Facing Fears Comprehension
Facing Fears
By Brooke McClure
Tonight was the night. All the hard work had led to this moment. What do people call it? Fight or flight, he thought. Well, Ned had every intention of facing up to his fears and conquering them, although even with the best of intentions, he just never knew when the anxiety would creep in and take over! Ned concentrated on his breathing – a technique his therapist had taught him – and managed to steady himself.
As he gazed up at the illuminated wheel, his heart thumped like a hammer against his ribcage. This was the challenge that lay before Ned. An innocent, in fact quite magnificent looking, Ferris Wheel. It was a popular tourist destination; a ‘fun experience’ and ‘breathtaking views’ were promised on all the surrounding signage.
Ned observed as a pod rolled its way down (sturdily, he noticed much to his relief) to the bottom centre of the wheel, he studied the people embarking and disembarking. He saw groups of friends, possibly relatives, all looking excited and participating in cheerful chatter – oh how he wished he could feel as relaxed as they appeared!
Acrophobia is what it was called, meaning an irrational fear of heights. His therapist had labelled it 5 years ago but it had started long before that. For Ned there didn’t seem to be anything irrational about it after the experience he had had as a 15 year old… but no! He mustn’t engage in those thoughts, not tonight, he needed his head to be as clear and calm as the sea on a still summer’s day.
Ned’s therapist, Molly stood next to him, “Ready?” she asked gently.
It had been good of her to come along with him, Ned acknowledged. He had struck gold in the therapist department; Molly was as knowledgeable as she was kind. She had set him lots of challenges in the past and always escorted him, not charging for her time.
“As ready as I’ll ever be I g-guess,” Ned said, but his voice betrayed him.
His thoughts had drifted to all those earlier challenges… riding up in the elevators of high rise buildings, stepping out onto balconies – first it was a first floor balcony, then the third floor and so on; they were now up to the tenth floor. Yeah sure he had faced up to each one, which at the time felt very daunting but this by far was the biggest hurdle yet. If he couldn’t do this how would he ever be able to live any sort of normal life? Would he ever be able to travel by plane? Visit, work or live in high-rise towers? The whole thing had had a very debilitating effect on his life, he had lost relationships, missed out on job opportunities and all because of this crippling phobia.
“Continue with your breathing techniques… think of how far you’ve come…” Molly’s voice drifted in and out of the isolated world he had created for himself.
Ned had chosen to take on this challenge at night as he thought the darkness would mean he wouldn’t see as much and therefore not realise how high up he was. However deep down he knew it wouldn’t really make any difference.
All of a sudden panic kicked in! What if the wheel breaks down at the top? What if he had an extreme panic attack and it set him back in therapy – all the other challenges would have been for nothing! What if the pod became loose and he fell to a horrible death? He did realise the last one sounded a little farfetched, he had done his research and understood the engineering of such machinery and the safety record of this particular wheel was immaculate.
Pull yourself together Ned! he commanded of himself. ‘Breathing, visualisation, breathing,’ he muttered his tactics to himself.
“You’ve got this Ned,” Molly whispered. “You are ready but if you don’t want to just say so.”
“Let’s do it!” Ned boomed with a sudden surge of confidence. Confidence that turned out to be rather fickle for he deliberately dawdled towards the pod. He took a deep breath and stepped inside…
Moments later the wheel smoothly sailed up, a little higher every few seconds. Just breath he reminded himself. His eyes squeezed shut the entire time.
Molly asked him a question and he immediately opened his eyes to look at her. “Sorry Molly what did you say?”
She stared at him dumbfounded, “Ned, you’re speaking so calmly, do you realise we are at the top?” she asked feeling as if she might be tempting fate.
“What? No – I mean – ” Ned looked around him, he had done it! He had really done it. He felt a little queasy but nothing like the nightmares he had been having in the lead up to the challenge. He relaxed a little and chatted to Molly for the remainder of the ride, it was a good distraction and it worked wonders!
