#Panic Control

[livingwatersintegrativehealth]

Anxiety can significantly impact daily life, but with the right techniques, managing it can become a more achievable goal. Many individuals seek mental health services in Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland, where they can access a range of strategies to alleviate anxiety. Techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and relaxation exercises are often recommended.

[inkskinned]

hey btw if you're in the USA at  2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4, they're testing the emergency broadcast system. your phone is probably going to make a really loud noise, even if it's on silent. there's a backup date on the 11th if they need to postpone it.

if you're not in a safe situation and have an extra phone, you should turn that phone completely off beforehand.

additionally, if you're like me, and are easily startled; i recommend treating it like a party. have a countdown or something. be surrounded by your loved ones. take the actions you personally need to take to make yourself safe.

i have already seen mockery towards any person who feels nervous about this. for the record, it completely, completely valid to have "emergency broadcast sounds" be an anxiety trigger. do not let other people make fun of you for that. emergency sounds are legitimately engineered to make us take action; those of us with high levels of anxiety and/or neurodivergence are already pre-disposed to have a Bad Time. sometimes it is best to acknowledge that the situation will be triggering for some, and to prepare for that; rather than just saying "well that's stupid, it's just a test."

"loud scary sound time" isn't like, my favorite thing, but we can at least try to prevent some additional anxiety by preparing for it. maybe get yourself a cake? noise cancelling headphones? the new hozier album? whatever helps. love u, hope you're okay. we are gonna ride it out together.

[tiny-space-platypus]

Identity Fraud

Hunting

Part 6

Previous

Danny was having a good day. He had aced a presentation, turned in an essay early, and got a bunch of lab work done. Plus he was excited to hear about Elle's day! She had been so excited to go to that museum, he's sure she'd be bursting to tell him about-

She wasn't at the school. No one was at the school. Why wasn't anyone at the school?? What had he missed? Danny immediately checked his phone to find a call from the school and a voice mail. "Due to unforeseen events, the 5th grade field trip is cancelled for the day. All children will be brought home accompanied by a Gotham PD officer to insure safety. We at Gotham Academy-" Danny hung up before the voice mail could finish. Elle was possibly with a cop at their apartment, someone who could definitely turn them in. He needed to get to his sister, he needed to make sure she was alright. He needs to protect his little sister. Danny's core burned as he rushed back to his apartment to find nothing. Danny panicked, had they already taken her? Had Danny failed to protect her so soon?

She was still close

His core was buzzing as much as his ears were ringing. Danny went Ghost, he wasn't supposed to here, even if Gotham was full of ecto-energy and its own ghost as soon as he transformed he was trackable but Elle was so much more important than that. Plus they were likely already compromised. They'd have to hide again, maybe leave this country this time. He'll have Tucker and technus erase their identities here and make a new one wherever they land.

As Danny's thoughts spiral he went invisible and intangible fading through the building he knew Elle was in floor by floor, room by room. He needed to find her- He needed to find her. He needed to protect her.

Danny did find her. He found her dying on a couch from fucking Blood blossom poisoning. He found her surrounded by vigilantes and some muscular guy. A guy who had definitely died before. That didn't matter, he needed to focus on Elle. Danny dropped the Intangibility and invisibility as he crouched down in front of Elle gently placing a hand on her little face causing her to whine. Danny was enraged as the vigilantes immediately jumped and tried to restrain him. Unfortunately for them they had died before, unfortunately for them he was the king of the realms. Fortunately for Danny they had to listen to his commands. Danny stood up as the two vigilantes readied to attack along with the muscular man. The muscular man would be the easiest to control, giving him more energy to help Elle. Danny made eye contact with the muscular man, as soon as he did the man's eyes glowed green. Danny then did something he hated, he gave the dead an order.

"Restrain and hold them still."

And with that the muscular man attacked the two smaller vigilantes. They yelled and cried as the muscular man attacked them but Danny had tuned them out. He had to focus on Elle. Danny held out his palms in a sort of cup as green ectoplasm formed in his hands glowing brightly as all that came from the king did. He carefully allowed the liquid to drain down Elle's throat till the blood blossom effects had faded away. Danny didn't care about the Vigilantes yelling as he picked Elle up. Before going invisible and intangible again, he looked at the muscular man who looked at him with practically empty glowing greens eyes, Danny gave yet another order.

