other people agree with your fear. When people generally are afraid, it's normal to locate sources of calm from the outside in order to help soothe anxiety and fear. As children, whether with flying or anything else, you look to your parents when you're feeling scared or anxious to see if they are, as well. If they're calm, then you start to learn that things are probably okay and you can maybe settle a bit. However, if you're feeling anxious and scared and you see that one (or both) of your parents is also anxious, then it can start to feel like there really is a reason to be afraid. If you're scared, and they're scared, then you must really be in actual danger, and who's going to protect you if they're also overwhelmed?

These moments are not only terrifying for children, they can be for adults who are feeling scared, too, especially if as a child your parents struggled to maintain calm in the face of your anxiety.

In flight, people who are experiencing anxiety may search for the calmness of the flight attendants to help ground themselves. However, in a moment where you hear others around the cabin gasping and making audible sounds that announce fear, the body can automatically respond to this as if there are actual dangers and threats. The body may think, "Okay, other people are scared and not just me. Now I know we really are in danger and the worst may actually be happening."

This is a common experience that can underly and exacerbate fear of flying. When you're already feeling powerless, other people's reactions can become more powerful. For people who already experience fear of flying, it can be incredibly triggering. However, even for people who usually aren't afraid of flying, it can actually create or uncover fear that wasn't noticeable or there before.

The Magnified Fear Can Last For Years, Even Decades, Without Help

These experiences can actually be so triggering in the moment that they can stick with people for years after, even decades. It becomes easy to recall the moments in a flight where other people were scared, too. In many ways, the experience of your own fear can become more heightened than it likely would have been if it was just a moment of turbulence without hearing other people's reactions. While it still may have been unnerving to experience a momentary drop if you are fearful of turbulence, the addition of the gasps and external fears to it makes an imprint that is powerful on the mind and body. It has made people's fear of flying become stronger.

It is already very difficult to sit with fear, but when it feels like the perceived danger is real, the catastrophe is happening, and no one can help, it can be traumatic.

#fearofflying #Anxiety #Phobia #PanicAttacks

I’m going to be brutally honest here, because sugarcoating this helps no one.

Congress didn’t just pass “a hemp regulation.”

They didn’t just “tighten definitions.”

They didn’t just “close loopholes.”

They took away the ONLY thing that helped millions of us stay stable, functional, and alive — and they did it quietly, without warning, without debate, and without caring about the fallout.

And I don’t think they have any idea who they just hurt.

Here’s the truth no one else is saying: I am TERRIFIED.

Not worried.

Not inconvenienced.

TERRIFIED.

Hemp-derived THC wasn’t a toy for me.

It wasn’t about getting high.

It wasn’t a “new trend.”

It was the ONE thing that actually quieted the chaos in my head.

I have autism.

I have depression, anxiety, OCD, and trauma.

My brain does not give me breaks — ever.

But hemp-THC did.

It helped me calm down enough to work.

It helped me sleep.

It helped me stop spiraling.

It helped me feel human.

And now that’s going to be ripped away because of a bill I had zero say in.

I feel abandoned by the people who are supposed to protect us.

Do you know what it feels like to watch your mental stability disappear because of a political decision?

Because I do.

Right now.

It feels like being shoved off a cliff and told to “figure it out.”

It feels like your disability doesn’t matter.

Your mental health doesn’t matter.

Your pain doesn’t matter.

It feels like lawmakers looked at people like me — disabled, poor, traumatized — and decided we were acceptable casualties.

And for many of us, hemp-THC wasn’t just a tool… it was the ONLY tool.

People keep saying:

“Just try something else.”

“Take a prescription.”

“Use CBD.”

“Go to therapy.”

I’ve tried the “something else.”

I already take the prescriptions.

CBD isn’t enough.

Therapy can’t be scheduled at 2 AM during a meltdown.

Hemp-THC worked.

Dependably.

Legally.

Safely.

And now I’m being told to go backwards.

Let’s be honest: this ban is going to hurt people. Badly.

It will push people toward the black market.

It will make mental health crises worse.

It will force veterans into withdrawal.

It will send disabled people into shutdowns and panic attacks.

It will take away pain relief from elderly adults who have finally felt comfortable.

It will make low-income people choose between suffering and breaking the law.

This ban will not save lives.

It will destroy them.

I am angry. I am scared. And I refuse to be quiet about it.

The people who wrote this law don’t live our lives.

They don’t feel our pain.

They don’t see what we deal with every single day.

They don’t know how much harm they just caused.

But I do.

And if you’re reading this, you probably do too.

We still have one year — and I’m begging everyone who relies on hemp-THC to speak up NOW.

Call the lawmakers at the bottom of this post.

Email them.

Leave comments.

Share your story.

Make them SEE who they’re hurting.

Most of us don’t get heard unless we scream.

**If this ban terrifies you the way it scares me — tell me.

Tell all of us.**

How do you feel?

Angry? Scared? Betrayed?

Losing sleep? Losing stability? Losing hope?

Comment. Share. Let your voice be one of many.

