I totally see what Babydoll is saying- to me support isn't saying that it's okay to avoid certain places, people, or things because of this phobia- to me that is just enabling as opposed to supporting.


I think that at times people have a hard time with the notion of supporting the person, not the behaviour. No one here is a bad person- but sometimes we make bad decisions which can be hurtful to others yet beneficial to us in terms of this phobia. When this occurs, I really don't think the response should be "it's okay that you did this- I would do it to"- because even though it may make the person feel better in the short term, what about next time? Where is the incentivefor progress/improvement? Personally, I would rather see more of " I'm sorry you found yourself in that situation, but no, it wasNOT okay that you did that. However, the next time around you CAN make a better decision".


I'm also in total agreement with Hippychick- I too would like to see more proactiveness instead of complacency. I know that there are people with varying degrees of this phobia- but isn't there a little room for everyone to improve? Even if you consider yourself severe, by saying that I don't think you should automatically not consider certain options, or take offence when someone suggest something that you may find a bit scary. I'm not saying that you should throw yourself in the middle of an extreme situation, as indeed that would be of no benefit, but a bit of empowerment I think can go a long way.


*amber*