EvolutionHealth.care

Home
Members List
Member View
Posts created by Genejockey

Advanced Search Form

Members List
Moderation Team
Member View
Posts created by Genejockey

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Exposure therapy ... when it isn't planned

Well I wouldn't say she is completely cured of the fear but she feels much better about it. I don't think that she lives her life in fear of it anymore. Ironically she got drunk for the first time this year at 25 years of age. Not that this is much of an accomplishment but considering her years of fear- it represents a huge leap in her confidence with dealing with vomiting.

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Separating yourself from your anxiety.

Thanks again for the great advise. I know that I need to break the stigma of having a "mental disorder" and I need to come to term with the word "panic disorder". Often, these days, when I have a PA I am not concerned about the PA itself but I feel overwhelmed with the term panic disorder and also with exhuastion. Exhuastion is probably my biggest problem right now. I am working like a dog, I come home to an extemely depressed wife, I can't sleep, I still have the occasional PA and my OCD tendencies are flaring up at the moment.

So I agree that we all need to give ourselves a break. I also used to work 12 hour days and push myself very hard. But I guess you are right. I need to chill a bit...

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Panic just started

Welcome Marisa

I feel the same way as you do about our place in this cosmos. It is very confusing. I have had those exact same feelings before. I am an agnostic or at least I think that I am

I would dearly like to believe in some greater power that is looking over my shoulder but I just can't. I have my reasons. I do know that many people derive great peace and self-confidence by having a spiritual life but I also believe that happiness is possible without it. Some view the idea of death as total liberation because if you do not exist you cannot suffer. While it may seem terrifying to relinquish your consciousness you will not be aware of it- which in itself is blissful. I myself do not feel very confident about death and I had a similar experience as you when my mother developed heart failure. After that I began to worry about my own cardiac health because I have had hypertension for many years.

This is where CBT is very helpful. When you critically analyse a thought like "my heart is beating very hard perhaps there is something wrong with it", you begin to nullify the thought and it slowly dissapears. I know what you mean about "downtime" being the hardest. When I am very busy I don't feel panicky at all.

I think that partly what you are going through is the search for meaning and unless you have some parentally entrenched belief system I reckon most people undergo this. It just sucks that it comes with anxiety instead of just a burning desire for answers.

If you have panic disorder- remember one critical thing- PD is the fear of panic attacks. Many people have panic attacks but they don't have PD. My own belief is that all behaviour that is an attempt to shut down the panic is not helpful. Relaxation techniques/homeopathic remedies or even benzodiazapenes are useful to prevent generalised anxiety but panic stems from the fear of fear so avoiding it just creates more anxiety. I think the best way to deal with panic attacks is to own them. To accept them. I know this is very difficult at first but when you can embrace the feeling of panic it will go away. Becoming densensitized to panic eventually makes it go away. The only way to recover from PD is to loose your fear of a PA. When I begin to feel panicky I tell myself "ok, you can handle this, it's not that bad". My own PAs have become further and further apart but critically they don't scare me as much as they used to and they never reach the same intensity as before I began embracing them.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Give the program a shot. I think most people have found it very helpful.

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Medications that can worsen anxiety symptoms

Wow. Good to know about salmeterol. I must really give up smoking then....

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Medications that can worsen anxiety symptoms

I am good at quiting but never long term. When I am with some friends I always foolishly light up thinking that it will be ok and I won't start again. I only started again last week Monday and then I quit over the weekend only to begin again on Tuesday. I will try to stop this weekend again. Funnily, I almost feel as if smoking is kind of like progress away from panic because a few months ago I wouldn't have been able to smoke due to all the negative health fears. Smoking is obviously extremely unhealthy but I am not suddenly at 25 going to fall over and die from a few weeks of smoking (please don't try to convinve me otherwise- I am fully aware of the hazards of smoking

). Those kinds of irrational thoughts used to play a much bigger part of life a couple of months ago.

BTW- I read an interesting article today about how some researchers found that if subjects were unaware of being given benzodiazepenes that they were completely ineffective at relieving anxiety. Just goes to sho how complex the mind is and how powerful the placebo effect is. I have found that the benzos that make you feel lightheaded and "out of it" work but when I don't experience these side effects from anti anxiety meds that they don't work. Perhaps I just associate the feeling with being calm?

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Finally going back to work

Hi Darkblue

Good luck with work. I don't know what you do for a living but it can really be difficult. As you say - its the people. But I have found coming to work to be good for me. I never took any leave when PD began but I am only a Masters student so I just took it easy like coming in late etc. But work is distracting and if you accomplish things at work you it will make you more positive.

I hear you about depression. I find PAs and anxiety are easy to deal with when I am in a positive frame of mind but they overwhelm me when I am depressed.

By the sounds of it you have a great attitude. This will help you to fight the onset of depression. I am sure that now you are more aware of how to deal with depressive thinking than you ever were before. Also your dealings at work should be better thanks to having better coping skills.

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Finally going back to work

Fantastic!!! Well done! It must feel great to get back on the horse.

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

What success did you achieve?

I had a very honest conversation with my therapist today. There was something that I was too ashamed to discuss with him and today I finally did so.

I have also been feeling really good recently about panic. I have kind of lost my fear of panic attacks. I know that they are uncomfortable but I am not afraid to have one. If I recall all the difficult situations I have faced since developing PD, all the walls that I created for myself that I have broken, I now have the confidence to face a PA in the same way that I have faced those difficult situations.

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Medications that can worsen anxiety symptoms

I have felt the same feeling as a benzo from a herbal medication with valarian extracts in it. I hardly ever use benzo's anyway but it really goes to show how powerful the mind is.

I kind of like your idea of associating a particular mantra with being relaxed. The mind is all about association. A bayesian probalistic network of learning...

15 years ago 0 +0 / -0 187

Medications that can worsen anxiety symptoms

What you are saying is exactly why the FDA are suggesting that certain drug trails include people who are unaware of being given a drug. How they will get the ethics right is complicated but they have recognised the powerful effect of the placebo and the flaws in trails were there are only placebo and drug groups.

today's top discussions:

This Month’s Leaders:

Most Supportive

Most Active

Most Loved