Hi Christen,

Thank you very much for answering to my posting. I had already given
up on getting any replies...:-).

I think, it's unbelievably rude how some people make comments because
you are not tall. I used to have the opposite problem: I'm 181 cm, and
especially in the region where I grew up, there weren't many tall
people. So I got a lot of insensitive comments that kind of affected
me, when I was young (and I was very shy anyway, so that was a
difficult combination...). It changed, when I moved into another town
to go to university, and there were lots of tall people, and also I
got over my shyness with the help of a therapist who taught me
progressive muscle relaxation. I slowly developped good feelings about
my size. But even then strange comments would happen. One day a man
(with a child) appoached me very politely and asked me, whether I
found it difficult to find a boyfriend! I answered him politley that I
had a boyfriend who was a good bit taller than me (that was the
truth). But still, this cheek:-)!And like you, my size didn't prevent
me from finding boyfriends an d a husband...

Regarding this problem of mine of making things much worse beforehand
by tapping on all sorts of awful possibilities that might happen: I
found a solution now with the help of an EFT-therapist (I had a
telephone session with her): I tapped on that "panic cinema" in my
head. And now, when I'm afraid of a situation because of perhaps
getting a panic attack: I tap on the last panic attack I had (that was
about three weeks ago), and I tap on "E. t. that was a horrible
feeling, I deeply love.... and I know that I can cope with panic
attacks" (Because I concentrate on having coped well with the last
panic attack, although it was horrible and I didn't like it, instead
of deepening my fear of getting another one). It works and I haven't
had a full panic attack since:-), and I'm not so afraid of them anymore.

All the best for you!
Angi




--- In Anxiety-Help-With-Nicola@yahoogroups.com, "Christen"
<stande6@...> wrote:
>
> Yes!! I have this problem all the time. I over analyize a situation
> or event even before it happens. Before I realized that anxiety is
> what i am suffering from I would avoid those situations or events at
> all costs. Now that I know what the problem is I make myself go
> through it. I was always afraid of eating in public (silly isn't it)
> and just the mere thought of it would make my stomach turn. Now I
> seem to be ok with it. I have always been a small person and as a
> child (and even now still) i get criticized by it. I would get such
> comments as "gee do you even eat!" from strangers! or "oh my god you
> must weigh about 80 lbs soaking wet!" It is very disturbing. My
> husband tells me they're just jealous but i think that it's rude and
> hurts people. I have since started to wear short sleeve shirts and
> bathing suits again and try to hold my head high and feel good about
> myself. I DO NOT have an eating disorder as many people that I don't
> know claim I have. I was born this was and it has taken me 22 years
> to accept it. Sorry i don't mean to vent. I believe that it's good
> to assess a situation beforehand but don't let the possible issues
> bother you. Instead figure out how you would handle them when they
> arise rather than just the problem. Being able to have a solution
> before something has happened usually helps me.
>