"You may release them in t minutes. Then you are also released"

Danny and Elle then both left, he would take her to the zone to heal properly.

––––———————

Jason couldn't control himself. Jason couldn't fucking control himself. Jason was frozen, unable to move against the figure that just just appeared. As soon as that white haired.. Thing! Looked at him his vision filled with that awful green but it felt different this time. There was no uncontrollable, all consuming rage but a soft him of rage that waited for something.

Restrain and hold them still.

A voice? No a feeling maybe? broke through the buzzing, a calm voice that for some reason the pit listened to. Jason felt 2 figures in his hold, struggling to get away but unable to as he held them tight. The calm voice called again.

5 minutes

Jason held his grip as the voice counted down, as what he was holding struggled more.

4 minutes

Jason felt calm, calmer than he should have ever felt with the pit taking hold of him but for some reason.. This was so peaceful.

3 minutes

The smaller of the two he was holding had stopped struggling allowing Jason to change how he held it.

2 minutes

He began to hear the world again, barely. He could barely hear his brothers yelling at him.

1 minute

The world was slowly coming back as the green faded from his vision. Jason felt odd as he slowly let go of the brothers he was holding so firmly.

0 minutes

Jason was almost fully aware of the world around him as gently placed down his brother. His head was spinning and the world felt fuzzy. What had happened? Dick was there? Dick was slowly tapping on his arm, a soft grounding rhythm that Jason could match his breathing to. What had happened? What was going on??

—————————

"It took Danielle, we need to go after her!" Damian got up quickly as soon as he was let go. Damian immediately began to look for how that person got in without setting off their alarms. As well as any clues of where they went. Tim was on the floor gasping for air as Steph looked after him. Whatever had made Jason restrain them made him restrain the two of them with the same amount of force. That was fine for Damian and his tiny stature but for Tim Jason was practically squeezing the life out of him till he adjusted his hold.

Duke and Cass were trying to find where the figure went and where he had taken the girl, Barbara was looking at security cameras, and Bruce in all his Batman Glory was immediately checking on all of them he was their father after all. Then came the report from the 2 of them.

Tim had hit his emergency Beacon first, then when he was being choked by his big brother in some sort of mind control haze, he just kept pressing the button hoping the others would get there before he passed out. Damian had hit his after struggling for a bit only making the grip tighter and Tim wheeze.

They both froze as they watched the figure summon Lazarus water in their hands. Then they both struggled and yelled more as it poured the water down the girl's throat. Was that why it had taken control of Jay? Did it have control over those damned pits? The figure never even addressed them just sent Jason to keep them out of the way before disappearing. That thing wasn't human. That thing was dangerous to their family. That thing was going to get the hell out of Gotham before it could possibly hurt any of Bruce's kids. He won't let that happen not again.

They'll look into this creature tonight for now Bruce needs to make sure his boys will be safe.

———————

Danny mostly unaware of the chaos he had just caused for the bats shoves up at the Far Frozen holding a still unconscious Elle. Frostbite began treatment of her almost immediately, but even still they'd have a few days before Elle would be stable and conscious again. Danny could cover his little sister's absence for a few days. He can cover her absence for a few days, that should be fine. It's not like they were currently being hunted for.

[hel7l7]

I don't want to panic about all these small things anymore

I’m just always scared that everything will only keep getting worse. Scared that it’s and endless downward spiral leading to a lonely ending. All these small things keep reminding me of the fact that there’s nothing I have control over. A part of me still wants to control everything even though I know that’s impossible.

[amygdalae]

Biggest piece of sekiro advice I have is that there's a training guy who will lovingly walk you through each and every combat mechanic and ability. Do not neglect him. Use his body

[furiousgoldfish]

Traumatized people are often advised to 'keep it under control' and 'find a way to contain it', and I always felt it was a fault of mine, if I freak out, or panic, or have an anxiety attack, or can't stop shaking or shivering. Now that I no longer have extreme bouts of panic, I'm starting to understand how much fear, panic and pain I contain within myself every day.

