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Agoraphobia but life gives you appointments and things!

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Agoraphobia but life gives you appointments and things!

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Cara

Thank you. The surgery got bumped three weeks due to someones emergency. I can still see okay so it doesn't matter that much except for rearranging my plans. I do look forward to seeing clear with both eyes when fall gets here. And this morning it feels like fall with the rain and overcast. In a couple of days it will be back to normal.

"want to" is just one of those changing of thought patterns but it is the fastest to show results. And this is just plain CBT, no magic. The thing with changing thought patterns is that there is no side effect like medication. With medication a person gets a temporary reprieve but unless they do CBT it comes back. But changing thought patterns changes the effect of the triggers while leaving them there so they have no effect, because they are not going away. Unless you move, change job, get divorced or run away from what the trigger is. And you are right, It is like peeling an onion one layer at a time. Each layer no longer gets the reaction it used to. Even if it is still there. Changing thought patterns for one thing usually affects anything related which is why one day you just realize the panic and anxiety is gone.

Davit.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 169

This is awesome Davit.

I had a long drive yesterday after months and I had no panic. I started changing my thoughts to "I want to" and it really worked. I do get the occassional anxiety....the dizziness and off balance hurts me alot, but I try to cope. Also, I never touched meds it was only CBT for me. It comes off in layers, bit by bit and you have to let it. If you try and stay in the hole you'll be in darkness forever, but if you try to let yourself out of the hole one day you'll notice its no longer around.

Good luck with your surgery Davit.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Karin says not every one can want to do something bad enough to overcome the panic but it works for me and a number of other people. Maybe we just had to hit bottom first. Maybe there has to be no where else to go. Maybe I just had to be mad enough to take back my life. She says some people are so out of it they can't do it. But she never saw me at my worst with tunnel vision so bad I couldn't see around me. So deaf I couldn't hear anything and so dizzy I had to lean on things. And the thought in my head that I probably looked drunk. So bad I couldn't read the grocery list. Shopping where I could charge because I couldn't make my debit or visa card work.

So out of it that if some one stopped by I would go blank and have to sit down, so out of it that I had to have Ativan just to talk and even at that I wonder if I made sense.

One day sitting in front of the store on the brink of tears because even with the Damn Ativan I couldn't get out of the car I thought:

What is the worst that can happen? I might pass out? So what they can call an ambulance, I'd rather be dead than go on like this. So began the the change to "I want to" It was not easy to change attitude from "I have to" to "I want to" but it gave me back control. It allowed me to put all the triggers into perspective. Yes I needed every distraction and every coping skill to do this but it worked and it got better. There is a lot more to this and it took time.

On monday I get my other cataract repaired. No panic, just routine now. Just a pain in the ass because I lose a whole day.

I have a three hour drive to the hospital first. And I have not touched Ativan in years now. I'm free.

Davit

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Welcome Foxglove

You will note that the things you can do are things you want to verses things you have to. Agoraphobia is not a fear of the outdoors, that is how it manifests itself. It is a fear of having no control. To cure it you take back control and you do this by wanting to do the things you have to rather than having to. Fighting it only makes it worse as does fighting panic attacks. How bad do you want to get better, bad enough to want to shop or drive. This changing have to to want to does work. The two words may seem similar but your mind treats them a whole lot different.

I'm willing to bet you can do anything where you have control and where you want to. I'm willing to bet you work yourself up every time you have to do something where someone or something dictates how you do it.

Davit

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 3

Hi there.

Yes, I didn't have the help of meds (only diazepam for emergencies) and what I have found works is following Claire Weekes' rule of not adding the second fear. Have you heard of Claire Weekes? First of all you feel the anxiety but I then just allow my body to slump, allow my tummy to relax and not turn the anxiety into something more. It isn't easy but with practice, it can be done. Keep talking to yourself that you are safe, not in danger, that is adrenalin only, it can't harm you and allow your body to almost float. Don't put it on more red alert. I hope this helps, if only a little.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6

So glad to hear your story and that you are doing well. My anxiety panic just returned after the birth of my daughter, 3 weeks ago. I'm in a rough state right now with all these sensations I'm feeling.. I did the cbt program last year and I'm trying to apply all the tools I've learned.... Did you do it without the help of Meds? I want to do this with the cbt only.. I need some encouraging words

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Agoraphobia but life gives you appointments and things!