How do you pick someone to talk to???

blackhead

I wanted to pose a question to people on here that are professionals or studying psychology? Actually anyone can input…………


Just a bit of background on myself so that you understand where I am coming from…………….

First off I don't study psychology. I have been going to see a psychoanalyst for the last few months.
Without going into too much detail, I developed an acute anxiety disorder out of the blue, which in the space of 2-4 weeks rendered me almost housebound.

I am a successful professional in a good relationship, strong family ties, outgoing, ambitious, financially secure, etc Not saying my life was perfect but I wouldn’t ever have expected something lie this to happen to me.

Originally I was put on medication which I didn’t want to take as I felt it would numb me and not sort anything out, and I also wanted to know, what was going on? Why had this happened? I was desperately confused.

I was advised by several people to ‘talk to someone’, and after much coercion I agreed. I read up abit and decided to go down the CBT road, but found it a dead end.

After getting 2 other leads which fell through, I got out the golden pages. When I think back on that I just think, my God it could have been such a disaster. I had no idea what to expect? or what I was letting myself in for? Luckily it worked out great and I am back to normal functioning fully, and I am making good process with my sessions.

Basically what I was wondering is this,

is there not some way that something could be done for people who find themselves in a similar situation that I did?
Where you need to speak to someone and you have no idea where to look?
I don’t think the Golden pages is a good starting point and even at the time I was very aware I could get some nutter.
How are ordinary people supposed to know what to do when they need to see a therapist? And how do they know if someone is any good?

From my own experience I feel like I was enormously lucky. It could have worked out terribly.

Therapy was something I was EXTREMELY cagey about as I always associated psychologists as something that neurotic female characters on US sitcoms indulged in and definitely not something that would ever involve me.

I realise that that is a very narrow uninformed attitude and one I'm glad has been completely transformed in recent months.

p.pete

Hi blackhead - thanks for posting. If you go back out onto the main psychology page there's a 'sticky' containing the forum's charter. Take a look at that and on the second post snorlax has included a lot of useful links which might be interesting to you.

Also, in answer to the main question in your post, your GP is the best starting point - and they can refer you to someone more specialised and hopefully useful. If you're not satisfied with that then look for a second opinion, the Golden Pages is definitely not the best starting point!

Playboy

Hi blackhead.

I am a psychology student and I also developed an acute anxiety or panic disorder out of the blue in recent weeks. I have found it very distressing and my quality of life has disimproved dramatically. My first port of call was my GP who referred me to the psyciatric unit in the local hospital. I was told that I was suffering with acute anxiety and was put on tranquilizers for a couple of weeks. They discharged me when I didnt have a reoccurence of an attack. I then went out for my birthday a couple of weeks later and the following day my panic attacks and anxiety came back worse than ever and have kept coming back since. I made an appointment to see a clinical psychologist but am still waiting to be seen (more than a month long waiting list). In the meantime I bought some literature on panic and anxiety disorders and DIY CBT techniques to try and help me till I see the Clinical Psychologist. Unfortunately the severity of my attacks and the subsequent fear of them has left me no other option than to go on antidepressant medication which doesnt have the most pleasant of side-effects. I am hoping that my sessions with the clincial psychologist will work for me but I also feel that if they dont then I am at a bit of a dead end. What I want to ask you is what did eventually work for you? Was it Psychoanalysis?

Playboy

For anyone else who may be suffering with any anxiety or panic disorder including PST disorder then I reccomend this brilliant website;

http://www.panicattacks.com.au/

ronbyrne2005

Maybe the psychological association of ireland should do up leaflets. I had massive panic attacks back in 2nd year in college as a result of taking an E tablet. Ended up not getting the panic treated as GP in college told me there was nothing wrong with me and would'nt even give me a few sleeping tablets despite my inability to lie down in bed as i immediately started paniicking that my heart was gonna stop and i wouldnt wake up from sleeping etc.
This panic disorder developed into depression and then i went to a psychiatrist from golden pages and he gave me anti depressants benzodiazepines etc whch in hindsight was the wrong move. Im still not fully recovered 7 years later

blackhead

Playboy, my God that is so similar to me except that I am older. I think most anxiety disorders tend to occur in late teens early twenties.

