Greg Pastic

2016-09-04 22:37:10 -0400

I wish to share a personal story of how the sound of aircraft can cause deep anxiety, panic and sadness. And how the best solution is not always to eliminate the source of our anxiety, but to change the way we perceive it.



Barely two years ago I stood and watched an Orange Air Ambulance helicopter lift off from Port Perry Hospital with my mother en route to Sunnybrook Trauma Centre. Her car had been struck broadside by a dump truck and she was in gravely serious condition. I will leave out the rest of the details, but she did not survive. My family was by her side at Sunnybrook when she died.



I live close to Civic Hospital here in Peterborough and the coming and going of the Air Ambulance chopper is almost a daily event. For several months after her death, each time I heard the Air Ambulance flying overhead, and I mean over our rooftops, I was overwhelmed by anxiety and sadness, and all the images and sounds would come flooding back. Sometimes it was so bad that it made me want to sell my house, just to get away from it.



So, I changed my perception of the sound. Each time I heard it I would stop, go to the window or even go outside and look for it and say to myself “There’s someone in there being saved right now, and that’s a good thing.” I know, it might sound a bit corny or simplistic, but it helped.



Did my anxiety vanish completely? No, but it gradually became easier to manage, and now I can hear the chopper without being overwhelmed by my thoughts and emotions. I empathize deeply with war refugees who feel anxious when they hear the sounds of the Toronto Air show over the lake, but cancelling the air show is not the solution. I don’t mean to trivialize their anxiety in any way (I can’t even begin to imagine what they’ve seen and heard) but maybe a visit to the local library to read up on a bit of the rich Canadian history of aviation, and even a visit to the air show with friends, might go a long way to help turn their anxiety into awe and excitement.

commented