I have posted this with a member's permission for everyone to read.
Hopefully good-bye
Having completed the 12 week course here and feeling more or less back to my normal self, though still taking Zoloft for a while more, I hope I shall not need to return to the site again. I have only posted a couple of times, but read messages every day so many of your names have become familiar (lauren 02, sotired, chardthefish, ruby etc.).
My illness started with strange abdominal pains (tension and hypersensitivity) rather than panic attacks. In February it developed into full-blown anxiety.I took to my bed for most of each day, could hardly eat, and couldn't go to the doctor without my husband with me. As my mother has suffered from anxiety for years, which she has dealt with by avoidance, I was worried that I was becoming like her. It took my doctor a long time to make me see that it was perhaps learned behaviour which I could unlearn, rather than genetics which I could not control.
Like most of you I was willing to try anything that would help. Many people prayed with me and for me, and I think these prayers were answered by me being given the right contacts and resources at the right time. I have used relaxation techniques, positive statements,vitamin B complex, and cut out nearly all alcohol and caffeine.
However the most useful thing of all has been this CBT course. In England there is a wait of many months to see a psychologist, and I am still waiting!! So my doctor agreed to me trying this course, and visiting her every 2 weeks to check my progress. Challenging my anxious thoughts and doing the exposure work are what have made the difference. When I made my expsure plan there were things I rated 9, which as I went through the small steps of my plan came down to 0 when I actually attempted them.
Now I have just about regained my usual life again, though I am trying to be careful not to take on too many things, but live life at a slower pace.I am even planning to do something I've never done before -in September travel to Germany on holiday whilst our son is living there. I never dreamt a few months ago that I would be able to do that this year or ever. So... if you haven't tried the course on this site please do - it really helps.
Mary
