My girlfriend called the other day and said to me,” I`m a little embarrassed to mention this but I have to tell someone. When I make a friend request on Facebook it’s amazing how much anxiety I feel over whether they will confirm me as a friend or not. I wait with such anxious thoughts….what if they just ignore it…what if they don’t even want to be my friend? What if they don’t think I’m worthy enough? And if they do accept and see that I only have 50-60 friends do I look like a failure because they might have 200, 300, 400?” These are not just passing thoughts, but something that she dwells on and consumes her. She admitted that when she gets so overwhelmed she really believes she’s having some sort of panic attack. If I don’t hear back from the person for days I can’t seem to let it go. The more I think about it, I can feel my heart beating faster, my hands get all sweaty, I feel so jittery and light headed that I have to sit down. The worst part is that I don’t know how to calm myself down.
We place so much unneeded presssure on ourselves to be well liked, perfect and we constantly compare ourselves to others. Why is being approved and accepted by others so important to us?
These irrational and what she would call ridiculous thoughts would come at her so fast that it was impossible for her to stop the sensations, there’s no doubt that fear and self esteem issues are at the root and each of us needs to practice our own self acceptance….because she didn`t have the tools to know how.
Barry Joe McDonaugh`s Panic Away Program has been extremely helpful for her. She has practiced his One Move Technique for several months now and with all the useful, practical information he has provided in his Panic Away Program she can now stop these thoughts when they come into her mind so that she doesn`t experience the full blown panic attacks any longer!
It has given her a sense of confidence because she is back in control of her thoughts and she is no longer obsessed with people’s approval. The mind is very powerful and it’s a battle to overcome anxiety, but after she went through the program she thought it was well worth the effort!
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