Anxiety issues

DKLS

morganedge wrote: »

Do you think you can get positive results from books/online help in relation to CBT as opposed to seeing a specialist in person?

Lots of people claim to have gotten over social anxiety for instance, and sing teh praises of CBT, but nobody ever reveals any actual techniques that they've been taught.

Is it because people don't want to share what they've been taught, or something else?

Has anyone here who has had CBT gone into any detail about the methods and techniques that have helped them out of interest?

thx

There is a good and increasing evidence base to show that CBT interventions, including self help books work for people work well with anxiety, depression and low mood and to an extent in PTSD and Eating Disorders.

CBT is available in a variety of 'flavours' with a number of types of delivery, from face to face, telephone and email support, CCBT and books and ebooks.

Jane-boots

G.P gave me phone number for Anxiety Depression help service ,i called them to book an appointment & was called back and assessed within the hour . Person who called said i had moderate Anxiety and Depression and has referred me for C.B.T .( should have first appointment within a month) .
I am going to try and cope without the meds ,hopefully this C.B.T will help


I did'nt mention to GP about not wanting Meds (the last few days i have been quite desparate to shift these feeling )

Jennykins

A book that helped me no end is 'At Last a Life' by Paul David. It was pretty cheap from Amazon and really helped me understand it.

ERICS_MUM

Jane-boots wrote: »

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

what's your GP like ? Does she/he seem to understand how you feel, is sympathetic and wants to get you better ? If so, (and this might seem corny !), I'd put my trust in him/her and try the meds for a few weeks. Hopefully they will soon "take the edge off" how you're feeling, enough to help you work out other ways of resolving the causes of your illness or managing the symptoms.

I've been on several diff types of anti-d's over the years, my GP was excellent in tweaking doses and combinations to see what results we could get. I've been on the best combo for 6 years now and to be honest I feel so much better that I don't care if I have to take them forever.

Having said that, I am reducing one of my meds at the mo, just trying it to see how I go. GP says the summer is the best time, winter can be worse for people with depression because of lower light levels.

Luckily I've never had any side effects with my various meds after the first week or so - and then only annoying things like a dry mouth, nasty dreams, extra tired at bedtime etc but they only lasted a few days.

It's really worth persevering with them (unless of course you get any nasty symptoms).

Good luck, and keep on posting - it's amazing how beneficial it can be to speak to strangers about depression/anxiety.

Linda xx

ERICS_MUM

Just read this back before hitting the GO button and realised it's too long winded, apols.

Re CBT, I can share my experiences.

Mine wasn't face to face with a human, it was an inter-active computer based program which sounds silly but it still helped me face my "demons". The program is called "Beat The Blues" which is available to buy privately but luckily our area health trust offers it.

It was split into 8 x 1-hourly once a week sessions at our NHS mental health clinic. I was completely alone but had to do a quick questionnaire and discuss with a MH therapist after each session. Over the weeks it helped me understand what I feared, how I felt about myself, my perception of what others thought of me, how I did things that made me feel bad (and good) about myself etc. Then each session helped me work out how to deal with or improve these "negative" issues. I had to put them into practice during the week.

I was a good girl and stuck to it religiously for 8 weeks and found it very therapeutic. I cried my way through the first 3 sessions as the questions made me think so much and it was painful. I developed a few ideas to help me deal with things differently and to this day I still use them.

IT WASN'T an exercise to go back to my childhood to identify any deep-seated traumas that could be responsible for my ills.

Something completely different - a book that I found quite useful :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feel-Fear-Anyway-Indecision-Confidence/dp/0091907071

If I've still got it somewhere you are welcome to it, "every little helps".

The moral of my story is that it sometimes takes a combination of treatments to help get over these nasty illnesses, it might need a leap of faith to try/trust people, books, CBT or the dreaded meds (which have a certain stigma to them).

Hope this helps.

Linda xx

MrsE_2

silkyuk9 wrote: »

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.

I think you should keep things like that to yourself.
People suffering with anxiety worry enough without you suggesting they dont have faith in their doctots.
How exactly is your post helpful?
:mad:

caringa

**professor~yaffle** wrote: »

There are quite a few books and workbooks available with CBT techniques for overcoming anxiety and depression, might be worth a try?

Agree regarding CBT. Its important to train your brain to let negative thoughts pass instead of "sticking" in your mind. I go through bouts of anxiety from time to time and whenever it hits, I work quite hard by telling myself that being afraid of the feelings, it is actually perpetuating them. I try to tell myself that I wouldnt be scared of a broken leg, headache etc, so why anxiety? You have to let it pass, as it will undoubtedly do and almost always it goes just when you feel you cant take any more.


By the way, I also suffer depression which I am on medication for. Personally the symptoms of anxiety are completlely different from those of depression. With anxiety I feel how one might feel if they were about to take their driving test or attend a really important interview. With depression, my mood is really low and I cant see anything positive in my life or the world around me.


Regarding medication, I take Propanalol for anxiety and Citalopram for depression. They suit me well with few side effects.


Hope this helps and dont forget, you are not alone and it will pass in time. All the best:)

kissingthepink

I too suffered from anxiety. The meds help, I am still on them 5 years later and don't want to stop them as I do not want to risk taking a step backwards. I also had a course of CBT counselling and this was invaluable and helped changed my mindset which massively reduced my anxiety. With the meds and counselling things will only get better for you - so perhaps reconsider taking the pills. I was happy to take them as I wanted to do everything possible to change the way that I was. I think that you should at least try them and give them a chance. However, at least you have started taking steps in the right direction. Anxiety is treatable and controllable and life will start to get better once you start treatment. You will see/feel that for yourself. All the best xxx

scrappie_2

I am going to try and cope without the meds ,hopefully this C.B.T will help

Hi J-B.
I'm really pleased that you decided to go to your GP and seek advice - but now that you have it, why not give it a try??? You say that this episode is worse than others have been, lasting longer etc. This medication could help - what have you got to loose??? Why would you want to 'try and cope'?? Surely you have been doing that for long enough now?

If you had a headache, you would probably take paracetamol. If you broke your leg, you would get a 'pot' put on it. If you cut your finger, you would put a plaster on it. We see nothing wrong with any of that - yet for some reason we see taking medication for depression as weak. It's not - it's helping to fix the bit that hurts.

I have been on meds for a year now and TBH have no looked back. I also had one-to-one counseling and did a MBCT 8 week course. The MBCT was amazing, at the end of the 8 weeks I felt like a complete different person (in a good way!)

If you want to PM me feel free. I'm more than happy to chat about my experience.

Smile - it makes you feel better!

Jane-boots

The reason why i am cautious of the meds is the fear of getting hooked ,also i am overweight and worried i will gain more weight .
My anxiety has stopped me going out recently ,i have isolated myself from everyone and everything .
I am hoping the Cbt can get me back to normal .