Generalised anxiety disorder

Jumpy

First things first. You are like everybody else. Everybody stresses.
Its the way you handle things that is different. Can I suggest a counsellor?
Also, you need to learn how to relax. Not everything has to be analysed and thought about.
Medication will assist, but dont rely soley on it.

CandyFromABaby

Jumpy wrote: »

First things first. You are like everybody else. Everybody stresses.
Its the way you handle things that is different. Can I suggest a counsellor?
Also, you need to learn how to relax. Not everything has to be analysed and thought about.
Medication will assist, but dont rely soley on it.

Thank you for the reply. I was sure there was no one on here!

I've been to counselling and it did help to a certain extent. E.g. over the last few years I've broadened my horizons socially, taken up a martial art and started a daily routine I call "glass half full" where I basically sum up all the good things and reasons to be positive. It has helped, especially if I am disappointed in something (e.g. relationship ending, failed exam) I look more towards how I gained from the journey as opposed to what I had at the end point.

In terms of the relaxation. It's the biggest hurdle I think. If I focus a lot of energy into it I can get really relaxed with things like sport, photography, relaxation CDs but when times get tough I always seem to revert back to old ways. It's like a rollercoaster!

Jumpy

I found I didnt breathe properly, I used to take small tiny breaths.

I went to an acu therapist (I was totally sceptical about acupuncture until I decided "what the hell" on a cruise) and she told me that I only breathed for my head, not the rest of me.

Proper breathing helped.

Also acupuncture is the single most relaxing thing I have ever done. I would recommend it to help with stress.

Also in response, you say "helped". Counseilling isnt a start stop thing. You need to keep going.
If its too costly, then go less often, but keep it up if the counsellor is good.

JackReacher1980

I totally understand the racing thoughs, and general feeling of craziness, although, it doesnt feel crazy when you are going through it.
I still sometimes wonder if my anxiety isnt some form of hormone imbalance, as my doctor first suggested.
It takes work, and while I dont feel like I've conquered it completely, I do feel more in control, and thats the worst part about anxiety, is the lack of control of your own thoughts.
I'm currently doing CBT, and it definately is helping me more than counselling - it just feels more pro-active. I always left counselling with this feeling of, ok, so thats why I'm like I am, but what do I do to fix it!
I would also consider acupuncture or hypnotherapy if I ever feel myself sliding down again.
Strangely, I dont get depressed/ anxious about the things I can control - my father died earlier this year, and I think I coped with that fairly well. Its the "what if" things that upset me the most

mickman

when you find yourself thinking "what if " - read the following over and over

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is nothing that wastes the body like worry

[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Worry is just about the worst form of mental activity there is

and a good one from the sunscreen song

"[/FONT]Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday."

you should also avoid alcohol if you suffer from anxiety

Odysseus

JackReacher1980 wrote: »

I totally understand the racing thoughs, and general feeling of craziness, although, it doesnt feel crazy when you are going through it.
I still sometimes wonder if my anxiety isnt some form of hormone imbalance, as my doctor first suggested.
It takes work, and while I dont feel like I've conquered it completely, I do feel more in control, and thats the worst part about anxiety, is the lack of control of your own thoughts.
I'm currently doing CBT, and it definately is helping me more than counselling - it just feels more pro-active. I always left counselling with this feeling of, ok, so thats why I'm like I am, but what do I do to fix it!
I would also consider acupuncture or hypnotherapy if I ever feel myself sliding down again.
Strangely, I dont get depressed/ anxious about the things I can control - my father died earlier this year, and I think I coped with that fairly well. Its the "what if" things that upset me the most

Sorry if I sound pedantic, but CBT is one from of counselling/psychotherapy. It's just one of those things that niggle at me as a therapist. Often it is described here as a treatment different to therapy, it is merely a different form, which is at the moment the flavour of the month with medics. Agin I aplogise if I sound pendatic.


