Panic attack!! What now?

samthepanda

My gym changed owners a while ago and they installed new pod entry system activated by thumbprint recognition. You can access the gym 24/7 but it's only manned during the day. I have various anxiety issues, and this pod just totally freaked me out. No way could I do it, I was terrified about getting stuck inside. After a few weeks of discussion during the trial period and initially being told there was no alternative, the manager agreed I (and several other members in similar situation) could ring the bell, wait for staff to open the gate (which is kept locked) and go in that way during manned hours only. All had been ok for a few months, til today.
Went in for an evening class which ends at 8.15, gym is manned til 9, but today for some reason the manager left early, locked the gate and took the key. Guy doing the class is a PT, not a key holder. When I found out manager had gone I went into total panic attack, couldn't get out, couldn't run, panic because my daughter was waiting for me to get home, terror about being told I was going to have to use the pod. I screamed. Eventually the PT got through to the manager on the phone and after 20 minutes of being stuck I was escorted out!
I am still very weepy and shaken. I had been assured so many times that couldn't happen as long as I was out during manned hours. How can I trust the system again? Don't know if I can ever go back in. I know this sounds crazy, but this is what anxiety does to you. Is it time to give in?

Seffell

I'm sorry you've experienced this disturbing event.
My advice is to seek professional help if it is available to you.
You have to somehow (with the help of said professional) come to understand that the problem is not to thrust the system or not to trust the system and how to avoid the pod in the future. The problem is that you are afraid of the pod.
Objectively it is not scary. It is you being afraid of it that has to change. Just because you're afraid of it now doesn't mean you will always be afraid of it.
Anxiety is not like having blue eyes for life. It is a faulty habit pattern that, unlike the colour of your eyes, can be changed. You have not been born with this fear and you don't have to die with it.

I know that you are afraid now. But you might not be next year.

Do seek help.
Good luck.

Timberla82

Hey, really sorry to hear that happened. It must have been scary.

I think there are 2 options: 1) get some professional help with the anxiety issue and have a little cheer session every single time you use the pod to get in or out of the gym (even if you don't feel like it) until you can breeze through that pod and give it the finger, or 2) consider going to a different gym.

Anxiety is a really hard thing to get a handle on but, in the end, we each have to choose which things we're going to accept as too difficult to challenge (at this time!) and which things we're going to take on, beat into submission and dance on its grave. (Professional help makes that second option a lot easier.)

Good luck and don't stop going to the gym! The gate is still there and maybe someone can go into the pod with you if you're ever in that situation again.

middlehaitch

((( )))

If you can, get some professional help.

If not, sit down with the new owner and see if he is willing to do a sign in/out board (name, location in the gym, phone) You said there were others with similar problems as you have, so that could be a logical solution.
If there are no names on the board the key holder is safe to leave.
If there are names, the key holder checks if the sign in people are still on the premises, leave when they have left, or hand over the key to another staff member.

Cheers, h.

elisa123gal

I don't really understand what a pod is.. i can't tell if you're stuck in a small stall or area that leads out or into the gym with a fingerprint recognition, and if it doesn't work are you stuck in a small area with no communication? or are you just stuck inside or outside of the gym.

If you could get stuck in a small space, I think i would dislike that too and want to change gyms. it seems like a cheap way to manage the facility, and things can and did go wrong with the system.

As for the anxiety.. i've suffered this past year with anxiety. It is a horrible..but I really worked on strategies to try and figure out what caused it.. There are causes..and you need to do a process of elimination to get to the bottom of it. It could be your diet, drinking alcohol, even creams or products you put on your skin, coupled with stress, and nutrition/vitamin deficients. Don't be tempted by prescription drugs...try to figure it out. also. Lavender essential oil helps tremendously. And sleep is key in getting it under control..and don't drink caffeine or eat sugar,they fuel the anxiety cycle. Anxiety is almost like pain management.. you need to get it under control and calmed down..then you can fix it.

samthepanda

It's how you enter and exit the gym- fingerprint opens outer door, you enter internal door revolves til it opens on the other side, so you are stuck inside briefly. I know how crazy it is but I just can't face it. Exercise really helps my mental health but I have found it really hard to go into the gym sometimes when anxieties are high even before this new system. I have worked hard to fight against the anxieties but how much is it worth fighting everything? I'm disappointed with myself and with a change that has changed my gym which was good for me into a problem again.
I know it's my problem and I know the answer, just reinforces how bonkers I am, and I try not to dwell on that too much because for a lot of the time I can pretend quite well, just a couple of things that trigger. Sorry

haydiz70

I've lived with an anxiety disorder for over 20 years and at its worst I became extremely agoraphobic. It was terrifying going to the grocery store or out to dinner. Just walking to the end of my driveway to put the garbage cans at the curb felt like an ordeal. Today I enjoy shopping again and I love to hike in the woods by myself and enjoy nature photography. I very rarely have a full-blown panic attack anymore but I know when I have them they'll pass and I'll get through them. Take baby steps to get better. If the gym is causing too much anxiety right now, maybe find a different one or workout at home but continue challenging yourself with cognitive therapy. Don't completely avoid places or experiences that cause you anxiety but don't overwhelm yourself either. Professional help is a great idea and don't feel shame if prescription medications are needed to treat your anxiety. They helped give me my life back. Best wishes.

samthepanda

Forced myself to go back in today and spoke to manager. He apologized (although he wasn't going to) and reassured me it was a one off, and there was always a route out. I know it's not addressing the real anxiety issue, but going back and facing it was as much as I can do for now.