Anxiety issues

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Another recommendation for the GP - they're pretty good with mental health issues now, the stigma is being overcome

Good luck!

HBS x

silkyuk9

Jane-boots wrote: »

Thank you for your suggestions ,i have booked an appointment to see my GP for Friday .I hope she will be understanding as i feel embarressed about my anxiety as i can't seem to pull myself together :

Just be careful which meds your doctor puts you on, not all doctors are experts to be honest. My daughter had(s) anxiety issues and things went very bad when she was on meds, not going into it on public message but if you want to discuss things further pm me.

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There might not even be meds involved.

HBS x

fizzypotter

hypnotherapy??
maybe not for everyone but it really helped me when I was changing from a depression med to a more anxiety specific one, helped me get over the bad time and to be honest I think has also helped in the long run.
I had a session face to face but you can also buy mp3 sessions which are pretty good.
hope you get it sorted and feel better soon x

Racheldevon

Yes I've had experience with anxiety, and in answer to your question I was very keen to avoid medication (I realise it has a place and can be helpful, but I wanted to address the root cause not mask the symptoms & risk the side effects, so for me I didn't want to go down that route).

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses last for 8 weeks and have an evidence based for anxiety & other health related difficulties that are causing the individual distress. There are three flagship universities that are gold standard in the mindfulness programmes they offer (Exeter, Bangor and Oxford) they also run mindfulness based cognitive therapy for recurrent/relapsing depression. These courses are run in many place in partnership with the NHS and are offered free in those areas, they are also offered privately but i'd be careful in checking out who's running the course. Usually a referral from the GP is all you need.

It's often helpful to consider therapy/counselling alongside the process - many places have a low cost counselling service (you don't have to be on benefits) and these can be from £5 per session - it doesn't have to be CBT, it has it's place but often these centres will have a mixture of therapeutic approaches & staff from gestalt, person centred, CBT, integrative etc - sometimes it takes time to find someone you feel able to work with, but i'd say it's well worth preserving with.

There's a few good mindfulness books - The mindful way through depression gives a good overview (whether depressed or not) & has a very good CD narrated by Jon Kabat Zinn (who also does an excellent number of books and audio CDs to support practice. There's also the mindful way through anxiety book, and online audio tracks you can download from the website.

Similarly you might want to consider looking at some of the work of Brene Brown, Kirsten Neff and Christopher Germer, who are all working in the field of shame/mindfulness and self compassion - all with strong research behind their work - they all have websites and books, which i'd recommend. The latter two people also have audio tracks you can download, but I think it's helpful to have read a bit around it to understand more about the context

I've also found acupuncture really helpful in calming my anxiety symptoms, but go for someone who's registered with the British Acupuncture Council, and on local recommendation if you do know of any

ERICS_MUM

I had very bad depression a few years ago, being helped by meds but just needed a "boost".

One thing that really helped, of all things, was weekly reflexology. I do like hands-on treatments such as massage, facials etc anyway but reflexology relaxed me for a good couple of days.

Part of the benefit came from the fact that the woman who treated my feet was a good listener and we chatted about all sorts of things - my problems, hers, we put the world to rights, our dreams, recipes, anything.

Anyway this is my long-winded way of saying that I was helped by a combo of meds, "hands on" therapy and talking therapy.

10 years on, my depression is under control roughly 9 months of the year with occasional break-throughs. I still find that hands-on therapy is beneficial, only now I have regular facials. I'm still on meds and don't care.

I do hope you can find the right balance of treatments/support and start to feel better about yourself and life very soon.

Linda xx

stef240377

During a recent dental trip my husband was asked by the dentist if he was suffering stress as he could see the teeth being worn down from grinding and it was weakening them. He was advised to buy a cheap sports gum sheild, mould it to his mouth and use it in bed to prevent any further damage while still going through the stressful period. Maybe this is something that you can utilise while sorting out other coping mechanisms?

Jane-boots

Been perscibed Paroxetine .
Any one had experiance of this drug ....bit scared to take it

**professor~yaffle**

Did you tell them you don't want to take meds?

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I took a short course of Seroxat years ago. It got me back on an even keel.

If you're scared, book another appointment, a double one, and ask about the medication, or ask the pharmacist.

HBS x