Counselling....Will it help me?

[Godzilla]

As per title really. Will counselling help me?

Few things about me....

Male
38 years old
Only child
Mum and Dad very overprotective of me when I was growing up.
Always nervy child at school, used to daydream a lot about camping in the woods.

Now I am finding.....

Feel very uneasy leaving my house
Even a 10 min drive is difficult
Cant go into supermarkets
Feel dizzy a lot of the time
Don't really want to see anybody
Not eating much as don't feel hungry
Constantly needing the toilet


Would counselling really help, anybody else here found it helped them?

Thanks in advance for any replies :)

[Annie0904]

It sounds like classic anxiety symptoms and yes I do think counselling will help you especially cognitive behaviour therapy. :)

[paranoidtree]

i agree with Annie, a course of CBT could really help. Perhaps chat to your GP about being referred? Also maybe speak to your local Mind as they can sometimes help with this. I sometimes think everyone should see a counsellor as it is so beneficial!

[Harley]

Yes, I think counselling will really help. It will help you understand anxiety and all the symptoms and teach you different ways and skills to manage it. There are also online organisations like No Panic that can be of great help.

[munchkins]

I agree with all the advice. Counselling will surely help you get over those causes of your anxiety. A support of a family will surely help you also with the problem. If you can't discuss this to them, then friends will do :)

[NoPoet]

CBT should be more effective than counselling in the long run as it teaches you about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Counsellors will listen and may offer guidance, which is helpful, but counselling is reactive rather than proactive: it helps you deal with situations, it doesn't necessarily help to clear those situations up, and it is perhaps not ideal for relapse prevention. CBT teaches you HOW to cope with what you're going through, WHY it's happening, and WHAT you can do to permanently change things.

It's a long process and CBT requires you to focus on one major problem at a time. Don't get bogged down trying to fix everything at once. It is remarkable how much "clutter" can be cleared up when you overcome one major fear. For example, your reluctance to go out may be due to social anxiety, so CBT would focus on the social issues first. Once you've started making headway on that, the idea of going out into the world may not seem so scary.

[ricardo]

Can you get CBT counselling in Spain .There are a lot of scams here,struck off doctors and dentists from the UK and everyone says CBT is such a good help. Unfortunately it isn't available for free as far as i know.