Not sure about this CBT

[suzy1984]

Hi
I just had my 3rd session of cbt & each week im getting more & more convinced its not going to work & im gonna be stuck with this horrible anxiety forever. Talking about my fear of fainting my therapist suggested we both stood up & tried to overbreath to make ourselves faint after looking at him like he had gone mad i gave it a go & after a minute or two i started feeling hot, light headed & dizzy and i gave up & had a bit of a strop because the last thing i wanted 2 do was make myself feel worse than i already did. I just dont know what to think anymore some days im fine & just go 2 uni & feel a little bit 'normal' & other days i just want 2 hide under my duvet. Sorry for the long waffly post im just a bit dissolutioned with it all at the minute.
Love
Suzy :( xx

[sophieunderscore]

Hi Suzy

First of all I'm sorry you're feeling so upset about everything, it's very hard I know. Secondly please don't take this offensively because it's not meant to be.

CBT is all about changing your thought patterns. By telling and convincing yourself you won't get better you will be making it harder for yourself to actually get better. I know it's very hard to be positive but it's very important you try. Even simple things like not using the word "can't" can start to change your thoughts and so help you get better.

I really hope you find this advice helpful and good luck with your further CBT sessions. You can beat this anxiety [8)]

[nomorepanic]

What he was trying to do was prove to you that you won't faint / pass out or die.

He was doing it under controlled circumstances.

I was told they were going to do this with me too but they never did in the end.

Hopefully he will work on changing the thoughts as well.

Give it a go - you never know it may help.


People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did
But people will never forget how you made them feel

Nicola

[axel]

I wholeheartedly agree with both of the previous replies. They are spot on!
Give it a chance and you will be glad you did.

[bb01234]

suzy1984 perhaps the error was that he didn't explain clearly in advance WHY he wanted you to do what you did.

Also, since the fainting is a symptom which some cause is perpuating perhaps the overbreathing was bringing to the service the reasons behind that cause.

CBT can work, along with other solutions focused methods so keep with it and keep us posted.

rgds

Brian

[jaffacake]

Hey,

Have yet to start cbt; just eyeing up a phone number now.

But there were 2 occasions - just 2 - in which I felt the feeling coming on and I managed to focus all my thought on fighting it thinking "this is ****, what am I scared of" and quite simply visualising a big 'NO!', written in red; bit weird, but when I have 'weird' thoughts when not around anyone (i.e. boredom sets it off) I use the big NO! like some kind of comic anvil to force my thought pattern on somewhere else. I visualise it all. The NO! doesn't work in the really stressful situations involving other people i'm not close to (work for instance) but seems to relieve some stress.

It really does seem like hard work, but keeping the mind positive and prying open these irrational thoughts is quite literally the way forward.

Good luck.

[jaffacake]

I meant to say - the 2 occasions I fought the feelings away.

Too busy with the big NO! :D