Scariest moment of my life

[Msheatherlady]

So yesterday was one of the scariest mornings of my life. I woke up with this burning feeling in my throat and when I got up I realized my apartment I share with my mom was filled with smoke. The fire detector started beeping and when I found the source of the smoke I was relieved, scared, and angry. It turned out my mom had left for work about a half hour before I’d gotten up and part of a cigarette butt caught a roll of toilet paper on fire. Luckily all it did was smolder and no major fire started but the smoke was enough. Once the smoke was contained and out I headed to the emergency room To get checked out for smoke inhalation. Luckily I’m okay and other then some minor burning feeling I’m physically okay. But mentally I’m a mess. It’s always been one of my biggest fears to wake up to a fire but I never believed it would happen, so now that it has I’ve been on edge and scared. I know I’m safe now but every time I think about it I get thoughts that something could happen again and I get scared. I can’t see my counselor until Thursday but I’m hoping as the days go on I’ll start to feel okay again.

[InspireHope]

Hey there,

If waking up to a fire is a big fear for you, I wonder if you could take some measures to fire proof your house, so you feel more in control of your environment? For example, removing candles, ash trays, or anything else that gets really hot away from any paper products or things that could catch fire. Maybe even talking to your mom and asking that she makes sure to put her cigarettes fully out when she's done could be a way to assert yourself and gain more internal control. I just know that with anxiety, we tend to have an external locus of control, meaning we feel that we don't have control over our environment and anything could happen to us. Which is terrifying and anyone would feel anxious if that were true. It is true that there are many things outside of us that we cannot control, but we can most certainly control ourselves and how we respond to our environment. That is the internal locus of control. So, regaining that internal locus of control by taking action or asserting our boundaries can really reduce anxiety. That is what I have learned the hard way and hopefully it can be helpful for you.

[Mary-intussuception]

Sorry for what you've gone through. I was in a house fire once. The thick, black smoke - scary stuff.

The main thing now is - you're safe. You've come through this.

Hope , in time, you'll be able to recover from the shock and trauma.

x