Caroline Foran

Like immerse yourself in it.

Yeah.

So it's kind of like little bits of exposure therapy, thought-based experiments, behavioral experiments, seeing, well, okay, well, and sometimes I would fall apart and be like, okay, well, the worst happened and

How was that?

What can we take away from that?

So little bit by bit between the medication and the CBT and the extensive like self-learning I was doing in trying to understand it better.

Obviously, I had to make lifestyle changes.

And that was very hard, though, because, you know, everyone was traveling and going out and I needed to be like, it was hard to sort of say we weren't at the you do you level.

phase yet it was like why aren't you coming out like so weirdo yeah it was very hard to be like I just can't manage like I just need to I know now that like well for that time anyway I was in a very heightened state but even as a rule like I my limits are lower than what some of my friends might be like they could go out again and again I absolutely cannot and I charge like inward at home and I'm a homebird and I need that and I know that I'll start to feel overwhelmed if I take too much on even and would you describe yourself as a very sensitive person

Yeah, I feel things greatly.

Yeah, I think I was exactly the mother that he needed.

He was, for whatever reason, exactly the child I needed.

But I...

everything that I learned for myself, I could apply to him and just to see beyond it and be like, this is really hard for you, isn't it?

And that's exactly how I would have had to speak to myself, which took a long time to get to.

I think it's the perceptions and the... So for me, there's a real popular message and sentiment around the moment about how you are what you think and what you think will be your reality.

And I actually think that can be really scary to someone who is prone to anxious thoughts or especially intrusive thoughts because...

you then fear your thoughts.

And of course, a lot of thoughts pop up automatically.

They are not something you're willing into your mind.