Hi everyone
This feels a bit scary to put myself out there but I thought this might be a good place to find some help/someone who can relate.
Last year my finace and I went to DLR after my college gradation. I hadn't been to a Disney Park in 7 years and since then I've developed Generalized Anxiety from various life situations. Anyway, I was so excited for the trip, planned for months, stayed up all night with anticipation. Then when we got to the park, I totally shut down. I think the sounds/sights/stimulation was all so overwhelming...not to mention the major life event of graduating, lack of sleep and 15 hour drive from Portland the day before.
Everything left me a wreck. It was like I suddenly had ride anxiety (never had that before since I was a child). I had a panic attack on Pirates (my favorite) and it took me three times to get on TMR (my other favorite!). On top of it, I have a condition called IBS (look it up if you don't know) that can be triggered by stress. That made it very hard to get on rides when feeling so uncomfortable.
That was over a year ago, and I've been going to counseling regularly and feel like my anxiety levels are generally lower. BUT my trip is coming up in about 3 weeks and I'm getting nervous I might not do well again so I wanted to ask if anyone has experienced theme park/vacation/DLR anxiety and what they do to help. WHEW, that was long. But any feedback would be appreciated