If I'm in a place that makes me anxious, I stay still, I do nothing. If I'm panicking, I will modify my behavior to the point where nobody around me will be able to see and realize that I'm panicking, I will seem happy, and pleasing. If I'm experiencing intense rage or frustration, I will shut down and won't respond or interact with anyone until I figure out what is a reasonable and logical thing to do. I am containing everything, constantly. And it's only a part of what I've been containing and keeping under control, I used to contain terror every day. I am used to circumstances where I had to act normal under threat of violence, threat to my life, every single day. I had to walk around like nothing is wrong while I was dissociating so heavily I couldn't tell if the world was even real. I was blaming myself if there was a momentary lapse of control, if the panic I was containing for months leaked out of me a little. The thought of not being able to keep it down terrified me.

I blamed myself for not being able to keep mountains of fear, grief, anger and panic under a guise, which a human being is not supposed to do. Our reactions of fear, panic and rage are there in order to point out that something is deeply wrong, that we're unsafe, that our circumstances need to change and we need safety, now. Keeping that shit contained and controlled is trying to bypass human instincts, fighting against human nature, and I did that, we all did that, because it was the only thing we were ever told to do with it. We'd be punished for anything else, threatened for any other kind of response that isn't containing and keeping it down.

And now when keeping it down is no longer humanely possible, because we did it for so long we wore our entire spirits down, now we get told we need to do more of it? More of pretense that things are fine, more of guilt and shame for not managing to be a closed human container of panic and pain? We were never supposed to keep that much in. Keeping all that inside and learning to control myself taught me to be what I am right now, keeping any inconvenient emotion down only so I could break down in private, or try to keep it down indefinitely, because I don't know any other way to live anymore. Fighting against my own instincts and fawning at others is just who I am now, and it's not who I'm supposed to be. Panic is supposed to be loud and alarming, pain is supposed to be heard, people are supposed to react with offering safety and change of circumstances that led to this. Not telling the scared, pained and panicked people to 'keep it down'.

[spooky-activity]

Oh I see now why Kafka knew exactly what to do about Himeko's panic attack earlier

First

Previous

Next

[chthonic-kids]

▼Welcome to the Oldest House▼

[manekijinx]

Sleep Paralysis.

Vaguely inspired by this unfinished fic.

[shihkas]

Alison Miller DID NOT have her license revoked

Stop fucking spreading this blatant lie around.

This lie was started by The Satanic Temple, an organization linked with Grey Faction, who routinely denies the existence of DID and inserts themselves into the 80s SRA allegations despite them not even existing at the time (not yet as a recognized institution). Alison Miller had already retired prior to this despite their claims (2). There was no license to be revoked because it no longer existed.

How many times does it need to be stated that The Satanic Temple and Grey Faction are malicious groups that routinely target trauma therapists, survivors and individuals with DID.

For fuck's sake stop using them as sources. Stop citing them. Stop talking about them in a positive light at all. These are terrible people who have said and done terrible (and, frankly, stupid) things and who are clearly not afraid of lying if it fits their narrative.

** I'm not inviting debate on whether or not Miller purports conspiracy theories, if you truly think she believes everything she writes then you REALLY need to take a course on scientific literacy. Writing about survivor beliefs and how to treat them =/= believing they are true.

[flares-of-arcadia]

Meant to say this yesterday, but based on what gets a reaction out of Ethan vs what doesn't, my guy must have a serious insect phobia. There are very few times he reacts to gore/creepy environmental stuff, but every time there's a bug he starts swearing out loud + audibly panicking

Well,.minus the giant bugs in the old house? But that might be the devs not wanting him to scream every time he sees a common enemy. Also at that point he has a big ole flaming container of bug spray, so...

Still, he freaks out at the cockroaches in the stew at the start, and when he crawls through the bug-infested passage of the old house.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 288

Once more, Dredge Inspiration, because I am weak. 

See, the Realms may be Infinite, but Amity? Definitely not. So all that energy has to go somewhere- sinks into the cracks and into the ground and air and waters in the city and around it. And then? Not only is there ambient energy, but then literal Ancients come through. 

