EarthQuake Panic

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:27 pm

I grew up in San Diego and have lived in Boston now for 30 years. The quakes I experienced were mild compared to this. Remember you did make it through and Lucinda's tape, card and exercises on Panic Attacks will hopefully help. I can't believe your co-workers! How mean they are! I hope there is somebody at work who you can trust and talk with. Take good care, Be Well

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:42 pm

Yes I felt it too. It was scary and it took me a while to calm down. I am in Orange County and felt it hard. I was not sure what to do, but I got through it.

You will be ok in a few days. It is very traumatic and takes a while to calm down. Just give yourself a little time. Also have a plan on what you will do next time in case you need to protect yourself.

I sent and email to work saying we need a plan on what we should do for the next one so we can be as safe as possible. Do we get under the desk or not? etc.

epa · Post by **epa** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:46 pm

Maria Angie, i agree. My work needs an earthquake plan for sure. we just stood around waiting for it to stop. I'm sure we should have gone outside. . Oh yeah orange county is very close to the epicenter. I am in san bernardino county. I was close too. NOW i am freaking out about "the big one" and the end of the world and all my old issues just came back. used to have major anxiety when i thought of the end of times. . It puts me in immediate panic.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:12 pm

Holly:

Don't freak about the quake. We get them all the time, just not many as strong as todays. I felt it 25 miles away....and for the time while things are shaking, its un nerving, they stop and life goes on, and it will probably be 20 years before another like this hits Chino Hills.

In 1994, we had one in Northridge. I lived 2 miles from the epicenter. It was registered as a being over 7.0 by over seas seismologists but LA had to rate it as a 6.8 otherwise the residents of the city would have gone a year without paying property taxes.

Every place has its natural environmental concerns. Quakes are quick because for a few minutes, we are concerned, and then once the shaking stops, life returns to normal. Its not like a hurricane or tornedo where we know its coming, live through it and then pick up the pieces. Todays was relatively mild.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:19 pm

We may never feel them as strong a California, but we get them here at the Great lake area. I remember one time, an earthquake 3.6 hit the area. Heard a load rumble like rocks falling. The the house rocked. My father was doing his tax papers and was done when the quake hit. He had to do the papers over again when there was a line right through the whole thing.

It was rather scary. The swaying lamp above my head was shaking like it was going to drop. I was so scared I did not think of moving.

Like us with tornado's, winter, or anything that nature can do can take drills to make sure of safety in such events. Part of the drill is learning not to panic in such situations, even though it is very hard to do. Especially when it seems like a building is coming down on you.

I have heard people make jokes of my panics. Since then I have learned to turn it around. How quickly that behavior changes when making jokes myself. Such as making jokes of my shakes, or anything else of may bother me. In the end they cannot make it silly if you do. Same ones when they are serious find I do not laugh at it I comfort them.

When co workers make fun of it, it is not nice, and is upsetting. You have the right to feel what you feel. I hope this helps.

MichelleRN2004 · Post by **MichelleRN2004** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:31 pm

Holly,

I think you should give yourself a pat on the back! I bet that was terrifying and look, you lived to talk about it.

I work with my roommate and she came up to me today and was like, "Hey, there was a big earthquake in California" and just hearing that made me super anxious. I can't even imagine living through one. So look at you, you are one brave girl.

I think it is really unfortunate your co-workers made fun of you, but they sound like they have a lot of growing up to do, and that has nothing to do with you.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:42 pm

Thank you everyone for your very nice replies. I guess I did live through it. lol. An earthquake is like a panic attack kinda. . it hits you and than its gone. But it's still frightening. I still think the ground needs to stay put!! I wish I was with my boyfriend though. . my sister said it was safer at my work than at my apartment. i live upstairs. I will give myself a pat on the back. . It was afterwards i was freaking out more. While it was happening i couldn't move. My feet were glued to the floor it seemed. We were all just waiting for it to stop. I am just so glad no one got hurt!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:15 am

I've lived in SoCal since childhood so have felt many earthquakes. I used to be afraid when my kids were little, like what would happen if I wasn't there with them, etc. When this one hit I was in a department store dressing room! It really shook! But we all just laughed nervously then continued on. Not such a big deal really.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:19 am

I have such a fear/paranoia of earthquakes. I live in a 12 story building, and we've had quite a few earthquakes in the last few years. We live on one of the upper floors, and the whole building sways from side to side. VERY VERY SCARY, like you can't believe. And it's so scary, because it happens so suddenly that there's nothing you can do, but wait it out second by second to see if it's going to stop, or get stronger... it's terrifying and I've had some pretty scary dreams about it. It's one of those things I obsess about and yet try very hard to push these thoughts out of my mind, because anyway I have no control over it. How come in my mind I can rationalize these things, yet I'm still so stressed and scared by the thought of it? How many times do I go to bed at night, and wonder if they'll be another earthquake at night....it's not normal that I think about it so much.
Any thoughts on the matter? Any ideas to help me with this??? I've even considered moving it freaks me out so much, but then I think, well, it's not really safe anywhere....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:58 am

My panic attacks came back with a vengence about 6 years ago, on my 40th birthday, when we had a really big earthquake. I was in my favorite craft store when things began to shake. We all went outside and spent the next minute and a half trying to stand up while the ground before us rolled like ocean waves. After that, I was a mess. I would avoid stopping underneath bridges in case an earthquake shook and the bridge collapsed on top of me. I drove in the right lane and avoided highways in case I had to ditch.

I was able to recover a bit via counseling, but I never was able to get over my lifelong depression and need to please others. This program has helped me to go with the flow and ride through very stressful times.

Earthquakes are especially scary because they cannot be predicted. But neither can lots of things in this world that can hurt us. Worrying about earthquakes won't make them stop. Moving to a lower floor might help the swaying, but unless you want to avoid tall buildings in the future, you need to learn to deal with the worry. Tape 10 on 'what if thinking' has been very helpful to me (I'm a HUGE worrier).

Good luck.