Steven - Module 10

So, conveniently enough, my friends asked me to go to opening night of a movie we’ve all been dying to see. I was a little skeptical about going since it’s been a while, but, it’s on my hierarchy so I though I might as well bite the bullet and dive in.

• Going to opening night of super hyped-up movie

Before the exposure:

• How distressed you think you’ll be (0-100): 50 (less than I thought on hierarchy but feeling a bit more confident after the physical symptom exposures)
• Thoughts, feelings, behaviours you notice before the task (i.e., what’s the worst the thing that can happen?): The worst thing would be having a full blown panic attack in the middle of the theatre and creating a scene and having the whole theatre tell me to shut-up – that would suck – and then having my friends see it – I’d feel like such a loser
• Likelihood of the worst case happening: It’s could happen. Especially because I’m doing something I haven’t done in a long time and am already anxious about it
• Evaluate the evidence for or against the likelihood of this happening. Has it happened before? Have you always feared this situation? What are some reasons you should not fear the situation? What are some other explanations for your feared thoughts?

Ok, probably not so likely since that has never happened in the past. After all, I know what the physical signs of anxiety are and just because I’m having a few of them, it doesn’t mean that I’m definitely going to have a panic attack, it just means that I might be feeling a little anxious or hot.

After the exposure:

• Thoughts, feelings, behaviours you noticed during the exposure: I was a little nervous going into the theatre since I wasn’t sure where we’d sit. Of course, the guys wanted to be in the middle and one of my friends had cast on for a broken leg, so he had to have the aisle. That was just as well, I guess, since sitting on the aisle would likely have been considered a safety behaviour. I even had a Coke, which I knew had some caffeine and could make me feel a little jittery. It’s what I always had to drink during a movie, so I figured, go big or go home.
• Number of minutes you did the exposure: 2 hours
• Maximum level of distress experienced (0-100): 60
• Distress when you stopped the exposure (0-100): 10
• Anything you did to avoid your emotions (distraction, safety signals): Don’t think so
• What did you learn from this exposure? Did your worst case happen? If yes, how did you cope with it?: I learned that perhaps I can have my normal life back again. This actually went OK. Noticed a little anxiety, but knowing what it was, I wasn’t scared, so the symptoms didn’t get any worse and the worst case didn’t happen (thank goodness!!) Plus, it was awesome to go out with the guys and see the movie!!

Read Module 10 reports from the other learners.

Jenny	Mark	Ann-Marie