Dumb Question, But Help Please

[sun seeker]

This isn't about anxiety or panic attacks exactly, but that is what is happening so I chose to put it here.

I'm aware this is probably a stupid question, but I get into these states where I am so anxious about safety that I can't think clearly. Figured there would be people here who both understand that and can tell me what I should do about my most recent problem.

I bought a weed whacker and failed to read the instructions before using it, so didn't put the guard on, but I don't think that would have caused this problem. It seems extremely powerful, cutting through tall grass and weeds way faster than any weed whacker I've used before.

But today after I'd used it for a little while and was unplugging it, I smelled something like burning machinery and saw smoke coming out of it. It's gradually cooling, but I am semi-frozen in fear that it will spontaneously combust. Is that at all likely, and if so what should I do to prevent it? I just can't think when I get like this so if anyone can tell me what to do I'd really appreciate it. I have these fears about fire, flood, poison... basically any kind of disaster... and my frontal lobes shut down.

 

[sun seeker]

Well, I looked it up, and it can happen. Uggh. This is the kind of thing where my mind goes wild. So I immersed the thing (unplugged, obviously) in the bathtub, and later will have to somehow destroy it so no one can ever use it again.

Don't think I can go to work this afternoon.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Maybe it is time to go to the ER and get checked out.:hug:

 

[Sideways]

Dodgy electricals in any form can be a fire hazard - so not a stupid question at all.

But you handled it well, despite the panic (Go You!) and yeah, pull it apart and toss it away. Better still, nice big hammer and go to town (or is it just me that finds bashing things to smitherines really cathartic:rolleyes:).

Hope things worked out ok for you:)

 

[EveHarrington]

ER? I don't think the ER can help, honestly, and this doesn't seem like ER kind of stuff.

Do you have any calming phrases you can tell yourself when these sorts of things happen?

 

[mary1979]

Nothing dumb about it, pretty practical action, and honestly I think we all have the odd irrational fear.


I get this thing out of the blue randomly where I'm convinced a phone charger or other wall plug might catch fire in the night. I'll get up 3 times before I can sleep and pull everything out of the sockets.
Once I was so bad I turned the fridge off (no THATS dumb haha)

Then for months on end I can have old half fried wires hanging from every socket in the house and not notice lol

We all have our odd fears and yours seemed pretty reasonable to me

 

[KwanYingirl]

I so relate to you @sun seeker I lock myself in my car if I'm just sitting in it at a red light because I see someone crossing the street and I'm afraid of being car jacked. I can't stand being a passenger in a car and then have to wait with the car running if the driver pops into a store for something. Any kind of motorized tool scares me because they always smell like burning wood or rubber. When my children were young, I wouldn't let them drink their juice in the car if we had left it while we went in a store. I am afraid to drive during a thunderstorm. And on and on.

I was taught by a therapist that PTSD affects four essential realms of being: self esteem, trust, intimacy and safety. Trauma blows them out of the water we swim in in life. So, in that way, your reactions are easily explained. Now the question is, how do we acquire a better sense of safety? Knowledge. If you loved the job the weed whacker did, then buy a new one at a small engine dealer. Ask for a lesson to learn what the sounds and smells really mean. An engine burns gas and oil, so it is going to emit an odor. Setting it down in a sandy spot and letting it cool down is a good first step. A 2 cycle engine runs hot. If you buy your tools at Home Depot you'll never get taught what to expect. That's why I buy all my tools from small owner run hardware stores.

Some of the things that scare us are trauma intruding our present time. Pause, say to yourself "please don't let me believe my thoughts", slow down your breathing and feel in your body where you feel the fear. Racing heart? Clenched teeth? Nausea? And then welcome the feelings and say,"yes that is a feeling, I don't have to act on it" Tara Brach teaches that if you attend and befriend your feelings, your parasympathetic nervous system will activate and it will calm you down. It takes practice but it has helped me let go of some phobias I've had.

If you see smoke, then fire is a very real concern. If it was new maybe it is defective. Return it for a different model. I never could figure out how to use ours. I always thought it would slice my ankles.