Great storms and earthquakes tearing through the already cracked and ecto-soaked ground. According to official records? Amity Park sank into a sinkhole after a series of heavy flooding after several natural disasters. 

Which sure, there was a sinkhole, but they sure as fuck wouldn’t have sank if there wasn’t a damn ghost shield up thanks to the GIW. It would have taken at least several more years for most to get ecto-contaminated as much as they were, but no, let’s add a shield that prevents the ecto from leaving and instead bounces it right back into the city. 

So perhaps the people start becoming a bit off. Perhaps there’s some parts of the Pit that has grown sentient, living and vicious in possessively protecting the people inside. So maybe it’s infected people, slowly dragging them farther away from humanity. So maybe the entire class can no longer be counted as human. 

It’s fine. It’s okay. Everything is fine and safe and no one can get inside, even if they can’t leave. So what if they can’t recall how long the barrier has been up? So what if the people who aren’t becoming liminal are becoming sick? That’s fine, they don’t need help… right? 

[tainebot01]

Phoenix Wright is So Stupid Funny as a player POV character because you start off playing ace attorney thinking he's just your self insert Relatable Protag Man with an illogical haircut in a world full of crazy then as the games go on and/or you switch perspectives you slowly begin to realise he's always been just as buck wild if not a complete lunatic since day one. But in his own mind he's always just so convinced he's a Completely Regular Lawyerdude surrounded by a bunch of freaks. And I love him all the more for it. What is wrong with this man.

[sophios-draws]

"Oh? You're approaching me?"

celeste memes i made a few years back lmao

[1caru]

About the Sword of Koholint Island. you know, the level two sword? I like to call it Dream Weaver. the dream world equivalent to the maser sword. the thing is, once someone draws it, it's theirs till death. and i like to imagine traveler with the other links getting ambushed, his sword gets sent flying and he's about to be struck down but then *flash!* a most familiar sword appears in his hands.....a sword that while it saves his life...brings back memories he finds too painful. and suddenly he's telling the gang about Marin, the island, and what he feels is his greatest crime... just to feel less....hurt inside.

does that sound like a thing? like a cool idea?

I'm so sorry it took me so long to respond to this! You caught me right at the beginning of one of my busiest college semesters yet lol

I love your idea, here's a short fic about it to make up for the wait!

(tw: panic attack)

"Can I get some help over here?!" Legend yelped, narrowly ducking under the swing of a darknut's blade. One of the Rancher's monsters, if he recalled correctly. He could hear the young man dramatically sharing the tale of how he had once faced down four of them at once, light from the campfire dancing excitedly in his eyes as he talked about how thrilling it was to hone his swordsmanship against such highly skilled and armored foes.

Legend had decided that the man was a lunatic.

"Give me a second!" Wind responded from a platform above Legend, "I've got a few more bubbles and floormasters to clear out!"

"No problem, take your time," Legend grumbled, bracing his shield against another heavy blow that made his teeth feel like they were going to rattle out of his skull. He sidestepped the next attack, trying to keep all the darknuts in his line of sight. One was still in full armor with a claymore, the other two had lost most of their armor and were wielding broadswords. Legend narrowed his eyes, focusing on the one that looked the most injured. He could probably take it down in another hit or two, as soon as he found an opening.

The darknut, unfortunately, was smart, and was generally keeping it's distance from him. The other sword-wielding darknut recognized Legend's plan and suddenly lunged forward in an attempt to catch him off guard while his focus was elsewhere.

Fine, guess that one was going down first then.

Legend dodged and quickly struck at the opening as hard as he could, causing the darknut to stumble. He pressed the advantage, raining down blows until the darknut finally collapsed and disappeared in a small cloud of inky smoke.

"Vet, look out!"

The other wounded darknut had closed the distance and attempted to use the smokescreen to help it run Legend through. The Vet simply grinned at the predictable strategy. He readied his sword to fell the monster.

Something bit into his shoulder, and the cold, unnatural sensation of a curse spread from the wound. His sword dropped from his grasp.

Right, Wind had mentioned bubbles.