Edit: Just to add be careful when you are looking for a therapist. Most of the therapists I know who say they do CBT would not be really qualified in it. I'm a psychoananlyst, so it's not really my area, but I have done various training in it over the years, but could not call myself a CBT therapist. There are only two professional bodies for CBT therapists in Ireland, there are links to these in the psychology forum, but as I was saying most who claim to do CBT would not be entitled to be a member of these bodies. They may be psychotherapists, just not certified CBT therapists. There are a lot of iffy therapits out there so be careful people, not only is it expensive but it's your mental health too.

CandyFromABaby

Thanks for all the advice and comments. In short, I've found counselling/CBT to be moderately helpful. It definitely helped to make me broaden my thought processes, to reduce my negative thinking on events and to try to just get more involved in the fun aspects of life i guess. Thing is, I found it hard to apply everything because I was in college at the time, and stupidly, i always put all things academic before my mental health. I found college so stressful and I guess I just never really had the time to "sort myself out" properly. Now that I'm out of college I can't afford to see a counsellor privately and feel that I may have wasted the opportunity to avail fully of my college's student health and counselling services.

I don't know. I think at the minute i'm just feeling super anxious about the uncertainty of the future and the fact that I seem to have devoted an awfully large portion of my life thus far to learning. always seemed to be in competition, always feeling significantly inferior to a lot of the others in my class/year. Now that's gone to a large extent, because as I had to take exams separate to the rest of my year group I'm in a sort of limbo at the moment. It feels weird: all the things that I stressed and strained and worried about during the last year - not doing so good in my degree, not getting into a postgrad, getting turned down at all the interviews I went for, being unemployed - they've all happened. This is the "worst case scenario" i was building up in my head. Logically, one would imagine, now that it has happened and I'm still alive/still breathing/still functioning that the panic and anxiety might ease a little but still no.....

LegacyUser

CandyFromABaby wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice and comments. In short, I've found counselling/CBT to be moderately helpful. It definitely helped to make me broaden my thought processes, to reduce my negative thinking on events and to try to just get more involved in the fun aspects of life i guess. Thing is, I found it hard to apply everything because I was in college at the time, and stupidly, i always put all things academic before my mental health. I found college so stressful and I guess I just never really had the time to "sort myself out" properly. Now that I'm out of college I can't afford to see a counsellor privately and feel that I may have wasted the opportunity to avail fully of my college's student health and counselling services.

I don't know. I think at the minute i'm just feeling super anxious about the uncertainty of the future and the fact that I seem to have devoted an awfully large portion of my life thus far to learning. always seemed to be in competition, always feeling significantly inferior to a lot of the others in my class/year. Now that's gone to a large extent, because as I had to take exams separate to the rest of my year group I'm in a sort of limbo at the moment. It feels weird: all the things that I stressed and strained and worried about during the last year - not doing so good in my degree, not getting into a postgrad, getting turned down at all the interviews I went for, being unemployed - they've all happened. This is the "worst case scenario" i was building up in my head. Logically, one would imagine, now that it has happened and I'm still alive/still breathing/still functioning that the panic and anxiety might ease a little but still no.....

You say you're feeling super anxious about the uncertaintly of the future. I think that is definitely worth a session of CBT and discuss this with your therapist. You have to live your life being OK with uncertainty, according to CBT. This is the worst scenario in your head, you say, but you ARE coping, aren't you? You'd prefer if you did better in your degree, got that postgrad/ job but you didn't. However you have to have good things going for you too. First of all you have a degree (who cares about the standard at the moment). Secondly, you have your health (most CBT therapists would claim Anxiety disorders are just problematic, we're not dealing with cancer here, people) and thirdly you have identified key areas in your life you are unhappy which is the first step in finding a solution. Definitely talk to your therapist about feeling this. You keep referring to this whole sensation of feeling you're surviving and getting through the worst but the panic is still there. You have to be OK with feeling panicy/ anxious - why wouldn't you? My brother in law loves his panic/ anxiety - he goes shooting a lot, big into motor cross and anything that boosts his adenaline. Your 'disorder' is just a soured relationship with adrenaline, unlike my brother in law. Think about it.

