Chelsea had recently started a new job. She enjoyed the work and seemed to get on well with her work colleagues.
The job was in the nearest large town which was a route that she was unfamiliar driving. Chelsea found herself becoming very anxious at the thought of travelling to and from work.
One night the traffic was particularly slow moving as there had been an accident and as Chelsea sat in her car she noticed that her heart had begun to race and she had started sweating, these symptoms appeared to come from nowhere and she immediately thought ‘Something is wrong with me’ She then began to feel a tightness in her chest and thought ‘These are the same symptoms you have when you are having a heart attack.
Chelsea pulled over to the side of the road, the symptoms continued and she felt awful. Chelsea knew that a classic symptom that would confirm her worst fear was if she felt a pain in her left arm. Chelsea focused on her arm anticipating the symptom and she noticed that her arm did indeed feel strange, it confirmed her worst fear ‘I AM HAVING A HEART ATTACK!’ Chelsea was distraught; she rang her Dad for help. She knew she had to get to hospital and her next thought terrified her, ‘ I am trapped in this car! ‘The traffic is too bad, they won’t be able to get an ambulance here in time to help me’ ‘I AM GOING TO DIE!’
Chelsea rang her Dad again, he said he would not be long, she focused on the thought that help would be here soon, and soon she began to feel a bit better.
By the time her Dad arrived Chelsea’s symptoms had died down but she still thought it was best to get her heart checked at the hospital, because there must have been something wrong.
Chelsea did get her heart checked and all the results were clear.
Chelsea went to work the next day, but as home time approached she started to feel unwell again and began to worry about the drive home, ‘What if the same thing happened again?’ ‘What if the hospital had got it wrong?’ ‘What if there was something wrong with her heart and she didn’t get help in time?’
Chelsea decided it would be safer if she got a lift home with someone when the traffic wasn’t going to be so busy. She began to feel a bit better after re organising her travel arrangements. Whilst Chelsea did still feel a bit unwell on the way home, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the night before, so she concluded that it would be better if she continued to get a lift to and from work… just in case.
..this is how it begins..
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