From Vertigo To Victory: Coping With Sensory Triggers And Anxiety | Episode 358

From Vertigo To Victory: Coping With Sensory Triggers And Anxiety | Episode 358

We share a personal story about facing bright lights and motion without our usual tools and what that taught us about progress with anxiety. Along the way we offer practical ways to choose seats, plan exits, and lower sensory load so crowds, concerts, and travel feel doable.

• mission to help people at scale and invite support
• early vertigo under blue light and motion triggers
• blue light glasses as partial relief not a cure
• unexpected success at a planetarium without tools
• therapy, medication, and coping skills as a stack
• permission to leave early and try short stints
• aisle seats, sitting back, and easy exits
• arriving early to choose space and reduce crowd stress
• hats, ear protection, and previewing audio levels
• mapping bathrooms and exits before anxiety spikes
• writing down what works to spot patterns

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Chapter Markers

0:02 Welcome And Mission To Help

0:31 Subscribe And Free Ways To Support

1:28 How To Access Past And New Episodes

2:57 Setting The Stage For Today’s Story

3:45 Early Vertigo And Blue Light Triggers

5:02 Coping With Blue Light Blocking Glasses

6:15 A Planetarium Without The Usual Tools

8:21 Reflecting On Why It Went Better

11:22 Accepting Uncertainty And Mixed Outcomes

14:22 Gentle Exposure And Trying Short Stints

19:42 Practical Seating And Exit Strategies

24:42 Travel Tips, Aisle Seats, And Hats

28:12 Managing Judgment And Self-Permission

31:42 Previewing Venues And Sound Levels

#AnxietyRelief #CopingStrategies #SensoryTriggers #MentalHealthAwareness #VertigoJourney #MindfulnessTechniques #OvercomingAnxiety #EmotionalWellbeing #VictoryOverFear #TriggerManagement #SelfCareTips #AnxietySupportCommunity #SensoryProcessingDisorder #MentalHealthMatters #PersonalGrowth #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices358

Chapters

• 0:02 Welcome And Mission To Help
• 0:31 Subscribe And Free Ways To Support
• 1:28 How To Access Past And New Episodes
• 2:57 Setting The Stage For Today’s Story
• 3:45 Early Vertigo And Blue Light Triggers
• 5:02 Coping With Blue Light Blocking Glasses
• 6:15 A Planetarium Without The Usual Tools
• 8:21 Reflecting On Why It Went Better
• 11:22 Accepting Uncertainty And Mixed Outcomes
• 14:22 Gentle Exposure And Trying Short Stints
• 19:42 Practical Seating And Exit Strategies
• 24:42 Travel Tips, Aisle Seats, And Hats
• 28:12 Managing Judgment And Self-Permission
• 31:42 Previewing Venues And Sound Levels