In terms of your degree could you not look into doing a Post graduate diploma of some sort or repeating the year externally (it's a lot cheaper this way). If you are so unhappy with your standard and sitting at home being depressing about it take an action. You are still alumni of your institution and should be allowed to discuss your options with a career guidance counselor or your head of department. If you do get in, try to talk to your CBT about doing practice exams in controlled enviornments throughout the year. Maybe doing a small assignment at home under a time limit and getting a tutor to correct it in the college. Exams are horrible for everyone BUT you have to learn to take the upper hand. Usually most university exams are rehashed old papers. If you can find past-papers on the college's website, for example, print them all out and construct an exam atmosphere and constantly going over the same things time and again.

Remember your first panic attack in that exam hall was heightened because you were dealing with an unknown 'intruder'. Now that you know what it is you will more than likely calm yourself a lot quicker. I had a panic attack on a bus a few months ago and developed panic disorder/ GAD. My initial panic attack was so frightening because I thought it was a brain tumor - trembling, feelings of floating, wanting to flee, bad breathing etc. Sure I'm no doctor, course I'll jumped to that conclusion! But if a doctor was there and said - mister, you're just panicking a bit, there's nothing wrong with you, I'd have sat back and relaxed. So, I will never have that same reaction again, and if I do I know that it's because of some other misinterpretation I've made about a scenario.

If your panic/ anxiety is still a problem then CBT isn't working for you at the moment. You need to have more sessions and really discuss why it's not helping at the moment. There is a fantastic book available for people in CBT I found in an Easons - Dummies Guide to CBT. Go look for it in the popular psychology section - very, very good! Basically they say your safety behaviours are actually the route of your problem. The minute I stopped carrying my Xanax around I felt a whole lot better! Very strange.

Best of luck!

Odysseus

If you can afford private therapy get a referral from your GP to the local psychological servies you should get access to free therapy there, or look for a low price counselling service in your area, they generally offer a sliding scale that can slide to next to nothing.

JackReacher1980

I initially tried sessions with a counselling psychologists. It just didnt seem to offer any solutions - I was sick of talking about the past, and why I was why I was, I wanted a solution.
I find CBT much more "active" for me, if that makes sense

LegacyUser

Me too. I have always been an anxious person but I am very sociable and generally happy (thank goodness). Having a bad patch at the moment and my anxiety has gotten out of control - but I don't think this is the end of the world, if you know what I mean. Sometimes I feel that way, then I watch this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ4KzClb1C4&feature=player_embedded) and realise life is worth it! I mean, seriously... Ha!

I went to a psychotherapist for around three months. Waste. Of. Time. We talked about the 'fog' my life is in and would worsen my anxiety by telling me to avoid public transport! Also told me that I should make some more time for relaxation and quit my job - even thought I couldn't afford it (especially paying for this particularly lady).

Odysseus

asdpnasdCBT wrote: »

Also told me that I should make some more time for relaxation and quit my job - even thought I couldn't afford it (especially paying for this particularly lady).

This is why we need Stat Reg for psychotherapists, that is outrageous:rolleyes:

what a day

Dolphin50

Hi just wanted to say thanks for your great advice, i too suffer from anxioty and you post made me smile for the first time in a long time. Must look into this linden method thingy.

Thanks very much!

luckyfrank

I was diagnosed with GAD in december, i hadnt slepth for a whole month, racing thoughts, panic attacks i thought i was losing my mind went to my local gp for the 8th or 9th time and just broke down crying, i was giving an immeadiate refferal for portrane and was seeing by a phychricist and diagnosed with GAD being on lexapro since then, i started out on 5mg i found the initial relief i got slowly faded i went up to 10mg and still no better, last month i was upped to 15mg and ive noticed a small improvement in my general mood, my sleep is still very poor and always shattered tired but at least it's an improvement heading in the right direction

Hoping next time im in the clinic they'll up me to 20mg and that will sort out the sleep and tiredness