Yes, I totally agree, EXPOSURE is not so easy (to say it in mild words :D) but it is worth it! I have fought almost all of my "dread spaces and situations" and now the biggest one comes- airplane.I am flying in 2 days. Guess what? I myself bought the ticket and noone pressed me to do that. Why did I do that? It's a part of an exposure work. Sometimes I feel paralysed because of fright that I have to fly and sometimes I think I will be able to handle it no matter what.
Here are some things for you to consider:
- What's important is to experience the discomfort and see that you can survive it without using typical avoidance techniques;
- To master the fear, you have to experience it, to get used to it;
- Anxiety doesn't lead to death, insanity or heart attacks. If you practice managing situations that make you nervous, the anxiety eventually goes away. It's that simple.
I am trying to keep these things in my mind before and while flying.
Wishing everybody good luck on his/her exposure work! :)