Ned stepped off that Ferris Wheel feeling elated. It was a big step for him and he was as proud as punch. He may not be ready to fly around the world just yet but he knew, in time, he could do it and he WOULD get his life back
Facing Fears
By Brooke McClure
Tonight was the night. All the hard work had led to this moment. What do people call it? Fight or flight, he thought. Well, Ned had every intention of facing up to his fears and conquering them, although even with the best of intentions, he just never knew when the anxiety would creep in and take over! Ned concentrated on his breathing – a technique his therapist had taught him – and managed to steady himself.
As he gazed up at the illuminated wheel, his heart thumped like a hammer against his ribcage. This was the challenge that lay before Ned. An innocent, in fact quite magnificent looking, Ferris Wheel. It was a popular tourist destination; a ‘fun experience’ and ‘breathtaking views’ were promised on all the surrounding signage.
Ned observed as a pod rolled its way down (sturdily, he noticed much to his relief) to the bottom centre of the wheel, he studied the people embarking and disembarking. He saw groups of friends, possibly relatives, all looking excited and participating in cheerful chatter – oh how he wished he could feel as relaxed as they appeared!
Acrophobia is what it was called, meaning an irrational fear of heights. His therapist had labelled it 5 years ago but it had started long before that. For Ned there didn’t seem to be anything irrational about it after the experience he had had as a 15 year old… but no! He mustn’t engage in those thoughts, not tonight, he needed his head to be as clear and calm as the sea on a still summer’s day.
Ned’s therapist, Molly stood next to him, “Ready?” she asked gently.
It had been good of her to come along with him, Ned acknowledged. He had struck gold in the therapist department; Molly was as knowledgeable as she was kind. She had set him lots of challenges in the past and always escorted him, not charging for her time.
“As ready as I’ll ever be I g-guess,” Ned said, but his voice betrayed him.
His thoughts had drifted to all those earlier challenges… riding up in the elevators of high rise buildings, stepping out onto balconies – first it was a first floor balcony, then the third floor and so on; they were now up to the tenth floor. Yeah sure he had faced up to each one, which at the time felt very daunting but this by far was the biggest hurdle yet. If he couldn’t do this how would he ever be able to live any sort of normal life? Would he ever be able to travel by plane? Visit, work or live in high-rise towers? The whole thing had had a very debilitating effect on his life, he had lost relationships, missed out on job opportunities and all because of this crippling phobia.
“Continue with your breathing techniques… think of how far you’ve come…” Molly’s voice drifted in and out of the isolated world he had created for himself.
Ned had chosen to take on this challenge at night as he thought the darkness would mean he wouldn’t see as much and therefore not realise how high up he was. However deep down he knew it wouldn’t really make any difference.
All of a sudden panic kicked in! What if the wheel breaks down at the top? What if he had an extreme panic attack and it set him back in therapy – all the other challenges would have been for nothing! What if the pod became loose and he fell to a horrible death? He did realise the last one sounded a little farfetched, he had done his research and understood the engineering of such machinery and the safety record of this particular wheel was immaculate.
Pull yourself together Ned! he commanded of himself. ‘Breathing, visualisation, breathing,’ he muttered his tactics to himself.
“You’ve got this Ned,” Molly whispered. “You are ready but if you don’t want to just say so.”
“Let’s do it!” Ned boomed with a sudden surge of confidence. Confidence that turned out to be rather fickle for he deliberately dawdled towards the pod. He took a deep breath and stepped inside…
Moments later the wheel smoothly sailed up, a little higher every few seconds. Just breath he reminded himself. His eyes squeezed shut the entire time.
Molly asked him a question and he immediately opened his eyes to look at her. “Sorry Molly what did you say?”
She stared at him dumbfounded, “Ned, you’re speaking so calmly, do you realise we are at the top?” she asked feeling as if she might be tempting fate.
“What? No – I mean – ” Ned looked around him, he had done it! He had really done it. He felt a little queasy but nothing like the nightmares he had been having in the lead up to the challenge. He relaxed a little and chatted to Molly for the remainder of the ride, it was a good distraction and it worked wonders!
Ned stepped off that Ferris Wheel feeling elated. It was a big step for him and he was as proud as punch. He may not be ready to fly around the world just yet but he knew, in time, he could do it and he WOULD get his life back.