Legend managed to raise his shield just in time, but the angle of the impact still sent him crashing to the ground. He caught a brief glimpse of his tempered sword's orange blade as it spun by him. He scrambled away from the remaining two darknuts and blindly, frantically, felt around for his weapon, praying for the bubble's curse to fade by the time he found it.

One of the Sailor's arrows flew by his head, pinning the bubble to the ground. It's curse lifted from Legend's shoulders.

The darknuts towered over him, their blades raised.

His fingers grazed a hilt, and the Veteran's heart lept.

He snatched up the blade and plunged it into the wounded darknut right as a battle cry sounded from the platform above and the Sailor dropped onto the head of the other darknut, his own sword sliding right into the gap in the monster's armor right by it's neck. Legend rolled out of the way of the darknut he had just slain as Wind jumped off of the remaining darknut, and together the heroes hacked off it's armor before finally taking it down.

They stood there in the now silent room for a moment, catching their breath.

"Well, that sucked," Legend groaned.

Wind had the audacity to giggle in response. "At least we managed to get out relatively unharmed! …You aren't seriously hurt, right?"

"No, just a lot of cuts and bruises, no big deal," Legend responded dryly, "I would like a nap, though."

"Yeah, a nap sounds good," Wind sighed. "Oh, you dropped your weird orange sword by the way, here!"

"Huh?"

Legend turned to find the tempered sword lying in Wind's hands.

"Where did you pull that other sword from anyway? It looked like it just appeared out of thin air!" Wind asked excitedly. "Is it magic?"

"But, I thought I-"

Legend looked down at the sword in his hands.

The very

very

very familiar sword���

Waves crashing on the shore. Seashells and sand between his fingers. Hair as fiery as the setting sun, and a smile just as radiant. A new blade to help him along his journey, the smell of sea salt forever ingrained in the leather handle.

It was a dream.

It was always a dream…

…

…Was this also… a…?

"-et, hey Vet! Link!"

Who was…

"Link, buddy, you gotta breathe, okay?"

Breathe…

His chest hurt.

"In and out, okay?"

He tried to take a breath, and almost immediately choked. He coughed violently, his chest burning.

"Hey, hey, you're okay. Just try again, okay Link?"

He managed one tiny breath. Then another.

Still too fast, way too fast, he wasn't doing it right, his heart was fluttering like a bird in a cage-

"You're doing great, buddy, take your time. Breathe like I do, okay?"

Someone was holding him. Their chest rose and fell against his cheek, slow and steady, an anchored ship riding the choppy waves. He held on as tightly as he could and listened to the rhythm.

In, out. In, out…

Slowly but surely, Link's breathing began to even out. He exhaled slowly, the motion shaky but relieved.

"Hey, buddy, you back with us?"

Oh, the Sailor was holding him.

"Y-yeah," Legend answered hoarsely, "Sorry to make you deal with that-"

"Hey, hey, none of that," Wind interrupted, holding Legend tighter, "We've all gone through stuff like that, you know? I'll always be happy to help you."

Tears began to gather in Legend's eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. "Okay," he said softly, "Thank you, Sailor."

Wind hummed happily. "Are you ready to get out of here, away from… well, whatever sword that is?"

Legend froze, suddenly catching sight of the blade that lay on the ground by their feet.

It was still there. He hadn't hallucinated it. Why was it still there?

He broke away from the hug, instead holding Wind by the shoulders so that he could look the boy directly in the eyes. The bright blue tunic was soft beneath his fingers in spite of the fairly thick layer of dust and grime from the battle that covered it. Body heat seeped through the fabric. Worry and confusion swam in Wind's eyes.

Legend braced himself.

"Sailor… this might sound like a weird question, but… are you real?"

"I- what?"

"Please," Legend begged, "Just… tell me. Are you real?"

Wind placed his hands over Legend's. "I believe I am. Why do you think I might not be?"

The Vet glanced back down at the sword, still lying on the ground next to his usual tempered blade. "That sword… it's from one of my adventures. In that adventure, I met and grew close to a lot of people. But… it was all a dream. None of it was real, not the island, not that sword, not a single person except me."

He looked up at Wind, eyes frantic. "That sword shouldn't exist, but it does! You can see it, I can see it, but it was just a dream! It was only ever a dream! So please, tell me, what does that make you?"

