by Arron on October 24th, 2002, 10:02 am
Keep in mind that worry, (which when you're worried you are also "scared" something will happen), is also a safety mechanism that is built-into our bodies to keep us from getting hurt.
If you were standing next to a cliff, and the edge was unstable and you had no worry or fear that if you got too close to the edge, the ground underneath you might crumble and you could fall to your death, that is a dangerous situation and you would probably end-up dead. Worrying or being scared about falling to your death makes you think twice about getting too close to the unstable edge of that cliff and in return, keeps you alive. I think what we have is an overactive "built-in safety mechanism" that just needs adjusting. Keep in mind that I still don't 100% believe that BFS or fibro is "caused" by stress. I think the symptoms came first and once we found out that it "might" be ALS by to being misinformed about what ALS symptoms actually are, THEN came the fear and anxiety.
Think about this, Some people worry about getting killed on carnival rides, so they never get on them. Is that rational considering that the car they drove to the carnival has about a 500,000 times better chance of killing or injuring them than a carnival ride? No, it isn't rational but in their mind, they think it will keep them safe.
Is it rational that people like us fear something terrible is going to happen because we have "symptoms" that "could" be slightly consistent with something terrible? Yes, actually it is to an extent, BUT what we need to do is also keep it rational and not let it keep us from getting close enough to the edge of the cliff to get a beautiful picture of the scenery, yet not close enough to fall off the edge. Or in other words, don't let it keep us from enjoying the fun rides at the carnival when in reality, the statistics and "actual" dangers are so minimal that we forget about how to have fun. It's a matter of regaining control of our fears is all. Just my two cents on it.