Because if we stay quiet, they’ll assume we’re fine.

And we’re not fine.

Not even close.

#thcban #disabledandstrong #mentalhealthmatters #Autism #Anxiety #Depression #ChronicIllness #wedeserverelief #medical cannabis #MentalHealth #Autonomy #AutismSpectrumDisorder

Perfectionism can sometimes mask as positive ambition. Society can have a way of celebrating high achievement and the relentless pursuit of excellence. However, there’s a meaningful difference between striving for quality and being trapped in the self-defeating cycle of trying to achieve impossible standards. There comes a point when perfectionism and the desire for the best out of life crosses the line from healthy ambition into a destructive setup for repeated failure.

Often, perfectionism can begin as motivation but gradually over time turns into a source of self-criticism and inadequacy. Instead of building you up to greater success, achievement, or fulfillment, it brings you down into feelings of failure and inadequacy. When it gets to this point, it can become necessary to seek help to undo these sabotaging patterns.

The Fear of Not Being Enough

Perfectionism tends to involve deeper fears, which can turn into external projection. Beneath the drive for flawlessness can often be a deep belief that in order to be acceptable and worthy, that you have to do everything right or perfectly. It's generally an all-or-nothing setup that can feel like if you're not doing things the right way, or making the right decisions, then it's not good enough. This can get in the way of relationships, commitment, jobs and career, and fulfillment in other areas of life.

When the standards for success are set with impossible expectations, failure becomes inevitable, and with each failure becomes a form of validation that you must really not be good enough or worthy of happiness or success. Perfectionism, in this sense, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It is also the case that sometimes in striving for perfection you might actually achieve something significant. However, instead of satisfaction, you may feel only a brief sense of relief before the bar rises again, often more and more out of reach each time. Over time, this cycle can leave you feeling inadequate, unworthy, and even burned out.

The Anxiety Behind Perfectionism

When you're under the constant pressure to get everything right it can create overwhelming anxiety, even to the point of panic attacks (it can also come with OCD tendencies). You may find your mind and body remaining on high alert, always scanning for mistakes or imagining worst-case scenarios. Even small mistakes can feel catastrophic, triggering spirals of worry, self-doubt, and fear. This anxious tension often appears as uneasiness, overthinking, or trouble relaxing, because when perfection feels like the only safe option, it can be hard to ever feel safe to be at ease and let your guard down. In a sense, the tension builds until you achieve perfection, and then and you can relax. However, when the perfection isn't achieved, the result is a dynamic of constantly growing anxiety in tandem with defeat and hopelessness.

When Perfectionism Starts Limiting Your Life

It can sometimes be difficult to see the point where perfectionism turns from motivating you to limiting you. Here are a few indicators that the line is potentially being crossed:

Paralyzed by procrastination. You might avoid things (especially opportunities for success) because the risk of falling short can feel overwhelming. This is one self-fulfilling prophecy of perfectionism. It can be so scary to fail that the fear of failure can lead to avoidance of starting at all -- thus causing the failure to happen.

Decision-making becomes agonizing. You may overthink decisions, especially when the stakes become higher, often out of fear of regret, or getting it wrong. Even if you're aware that not all decisions always work out, to someone with perfectionistic tendencies each mistake or less-than-ideal outcome still brings the fear of not being worthy or good enough, and like you've failed.

Accomplishments either feel short-lived or non-existent. Even after a significant accomplishment, instead of feeling proud, joyful, or accomplished, you may instead start to notice every flaw and play over in your mind what wasn't good enough or what "should" have been done better. In these instances, satisfaction can become replaced with self-criticism and a relentless (and quite stressful) focus on how you weren't good enough.

Relationships begin to suffer. I have written extensively on grass is greener patterns in people and the role that perfectionism can play in taking fulfillment out of relationships, leaving you constantly looking for better. In the projection of perfectionism, you may hold others to the same standards (even unreasonable or unrealistic ones) that you apply to yourself. Perfectionism, when it crosses the line, can in many ways be viewed as a compulsion to keep you from being vulnerable. This can cause issues with intimacy, closeness, and general fulfillment in relationships. When you don't feel good enough about yourself, it can be hard to see someone else as good enough (unless, of course, they are perfect).

Moving Forward and Letting Go Of Perfectionism

Perfectionism often comes from experiences growing up. It can begin early in life where love or attention felt conditional, or where there was conflict between parents at home (if you were good or perfect, maybe they'd argue less, or not get angry, etc.). Perhaps you learned that being “good” or successful earned praise, approval, and love, while mistakes led to disappointment, disapproval, or shame. These painful experiences can linger long after childhood, shaping how you measure self-worth.

Sometimes perfectionism develops as a way to manage anxiety. If you can control everything and avoid mistakes, maybe you can prevent bad things from happening. In this way, it can actually be an attempt to create certainty in an uncertain world.

These are just some of the ways that perfectionism can develop and take hold. Just remember that it is something you can come through the other end of.

#perfectionism #Anxiety #MentalHealth #fearoffailure