The Challenging Concept Of Irrational Fear

Irrational fear can be a challenging concept for adults to understand let alone a seven year- old for whom it seems impossible. I can still remember vividly, not only my fear but what I feared the most… one of my family members being in a fatal car accident, and today, nine years later, I think I know exactly how this fear developed.

“Casualty” was one of the popular TV programmes that I grew up with as my parents — especially my mum — would watch it every Saturday night. I can see it now — the paramedics rushing into the A&E department with the stretchered patient, in a brace and spouting blood from somewhere or another. The patient would call out for a family member or a friend who was in the accident with them, only to be ignored as the …show more content…
Then I would hear the phone ring, I wouldn’t answer the call as my parents had specifically told me not to. After the phone stopped ringing when the person on the other end gave up waiting for me to answer, my granny would be next to get a phone call from the police, just like many did on the TV programme. To inform her of what had happened to my parents. This caused me a great deal of anxiety. I quickly became very apprehensive almost as soon as I heard the slam of the front door closing until I heard the sound of the car on the red chips in the front driveway. As soon as any of my family left I seemed to have lost the ability to sit down and form logical thoughts about anything other than what could potentially happen to them as soon as they got in the car and what would happen to me if I was the only one left. Who would look after me? Who would I stay with? I had always assumed that I would live with my Auntie Judith as she has a spare bedroom and didn’t have any children of her own. But what if she didn’t want to look after me, what would happen then? These questions were constantly going around in my little head each time my parents …show more content…
I was never scared of being in the car, I’ve never been in a huge car accident — only a minor bump when I was younger — but today I still feel the need to always be listening to music in the car. This is because years ago I read somewhere that listening to music in the car lowers your risk of dying in a car accident should you ever find yourself to be involved in one. As you are focused on what you are listening to in your headphones, your muscles are more relaxed which helps to minimise any injuries you may sustain. Rather than if you were completely focused on what was happening in the moment, where naturally your muscles would tense. Fortunately I have still to test this theory. I also developed a sort of coping mechanism where I would scratch at my forearms continuously attempting to calm myself down. Somehow I’m not sure why but this did help. It almost provided me with a sort of distraction. I was focused on the numbing sensation it caused to my forearms and the growing redness from popped vessels was fascinating to me in a way. Even today I still catch myself scratching at my arms when I get nervous or anxious in certain situations, and it certainly isn’t enjoyable with long nails but I don’t see myself ever being able to break this