Dear M2~
I suspect at least some of the things you fear are not real physical threats, I say this because most of what I fear are small things - such as what people will think (maybe not an exact example for you, that's just me).
For me this means I can't look at the threat logically and 'talk myself out of fearing it' -because it is not logical in the first place.
Similarly trying to force through -i.e. face it - when feeling vulnerable and open to attacks just turns the whole thing into a mess. Circumstances may dictate I have to do whatever it is and then I just have to live with the result.
Taking small steps rather than forcing though, "l'll just stay for 5 minutes", gives something to work towards.
Maybe I'm lucky - in a back to front sort of way - in that in the past I have had to face some situations which were actually dangerous and scary - I reacted in a different way. So this helps me know to some extent it is me and not the situation - as does experience.
All the above is probably no help really.
All I can say is when my base-level anxiety is less the fear/panic occurs less often, so working on that though a stress-reduction lifestyle seems the best answer as does small steps and reasonably avoiding unnecessary trigger situations..
Croix
