Когда страх твоего друга стал угрозой для тебя

She was planning to fly out with her group after a training course. Everything was set.

Then a few people in the group decided not to fly. They said they were scared.

Something inside her broke. "They're scared, so I must be in danger on this flight."

During therapy, she remembered a traumatic event from her past:

She was walking with a female friend when a drunk man attacked her, trying to strangle her. Her friend got scared and ran away, leaving her alone to fight him off.

Her nervous system learned: "When others show fear and abandon me, I'm in real danger."

So when her travel companions backed out, her brain didn't think "They have their own issues." It thought: "They sense danger and they're abandoning me. I'm unsafe."

The fear had nothing to do with the flight. It had everything to do with a memory of being left alone in a genuinely dangerous situation.

Her brain was trying to protect her. It just couldn't tell the difference between a drunk attacker and a commercial flight.