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The program works but you need one other thing. You need to truly believe. Just reading it won't cure you. It will give you the tools. You have to use them and believe that they will work. If you believe there is no way that you can not get better.
The main challenge in this session is how one gets organized so she to do all the CBT activities and do not skip any step. If other anxiety people are like me, I get overwhelmed when I have many things to do leading to an increase in my anxiety and in this way getting frustrating because I am not able to do anything. So, the key here is moderation: one should get organized so she can do the CBT activities presented on this program but on the other hand this should be a basic organization so it leaves some room for unexpected situations.
What worked for me was to create a file on the notepad called CBT. In this file I write the CBT activities that I have to do do review as needed. As CBT activities are always changing I try to update this file so it can be a road-map every time I need it.
We need to develop some time management tools and the health educators here are always referring this on the forums. We could learn to use some time management tools in this program as this will be very useful in other aspects of our lives.
Right now I know if we are prepared to work through this program there is no other way than for us to get better.
I can relate hugs I have a dislike for taking all kinds of medication, something I need to bring up with my councellor I beleive.
I am actually in the middle of wrestling with this at the moment. I had a relapse this week and after not taking any medication for over 3 weeks
I ended up taking Xanax to keep my anxiety in check for a day or so, I then tried to cut myself off completely which only caused my anxiety to spike back up.
Also as you mentioned I have several avoidances that have caused pretty significant regretes in my life, mainly flying and entering into a serious relationship.
So I guess I will have to add that to my goals list: Go on flight with love of my life!
As I decided to review module one, I was reminded of my allergist's appointment today. I admitted that I had avoided going into places which triggered seasonal allergies, and she suggested a couple of meds to help relieve hayfever and eye irritations, so I could feel better.
I can't believe I've lived by avoiding so many things, but I guess I have to move on. I had an aversion to medicine too, and have to get over that too.
By taking the WB-DAT test, it identified what I have, so I could put a name to it and learn more about it. Learning about the Panic Cycle identified my triggers. By doing the homework for Session 1, it gave insight into the specific situations that trigger anxiety and the time of day they usually occur, so I can see a pattern. Knowledge is empowering. The more I learn, the more in control I feel over anxiety and panic. I can be proactive in helping myself with the tools given and I'm not at the mercy of anxiety and panic and just let them happen to me. I can use positive self talk and box breathing and challenge negative thoughts with 10 questions (I skipped ahead for that coping skill :) The one sentence that really stood out was, "Don't confuse being anxious with 'not coping'." That was a huge relief and took a lot of self imposed pressure and guilt off of me.
I think the thing that I learned is the difference between normal fear and abnormal fear. I liked how it gave examples (ie. the bear around the corner, the baby near the edge of the stairs) so I could start seeing normal fear. I also learned that a lot of my guilt comes from avoiding situations that might cause me to panic and I realized that I didn't want to feel guilty or helpless anymore -
The main challenge to my keeping track of symptoms is being able to write them down. Because I work in a work intensive job, I don't have time to write down what's been happening. I have to wait until I get home to do it and sometimes I forget.
A strategy that I can use . . . um. I could use some suggestions on that one. Taking breaks is extremely hard for me because 1 - I don't know what to do with myself, 2 - one of my coworkers might want to talk to me, and 3 - if I stay busy, I can distract myself from panic the majority of the time.
Chapter 1....I learnt so much from it...I reread it over and over..I knew I had some form of an Anxiety Disorder, but putting it into words was so beneficial. I learnt that I am Agoraphobic too, prior to this I had thougth that meant only people who couldn't leave their homes, not people like me who experienced fear in crowded places.
In the beginning I got too hung up on writing my symptoms down exactly like it said to do, so my advice to new members is not to worry too much about that , just write down your thoughts however you want, save the paper and go through them after a few days....it came together for me then.
I also learnt that by avoiding the situations I got panicy in I was increasing my chance of panic , and not living the life I want to. I was doubtful at first that I could ever get better, but by the end of Chapter One I saw there was hope, and I wasn't alone.
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