I don't really know what mothballs actually are... but I'd say if your cat has not shown any obvious symptoms by now it should be perfectly fine! 

Anxiety is terrible, I hope you're feeling better by now! 
Like tonnaree said, distraction is a great tool to deal with it! 

I deal with anxiety myself and my boyfriend does too... for me I have come up with a breathing technique that helps me; I put a hand on my chest and try to make the hand move with controlled breaths... it both helps me take control over my breath again (the thing about panic attacks is that it screws with your breathing which in turn scares you even more...) and distracts me from what ever caused the anxiety 

For my boyfriend the 'grounding technique' often works and I've a few times had to help him out of an attack. 
This basically has 3 'parts'. First you find something you can see and you note the shape and colour or other obvious features... then you grab something close to you and note the feel, the temperature and weight... then you find something you can either taste or smell; you then notice the smell/taste, the texture etc. if it' something you're eating... 

 

Last edited by This Is The Phantom Lady (September 27, 2015 10:47 am)

Nothing to be sorry for dear.   Glad you are feeling better.

I'm sorry to hear that Besleybean! Does she have anxiety? What is happening? (You don't have to answer if you'd rather not of course!) x

Thank you, ladies.
Obviously there is probably rather too much to go into:
But suffice to say this was not meant to be her last year at university,(and we sort of feel a tad guilty about this), but we kind of condoned the university making it so...simply cos we didn't think she could take much more.
The uni has tried, but it still suffers a bit form the grinding wheels of bureaucracy etc...
But we do wonder :what will happen next?
She's nearly 24 and clearly doesn't want to be stuck back home with Dad and Mum...but the real world is hard.
She is under doctors, as it were, but mental ill health is hard...

mental health issues is hard! 

about being stuck with mum and dad... is that because she doesn't feel she can handle living in the 'real world'? 
I don't know how sever her issues are, but I know my best friend has really benefitted from being connected to some outpatient housing thing... I suck at explaining myself right now, but basically she started living in a house with other people who had issues with mental health, she had her own flat in the house and was regularly visited... then she moved out to another flat and was still visited, that move really helped her along. 

ugh, I doubt any of this makes sense. Sorry! 

Again, I'm happy to hear she has people around her who understands and supports her! 

With anxiety you can work yourself up over things that seem tiny to other people, and it's hard to move away from. And change is so damn difficult! It sounds like she might have had uni as her thing that was going to 'make it all okay'... some of 'us' with anxiety find things and make them our life-rafts. 

I think she needs something secure to hold on to... and that's where I'm failing myself. I think that's why I struggle at the moment... I don't have a job, I worry I won't be allowed to keep my flat, my benefits doesn't cover my expenses etc. It can feel like I'm falling into a big dark pit and I can't grab onto anything to help myself up. 

Ugh. sorry. 

Thank you, hopefully something turns around soon. 

And again, my best wishes for your daughter, and you too. It's not easy when someone close to you suffers! 

Dear besleybean, I'm sorry it's a tough time, for all of you I guess. I'm on the other side (being a daughter with problems), and all I can say is, supportive parents are the best thing ever to have. To know they are always there for me, no matter how bad I mess up, no matter how bad I'm feeling, that alone has been a blessing. You're wonderful, caring so much! Just something I want to say, hope it doesn't sound strange.
About university... it's an institution which works best for people who don't have problems ever, in my experience. Anything that's slightly out of the normal routine gets quickly exhausting for the student, and makes the uni staff run in circles (or shrug or shout, depending on the question). It's a tough place for anyone with an illness, even with support. I don't know why they make it so hard, but I know it is.
The only important thing is to be well. Nothing is more important. I'm sure she'll find her way!! What helped me a lot was family and friends telling me that they believed in me, when I had doubts. People who are supportive no matter what's happening.
All the good things to you and her!

on a good day, she could conquer the world, on a bad one, she cannot even get out of bed...the uni are not always very understanding on this last point!

I'm the same, and I'm sure the people who don't understand this never experienced it themselves. I've heard such ignorant comments already, I could fill books. I simply stopped caring at some point. Now I just go to a doctor and tell how bad I feel, and he will give me a nice paper which I will put on the desk of any professor who wants to be a know-it-all. If they don't believe my words, they get official paper, because that's what they like best, apparently. I can't be arsed anymore to discuss my mental health with people who don't get it.

@Phantom: don't fall into that dark pit, getting out takes so much longer than jumping in! I'm sure you'll find something to hold on. Anything nice on the horizon? Maybe just a hobby, a group of nice people? Grab anything you can get, and if it's only holding your face into the sunshine... Tough times cannot last forever, and if it's already bad, every change will be for the better! (that's what I keep telling myself, and often enough it's true) keeping my fingers crossed for you and sending you good vibes - and I will try only to send the warm fluffy vibes and keep the cold weather here in Germany

So, yeah, I had a sleepless night because uni starts next week and apparently my mind thinks university is dangerous and the people in it are monsters (I am convinced it's all true, but I try to un-convince me so I can finish my studies )
I find tea very calming. Hot tea, sipping it slowly... and meditation, breathing slowly... and doing sports. Running till I'm exhausted usually helps a lot. And calling friends, or even better, meeting friends.