We interrupt regular reporting of vacation memories because of a major anxiety attack.Β Mine.
πΆπ³π³π¬ππ²
Did you know I had anxiety issues? If you read here regularly you probably made that assumption, I would guess. I may have mentioned it once or twice. π
Did you know I had anxiety attacks in cable cars?
Me either. π
This is new to me.
What is wrong with me? π
I’ve been in them numerous times and it never bothered me before.
But today?
This is the one we took this morning. It seats 6 but fits 8 people.
It’s crowded when there’s 7 and two are children and one of the children is my teeny girl.
Packed.
And you’re swinging from a cable.
Did I mention it was windy? We also had rain, thunder and lightning, albeit before we boarded the tiny car hanging on a skinny rope…
Omgomgomg
I was only freaked a little on the way up, but not enough to stop snapping photos. π
Like these shots:
But on the way down* however…? OMG.
It doesn’t make sense. I mean, I used to fly regularly as a flight attendant. Heights and altitude didn’t bother me at all.
I skiied in the Swiss Alps using ski lifts which had us small children dangle precariously in mid air back in the day. I thought it was fun, not scary.
But today?
OMG. π³π³π³
Is it age? Parenting? WHAT?
sigh
Regular reporting of vacation memories will continue after I have a lengthy, hot shower and drink a giant glass of wine.
*We boarded the cable car in the middle of the mountain to go down but for some reason it took us aaaaaal the way back up first. That was when my anxiety peaked. Plus we stopped midway. I can’t even…
***
We took our kids from Toronto, Canada to Switzerland on vacation. This is our adventure.
This is a multi-part series.
- Vacation memories: travel day – part 1
- Vacation memories: travel day – part 2
- Vacation memories: from flight attendant to passenger 20 years later
- Vacation memories: arrival in Zurich
- Vacation memories: exhaustion and a trip down memory lane – part 1
- Vacation memories: exhaustion and a trip down memory lane part 2
- Vacation memories: exhaustion and a trip down memory lane part 3
Mid-life brought anxiety to my life, too. Like, really, brain, you’re going to keep me awake at night because you’re afraid your new house will burn down in an electrical fire, when you know Uncle Rude Ass wired it most properly?
Ugh
(((hugs)))
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Doggone it! Panic attacks donβt seem to need a cause. My works traveling sister-in-law began experiencing them about a decade ago in all sorts of common situations. Hers have eased up as sheβs aged. Sheβs 65 now and seldom suffers from one.
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It’s weird how it just comes over you in an otherwise regular situation that never bothered you before…
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My sister-in-lawβs first one began in a movie theatre while she was watching Forrest Gump. Sheβd already seen it once before.
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Weird…right?
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It is weird.
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Heights don’t bother me so much, as long as I’m standing on something nice and solid, but dangling from a cable or crossing a rickety bridge is something I really don’t enjoy at all.
Oddly, flying doesn’t bother me at all. I suspect that this is because the inside of a plane _feels_ solid, even if I know that I’m sitting in an aluminum tube.
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It’s strange, the various comments coming in about this topic. π
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You just never know when something like that will happen. I went to the dentist a few years ago for a filling and I started freaking out a little when I got in the room. Then I was in the chair and as he pushed it into recline mode I thought I was going to go nuts. I apologized and said that it’s just not going to happen today. I was over 50 at the time. 50. I had so many fillings when I was a little kid that you’d think I worked at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory and now I can’t sit through one. I came back a few weeks later and got through it, but that was so weird. Glad you made it through without having to call for a helicopter rescue.
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Wow, what a story. Thank you for sharing that.
It’s intetesting because I just now turned 50 so maybe it’s something to do with hitting that milestone? So strange…
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I think it’s fairly common to develop more phobias as we get older – the world just seems a more riskier place today – blame it on the news. I never had a problem with heights until after 911 – now you won’t catch me in any building with more than six stories! And a cable car – never! I’m enjoying your vacation series too – I’ve heard Switzerland is one of the prettiest countries in the world.
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Adults think and contemplate and analyse things…maybe that’s part of it? π
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I’ve definitely become more risk averse as I’ve gotten older. Heights, and ledges particularly.
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Me too. Never had any issue with heights before…now even rollercoasters deter me. Ugh.
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Anxiety attacks are just part of growing up. I get them whenever I feel myself surrounded by stupid. I do not do stupid well. Did not have this issue as a young adult, so like your cable-car anxiety, this was a learned phenomenon.
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That’s what I suspected…
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sorry, your son.
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Nice to see a pic of you son! Fun to read your adventures.
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He gave me permission. π
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Love your stories because they make me smile π
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Thank you! I smile too when I re-read them (or shake my head in exasperation)… π
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OMG for sure! I’m enjoying your vacation series a lot Claudette, but this is unbearable! I AM terrified of heights and even the mention of swinging around in a glass cable car on a windy mountain side has increased my heart rate from right here. It’s 1030 AM where I am…I may need a glass of wine myself π
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lol
Sorry! I’m almost finished my glass of wine here (it’s almost 8 pm…)
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