Transcript

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 0:02

Hey everyone, it's Justin with Voices for Voices. Welcome to another episode of our show. Uh, whether you're coming to us from Northeast Ohio, the United States, or another country, province, territory across this beautiful world that we call Planet Earth. Thank you for joining us. If you can smash that subscribe button, if you can give us a big thumbs up, like, follow, share, uh, and subscribe. All those things are free to do. And we would greatly appreciate that. Help us get closer and closer and closer that we could one day uh surpass helping uh three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. Uh, that's what we're here for. That's the main mission is to help people at its central core. And it's because of you that we are well over 355 episodes. Uh so thank you for joining us. And uh bring a friend next time. It's as easy as going to voices for voices.org forward slash podcast. Uh don't need uh don't need an app. We don't need to pay for anything. All episodes are there for uh for your listening pleasure. And the the best part about it is that uh once you go there, voices for voices.org / podcasts, that the most recent episode that we have uh available, uh that's at the very top. So you don't need to scroll down. Uh now if there is a particular episode uh that you do want to you wanna find, you can definitely scroll all the way down, uh all the way to the very beginning, episode one. Uh, but just to let you know that if you want to like catch the most recent show we we've uh we've dropped, that is where you can do it. And it's free to do. Uh, and you don't need any special app, you don't need the iHeart app, you don't need the Spotify app, uh, Apple Podcasts, etc. All those are also great. Uh, so you're able to uh listen to our content on your smart device, smart speaker, smart TV, uh, that can also help you find our voices for voices TV show and podcast. And you can find it on our YouTube page as well as our Rumble page. We are uh growing uh as you've seen, as you've heard. Uh so we've we've we've covered that in previous episodes. Uh so we're going to forge our way forward uh a little bit. Um and that's gonna start with way back when 2016, 2017. Uh one of the symptoms that I was having was almost like vertigo, uh, where I you know would feel dizzy. Uh a lot of it around lights at grocery stores, traffic lights, concert lights, you know, strobe lights and that TV, uh, you know, there's movement on the screen or screens. Uh, that was really bothersome for me. And in one way, I was able to augment that or augment um that I was able to help myself in situations like that. Uh, there are uh I'm sure you've probably seen you know, blue block, blue light blocking uh glasses, and so they block that uh that that blue light that comes from screens that uh helps the screen keep our attention, and in some instances, you know, causes us to be more addicted to our screen than what's actually going on in the moment. And and so feeling dizzy, feeling uh you know, like I'm gonna pass out, those were those are real things that I was dealing with. And so I purchased, you know, a few inexpensive pairs of these blue blue light blocking glasses. It doesn't block all the blue light, but it blocks a high percentage of it, or so that's what the gimmick is. Fast forward to this year, 2025, uh, so we're just we're we're just about up on uh eight years from from the time that that occurrence was. And recently I found myself where I didn't take blue light blocking glasses with me, and I was in a uh in a setting in a location where there were lights, where there were sounds. If any of you have ever heard of like a planetarium where you can where you sit, you know, the screen is you're basically immersed in what is being shown. So in a planetarium, you know, you're seeing stars, you're seeing galaxies, planets, and depending on what the actual uh what the actual I guess what's actually the the point of the the show of of you and I being at at the planetarium. Uh you know, they could you could see like shooting stars, you could see maybe a fast forward of where planets where they're aligned, or uh where there's uh you know you know the solar eclipse, like uh all those things. And so there's movement that's going on on the screen, and again, sometimes it is accompanied by music, sounds, and and so recently I found myself in a planetarium setting, and I didn't have I didn't I didn't bring my blue light blocking glasses, and and so again, there's movement going on in especially when you're in one of these planetarium or imax settings or you know 12k or or more, where again you're just feeling you're just totally in the scene of what's going on, and there's there's movement, and so I I had a I had a concern that that was going to bother me, and so you would you would think that I would have planned ahead to be sure that I had a pair of my blue light blocking glasses uh on so that the movements uh and in the light would not bother me very much, if if at all. But I didn't so I'm a human, and so sometimes as a human, because none of us are perfect, we uh we actually um forget things, we know that we should bring things to help us, and it and and that was an area where I didn't, and so again, it was a big concern that I had it's like oh my gosh, I'm turning to the back the clock in my mind to 2015, 2016, early 2017, that I was gonna go through a spell at that point. Uh not a hocus pocus spell, but uh go through a period of time where I was gonna experience kind of this uh this vertigo sensation of the moving, and I was gonna get just super dizzy, and uh that