Tag: panic attacks

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How Bear In The Big Blue House Helps Chronic Illness

How Bear In The Big Blue House Helps Chronic Illness

Learning how to cope with Chronic Pain and Illness means different things to different people. Today we hear about a beloved child’s character with the power to help heal.

Watching As A Child

Welcome to the blue house
Hello from the small mouse

Growing up in the early 2000’s I watched a lot of Disney related movies and shows as everyone did. One of the TV shows that I loved to watch as a young child was Bear in the Big Blue House created by Mitchell Kriegman.

How Bear In The Big Blue House Helps Chronic Illness

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the preschool children series, it’s about a Bear who lives in a big giant blue house with all his friends and with each episode, a topic is focused on and a lesson is taught to the viewers at home. 

Watching As A Grown-up

I know I’m 23 years old (almost 24) but you know what people say – there’s an inner child in you somewhere. To be honest, the reason why I still like watching Bear in the Big Blue House is that its musical numbers and the way puppeteer Noel Macneal brings Bear to life once he begins to talk just gives you a welcoming feeling that you need to feel when you have a panic attack and you’re thinking that it’s the end of the world.

Bear reminds you that it is going to be okay and that if you’re feeling awful, Bear always makes you feel better about your situation that you’re in as you watch him go on adventures with the gang.

How Bear In The Big Blue House Helps Chronic Illness

What I enjoy about Bear and the Big Blue House is the musical notes in the show. My favourite song to listen to when I’m having a panic attack is the Goodbye Song which is sung at the end of each show with Luna the Moon.

How Bear In The Big Blue House Helps Chronic Illness

A lot of my friends think I’m weird for watching a show for preschoolers at almost 24 but they don’t understand what it’s like to have a body that doesn’t understand your wants.

How A Bear Solves Problems

You need something to distract you from what you’re feeling when you’re having a full-blown panic attack. When you watch an episode of Bear and Big Blue House, you can just become relaxed with all the musical numbers and seeing all characters be happy and joyful

Every time I watch, it makes me forget about every single worry I have in the world at the moment and makes me focus on what’s going on in the episode and the lesson being taught within the show. Overall I love Bear and Big Blue House for many reasons; from its musical numbers to the way Bear makes you feel right at home.

Bear always makes me feel better and that is something I will always love him for!

About The Author:

Tylia Flores is a 24-year-old born with cerebral palsy. Although her condition has affected her mobility, it has never affected her will and determination to make a difference in the world. Through her many life challenges and obstacles, she discovered her passion for writing. Tylia’s goal in life is to share her stories with the world.

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Spoonie Story: David

spoonie story david

Hi, my name is David. I’m a 60-year-old (male) Spoonie from California, now living in Connecticut. The List: a heart condition (H.O.C.M., an enlarged heart with leaky valves), ulcerative colitis, osteoarthitis (both hips were replaced in 2015), high blood pressure & obesity (both under control), and vision problems (eye surgery for a detached retina earlier this year).

spoonie story david

Oh, and high-function autism, alcohol dependence (2½ years of sobriety), depression (I was first diagnosed as clinically depressed at age 12), anxiety disorders & panic attacks, and, most recently, insomnia (I’ve sometimes gone 3 nights without sleep).

Jeez, I’m a real mess, aren’t I?

My family background is also a mess. My sister and I were abandoned by our father as infants – we *never* had contact with him. Most of the information we have about our father came off the Internet. He was replaced, for a while, by an abusive stepfather. Our mother was in-&-out of hospitals (5 cancer operations in 10 years; I was ages 8 through 18). My mother’s mother was in-&-out of mental institutions throughout much of our childhood.

Unsurprisingly, I’ve spent many years in therapy – I’m lucky that most of the medical problems only developed after age 50. I wouldn’t call myself a happy person, but I am reasonable content. I’ve accomplished a lot in my life – although very little of what I wanted to achieve as a young person. At different times, I was going to be an investigative journalist, a playwright/actor, a classical musician, &/or an evolutionary biologist. I turned out to be a book nerd, an editor/proofreader, and a bookseller – and a decent human being. I had to learn how to let go of people I that loved – and that, no, the pain never really goes away – but it’s possible to tolerate the pain, and go on.

I’ve learned that others do love me (despite all my doubts and frailties) and that I love others. Over the years, I’ve acquired social skills and lost the squeamishness that stopped me from getting the help I needed. It has been a rocky path to travel, and a wearying amount of work, but I don’t regret it.

Hang in there, fellow Spoonies!

 

 

Spoonies are not always women! Want to read another Spoonie Male story? Read Marc’s story here.