Hi CLKD
I am not a psychologist and it was not a trite comment, nor was it intended to anger anyone, so I apologise unreservedly to anyone who felt angered or annoyed by it.
I lived through anxiety attacks years ago. I attended hypnosis and CBT & NLP as well as yoga, meditation and other 'self help' type sessions/experiences. I also learned a lot about the mind-body link, and stored emotions/physiological reactons.
As a result of that work, and in particular CBT, I rarely suffer from anxiety attacks at all now. I am like a different person. Yes, it started with the 'feelings', the physical reactions and then my head took over, making it worse. Too much to go into here, but I learned how to acknowledge the feelings, process the thoughts differently and remove the anxiety from my mind. Right now, I cannot remember the last time I had an anxiety attack although I apply the same process when dealing with difficult situations or upsets.
In contrast to your comment about CBT helping very few people, I know of several people who have been helped quite radically by CBT. In fact, those people I know who have attended CBT counselling and other types, have found it much more helpful than the other counsellings. One shoe does not fit every foot though, I appreciate that.
So, my post was intended to be helpful and constructive with various ideas. It may be a combination of many actions over a period of time, that will relieve her anxiety. I believe it must be horrible for Hot and Spicy to feel that way about the holiday she has found, and I do hope she finds a way to manage the situation and have a fabulous time.
Good Post Mrs. P. We should all learn to trust ourselves to know what is best for us.
Fx