I was gonna have to leave leave that particular setting and location. But I didn't, and I don't I don't I don't know what to really attribute all that to. I mean, some of it could be some coping mechanisms, uh some of it could be medication therapy, uh getting more comfortable in settings like like the one that I I was in. And so I don't I don't I don't know where to put my finger on and say, aha, if I do this, this, this, and this, then this thing. So it's kind of called the like um you know, when if or if what if then so if I go to therapy, I won't experience this vertigo feeling when I'm in in those moments, something like that. Um, but I don't know. I I I can't put my finger on exactly what it is to be able to say, well, here's what I did. Uh I mean, I am sharing what what I what I do with therapy and uh in medication and having you know that mental health team with me that uh kind of accompanies me. Yeah, so I don't I don't I don't know. I don't know if it's a magical number of years of therapy, a magical number of or a magic number of years taking a particular medication. I don't I don't know. But the reason I'm bringing this up is to hopefully in inspire to some degree that we can we can keep trying and maybe you're not ready. Maybe I wasn't ready and maybe today was just a fluke, like it it it happened to be okay, or when I when I when I did that. Uh but maybe the next time maybe it's totally different. I don't know. Maybe it's where the seat was positioned, the angle that I was looking at, the volume of the different sounds. I don't I don't know. So I can't take it for granted that oh well this time everything was good because again the next time it might not be. And that's been a big fear of mine of staying away from concerts uh because of the use of the different lights, the strobe lights, and obviously if you're at live a live music show, live concert, you know, where there's first people really singing, even if they're not, there's maybe backing tracks. Uh if there's people playing, you know, guitars or drums or the bass or piano, uh harp, you name it, uh all those things can can affect us differently. And and and so I don't I don't want to take that for granted that because this this one opportunity that I had worked out because trust me, I I was in my mind kind of turning back the clock. Like, okay, Justin, what's gonna happen? Are we gonna end up where we're gonna have to leave abruptly? Or is it gonna be okay? Or am I gonna be able to make it halfway through and then and and and then the sensations are gonna over overcome and overtake me? Um I don't know. But I do know is if I didn't try it, I wouldn't know. And so maybe there's something that you've been wanting to do, play an instrument, sing, hum to a song that you like. Um write a letter, draw a picture, write a song. I I don't know that that's for you to that's for you to decide. And I'm just here to say from time to time things may be a little bit different. We're gonna handle ourselves maybe better or a little bit of a confused way the next time or the time after that. And so we should if we're up to it, so I don't I don't want you to do something if you're very scared and uh fearful, don't don't do it. Don't push yourself. If you want to try, try for a short amount of time. Who cares if you're not there the whole time? You don't have to explain it to anybody. Maybe it'll work out or you'll be able to be there or do the whole do the thing all the way through, or maybe not. That's okay. So, what are some things that I can recommend if you know we're talking about like attending, I don't know, attending a movie, uh planetarium experience, a concert. One one thing that I like to do, if possible, is to have an end seat. So, right, let's just say there's five seats and they're name named, they're numbered one, two, three, four, five. And then there's a row in front, and there's five seats. One, two, three, four, five, and behind us, there's five seats. One, two, three, four, five. So seat numbers one would be an aisle seat, and seat number five in this hypothetical would be a numbered seat. And so even up till now, that's one thing that I I I look for, if possible. Sometimes it's not possible, sometimes it is. If it is possible, I kind of scope that out. Or if I need help, I'll ask somebody. Sometimes you go to these planetariums and and some of these concerts, so there's not a whole lot of light. So you know, asking an usher or somebody to help you, or when you're maybe buying tickets and purchasing whoever's helping you, or if you're doing it yourself, you're able to see where the aisle seats are. And that way, if you have to get up for any reason, it's less of a distraction. You don't have to worry about it. You don't have to worry about, anyways. But this just makes it a little easier for you and I to get up and go out if we need to get a get some fresh air. If we have to stay out in the lobby, the hallway for the remainder of whatever we're there for, so be it. There'll be another chance, another time. And you can also sit on an aisle towards the back, too. So then that makes the distraction of all these people are looking at me and they're gonna see me, and they're gonna they're gonna know exactly that my anxiety or whatever we're we're thinking. Don't worry about that. It's easier said than done. I know, trust me, been there, done that, and I still gotta I still gotta work through it. But people get up for for a variety of reasons, and so I'm I'm I'm just sharing a couple things I do that in case I need to get up and get out of that situation. Not that it's dangerous, just that it's affecting affecting us. Um we just don't feel