Panic Attacks and Phobias

From time to time we are all afraid of something whether it is failing a test, not making it to something on time, or that we simply didn't plan enough. At one point in my life I was agoraphobic and suffered almost paralyzing panic attacks. Mostly this stemmed from an intense fear of social situations, but one symptom was that I could not handle sitting on the end of a row in a movie theater. My new thing is I absolutely CANNOT bear to be behind a desk all day. About a year ago I changed professions and went from being a T.R.T (Therapeutic Recreational Technician) to a Sales & Marketing Representative.

I actually loved being a T.R.T because I got to work in healthcare to plan activities and trips for people. After four years of doing this however, I had become disenchanted with large corporations that are more about the bottom line than patient care, not to mention that I despised all the paperwork that went along with my job. A change presented itself and I took it. One of the advantages to the change was that I got to do some "light" traveling. I visit people from as far away as St. George all the way to Logan. It's great, I like socializing and I actually enjoy peddling my wares. The only times I struggle are when for some reason or another I have to stay in the office all day.

I had such a day on Friday and I almost went insane, I kid you not. I had been there since 8 a.m. and around 2 p.m. I started to get antsy and nervous and was on the verge of screaming. I mentioned my frustrations to someone who told me to go take a walk around the building. I wandered around to a little swampish area that is near our building and picked myself a cattail and some other random greenery. There is something so comforting about nature. I have decided that the fake plants in the office just aren't cutting it. I need some real greenery. Maybe a nice hanging plant next to my desk will help me cope. Wouldn't it be nice if all our phobias or moments of panic could be solved by something as simple as plant life?