I haven't posted in a while now and I realized today that I've been managing my anxiety rather smoothly for a few months now.
My story in a nutshell: I've been dealing with anxiety issues for years now and experienced one or two panic attacks every year. For the most part though, I never addressed it. I met with a school counselor a few times during a particular rough patch but never committed to therapy.
Late last year though, several family members died in rapid succession and I was struck with severe hypochondria, and my general anxiety hit a peak as well. I would get one or more panic attacks every week, and it was affecting my school work. I lost a lot of motivation and would stay at home all day afraid to socialize or engage in normal activities. I also suffered a serious elbow injury that prevented me from weight lifting, which was my go-to way of getting things off my mind.
I started off with meditation, and after sifting through some red tape I was able to get ahold of some Xanax and get access to a CBT specialist through my university (awesome, I know).
I never ended up using the Xanax, and the CBT worked wonders. I learned how to restructure my negative thoughts into positive--or at least, more realistic and level-headed--thoughts. Eventually, I hit the max number of CBT sessions my school would subsidize so I stopped, and I felt that I was in a better place.
Since then, breathing exercises and at-home CBT practice has been useful in the day-to-day.
Obviously no one thing works for everybody but hopefully people new to NMP will make a serious attempt at every form of treatment typically discussed here (medication, therapy, mindfulness/healthy living). It takes time to find treatment that works for you, and I understand my case is not as serious as some of the issues people face here, but I truly believe that progress is possible for everyone.
Also, I recommend looking for resources in your own community. You'll be surprised. I didn't understand what CBT was at first, and had no idea my university was partnered with psychiatrists in my area to treat students with mental health issues. Look around and see what you can find.
This is an awesome website and the info here is what got me through. Thanks to everyone reading this for contributing to such a great community. Stay strong!
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