Wind simply stared back at him in shock.

Legend's shoulders slumped.

"Please…"

He bowed his head in defeat, tears beginning to drip down his cheeks.

"Hey, Vet, hold on," Wind said gently. "Don't give up, we don't have proof either way yet."

"Why's that?" Legend croaked.

"Well, you know, I also had an adventure in a dream. Maybe."

Legend's ears flicked in surprise.

"It was the domain of the Ocean King, a kind of whale deity I think."

Legend's head shot up at that, his eyes wide.

"It was a separate place from my own Great Sea, and no time passed while I was there, but you know what? I had a friend there who was able to come with me back to my world, even though he was from the Ocean King's domain. Do you think, maybe, that sword did something similar?"

"I…" Legend trailed off uncertainly, "I don't know. I didn't think that was possible."

Wind thought for a moment. "Oh, do you have some way to check whether you're awake or asleep? And don't say that you stab yourself or something!" he added quickly, "Because I won't allow that!"

Legend nearly laughed in spite of himself. "No, I don't do that, too risky." He removed his hands from Wind's shoulders to dig through his item pouch, eventually coming up with a small, worn ocarina. "I have a song that can wake anything, even a deity."

Wind giggled softly. "I guess I should have expected that from you. Well, go ahead and play it!"

Legend hesitated, staring at the ocarina.

"Sailor, if… if we are sleeping, and this song wakes us up… we might never see each other again. We might never see the others again either." His hands shook. "I-I'm not ready for that."

A soft, encouraging smile shone on the boy's face. "Veteran, do you wanna know something? I don't think either of us are asleep. I believe this whole adventure has been real. I believe the Champion's cooking was real, and I believe the Captain's playful banter with you was real, and I believe Sky's excitement when we asked about his wood carvings was real."

He cupped his hands around Legend's, holding the ocarina with him as if he was making a wish on it.

"I believe the Smithy's annoyance when that like-like almost ate his shield was real, and I believe the Old Man's smile when he saw Miss Malon again was real. I believe the magic that the Traveler used when he refused to give up on our Rancher was real, and I believe that the strength that the Rancher showed when he returned from the brink was real. I believe that all the time I spent with you, and all the time you spent with us, all of it was real, Veteran. I believe that with my whole heart."

Legend let out a shaky breath as he met Wind's earnest gaze.

"Trust me," Wind said, "Play it. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Slowly, very slowly, the Veteran brought the ocarina to his lips.

"I'm holding you to that promise," he muttered softly, and he began to play.

The Ballad of the Windfish broke the silence of the dungeon, it's notes echoing off the vast stone walls in an utterly beautiful and haunting way. Legend nearly fumbled some of the notes as he felt the song's magic begin to flow, but Wind rested a comforting hand on his leg to steady him.

Trust.

The two heroes closed their eyes as the music washed over them. The notes climbed higher, higher, then…

They stopped.

Silence.

Legend opened his eyes to find Wind smiling back at him.

Nothing had changed.

Legend let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and pulled the boy into an embrace. He buried his face in Wind's shoulder, whispering thanks to the goddesses over and over.

Wind held him just as tightly. "I told you, I told you!" he cheered, bouncing up and down a little in excitement.

The Vet pulled away just enough to give Wind a watery grin. "You did. Thanks, kid. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Hmm, I'll give you a pass on calling me a kid this one time," Wind teased. "Oh, sword's still there, by the way."

"So it is," Legend hummed. "…I think I'm too exhausted to further consider the implications of that right now, though."

"Me too," Wind agreed as he rose to his feet and offered a hand to Legend, "Want to go find the others and leave this problem for future us?"

Legend looked at the two swords for a moment, then carefully ran his fingers over the Koholint sword as if to confirm it was still real. He sighed and sheathed the tempered sword on his back before picking up the Koholint sword. As soon as the thought of where he would store it crossed his mind, it vanished in his hand. He blinked in surprise, then tried willing it back into existence. It reappeared right back in his hand. He vanished it again, and turned to take Wind's hand.

"Yeah, leaving this for later sounds good."

[paintpanic]

Malevolent gods

Are better than none