comfortable with getting dizzy, it's too loud, it it's just uncomfortable. It's okay. So look for an aisles seat if you're buying tickets at home. If it's a general mission type of setting where there's no reserve seats, maybe maybe arrive a little bit earlier than when it lists when the doors open to the venue. So let's say the doors open at 6 p.m. Maybe we get there at 5 30 or 5 15. I don't know, you just have to judge on what you're what you're going to and what you're how many people are going to be there. And so you need to judge a little bit on that because right, you have to judge you have to look you have to look at the traffic and how many other people is this venue hold a hundred thousand people or a hundred people, those types of things will let you will give you a little bit of an idea. Um, and then you can go to map quest or any number of apps that'll it'll tell you how long of a of a uh commute, whether you're driving in a car, whether it's by train, whether it's by airplane. Um by airplane, you can always request an ILC in case you have anxiety like I do. And if you have to go to the bathroom, and you don't want to be like me, and if it's a longer flight, and I have to wake the people up next to me to get through to go to the bathroom, one way to kind of alleviate that a little bit is to have an aisle seat, seems very minor, it really does. Seems like something so very small, but you'd be surprised on how big that helps. So for me, if I'm able to have have an ILC and I have my blue light blocking glasses, and maybe a hat on that will block some of the light, right? Because if you're you're at an event, maybe there's some different colored lights above, like if you're going to a concert for a band, you know, and then the lights change colors and they move, and and so that's also a thing you could do that I've done. A hat, whatever makes you comfortable. You know, gone are the days where I mean people are gonna judge no matter what. People are gonna gossip no matter what. So whether it bothers them or not, they're gonna gossip it just the way it is. So why not be more concerned about yourself and myself and putting ourselves in safe positions and places where if we do have to get up and move around, it makes it a lot easier. Because again, we're not gonna be we're not gonna be able to stop every single person from chit-chatting. That's just the human-raced human beings, we're social beings. Um people are they're gonna just naturally chit-chat and talk and gossip. So try try the best that you can to not let that bother you. Still bothers me. Don't get me wrong. I I number one, I'm not perfect. Number two, I'm no, I'm nowhere close to mastering this. These are just things that I try I I try. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, sometimes a little bit, sometimes not a little bit. Maybe watch a show on if you're able to on TV or listen to to the music to get an idea of what instruments are gonna be played. and how loud the the the music's gonna be played just to familiarize yourself a little bit ahead of time again these are all little things but they're little things that have the potential to really help and again as somebody has mental illnesses and uh these situations do bother me sometimes a lot even if I plan every little thing that I can sometimes it still bothers me and it still makes me uncomfortable and that's okay the more we're okay with ourselves and we're we're just confident that if I need to go to an exit I know where the exit's at I need to go to the bathroom I know where it's at if I need help my guardian my parent teacher that I know where they're at so I if I need to get their attention I can get their attention and then have an idea of where the bathroom is at um where the exit door is exit doors are just good to know no matter what where those are at in case there's an emergency but even more so if your anxiety is like mine is because when if you're like me and you go through anxiety and a panic attack our minds don't really work very well when we're going through those panic attacks suddenly when we're in the moment of a panic attack people say go to the exit or you know go if you got to go to the bathroom or get fresh air you go over here that's why it's important to to practice while we're not anxious while we're not so uh yeah we're not so anxious and in a panic attack so that if we are in a panic attack we know exactly like even if our minds only working at kind of half capacity which is may mean that 50% of it is just taken care of the panic attack but that other 50% may go oh yeah it's to the left so let me look to the left and let me look for the exit sign and and go that direction so these these tips that I'm sharing they're not rocket signs you can probably find a book on everything I've I've shared for me to share like actual real things that happen to a real person myself and they continue to happen sometimes it still overwhelms me and I have panic attacks that very much overwhelm me and yet there's sometimes that they don't so find what works for you if you have to write it down write it down put it on a note card put in your phone put it on a sticky note put it in your purse put it in your wallet start there so thank you for joining us on this episode give us a big thumbs up smash that subscribe button share follow uh give us a comment reach out let us know what you like let us know how we can improve let us know if you'd like to be a guest on a future episode of the show and let's celebrate the voices in all of us until next time this is Justin Voices for Voices and like always be a voice for you or somebody in need we'll see you next time