I found 2 books which really helped me & I would highly recommend.
When Panic Attacks by Aine Tubridy, I got it in Easons and

Embracing the Fear: Learning to Manage Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Judith Bemis and Amr Barrada which I bought on amazon.


The second book was amazing as it gave you loads of helpful pointers on how to just get through each day and how to deal with the fear of it happening and how you react to that fear. eg say I was getting on a bus and I could feel it coming on, it explained to you how to actually proceed with what I was doing and just carry on, despite the discomfort and fear and phobia of other people being around while you could feel it overtaking you. That was literally spiralling out of control for me. Honestly that book, turned me around . I'm not saying I didnt feel anxious after this but I knew I could cope with it.

I also did little silly relaxing things like drinking camomlie tea, removed all caffine from my diet, taking lavender baths and putting lavender drops on my pillow. I also cut alcohol right down, it doesn't help!

About the advise to go to a GP, well that's precisely the reason I asked this question I found my GP worse than useless so went to another and they just wanted me to just go down the medication route, and told me it was all in my head and was I suffering from depression? the other said there was nothing wrong with me, very dismissive and unhelpful. Both wanted to put me on anti-depressants, I took them for 2 weeks and came off them. eventually reverted back to my family GP that I hadnt seen since I was about 15, and he told me to try talking to someone.

So I found a psychotherapis and I don't even know what the difference is between that and say a psychologist or psychiatrist. all I know is that I find it useful and have leart so much about myself and feel great after going to my sessions.

I guess it just concerns me for other people how are they supposed to know where to turn to? I guess I could have done more research online at the time or something. Hey, if I'd have found this forum I would have been sorted, there seems to be some really good information at the top, I'm going to start reading.

thanks for all the advise.

Gibs

Here's some good, reliable info. Its a download available from NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) in the UK. NICE is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health. In other words, it's a good place to find out what the consensus is among a large number of (UK) mental health experts as to the best treatments for different conditions. They cover medical and mental health issues and have guidelines for a huge number of conditions. They also produce different forms of their guidelines, some more geared towards the general public and others intended for professionals. Check it out here

JuliusCaesar

Playboy wrote:

I then went out for my birthday a couple of weeks later and the following day my panic attacks and anxiety came back worse than ever and have kept coming back since.

errr.......hangover?.........anxiety? might there be a link? there are similarities in the symptomology. But not to give direct advice, may I just say that not everyone who says they do CBT is properly qualified. www.babcp.com for accredited professionals. And Gibs thanks for the NICE link - their website can be difficult to negotiate.

Playboy

JuliusCaesar wrote:

errr.......hangover?.........anxiety? might there be a link? there are similarities in the symptomology. But not to give direct advice, may I just say that not everyone who says they do CBT is properly qualified. www.babcp.com for accredited professionals. And Gibs thanks for the NICE link - their website can be difficult to negotiate.

Yes there is a link. Drinking too much messes with your blood sugar levels making you more prone to a panic attack. Btw I wasnt suffering from anxiety like in generalized anxiety disorder ... I was having full blown panic attacks which were waxing and waning for days and a hangover from alcohol was a trigger for them to occur.

blackhead

errr.......hangover?.........anxiety? might there be a link? there are similarities in the symptomology.

I agree the usual hangovery feeling of being shaky and not 100% definitely was a trigger for me once I started having attacks, and makes you increasingly anxious when you really don't need any extra imputus.

from my own experience I found that cutting out or down on alcohol until they subsided was a great benefit. Alcohol doesn't help at all.:(

That NICE article was excellent, great advise Thanks Gibs.