The Irrational Fangirl
September 30, 2015 § 2 Comments
If you’re a fangirl, you tend to learn towards the irrational. Don’t believe me? Have you ever had any of these thoughts?
I need [insert actress] to be in this episode or I’ll die.
Everyone should reblog this post on Tumblr.
Nobody understands this character the way I do.
If I don’t make it home for this episode, I’m going to lose it.
Sure, we joke about these extreme ways of thinking, but they take their toll. You get anxious when you miss a trailer, and you assume the worst when nobody reviews your fanfic in the first 15 minutes. So what do you do?
There’s a form of therapy called REBT that teaches us to change how we think about our thoughts. Sound confusing? Let’s break it down.
- Your fangirl thinking influences you more that what actually happens.
- So to be less crey, you have to change your thoughts.
How do you change your thinking? You practice your ABCs. Let’s look at an example.
A= Activating Event. Traffic is bad, and you might miss your favorite TV show.
B= Belief. I must watch this TV show live or I will die.
C= Consequence. I feel anxious! OH nOOOOO!
How do you change the consequence? You go back and examine the belief.
D= Dispute belief. Hmm. There were a lot of shows I never watched live, and I still enjoyed them.
and with that, we have
E! More Effective View. I like watching TV live, but I’ll be okay if I miss an episode or two.
When you can adjust your beliefs, you’ll feel less upset when the fangirl world doesn’t quite go your way.
So try it out! What irrational thoughts do you have about the way people act in your fandom or your fanfic? You can still enjoy your unicorn nature without sacrificing your sanity.
Fangirl Therapy 
This resonates a lot more than I would care to admit in polite society. Thanks a lot for helping with the crey-crey!
You’re welcome! We’ve all been there. 🙂