Feedback for CBT4PANIC

[robinhall]

Hi Everyone

I just wondered how everyone who has tried or are trying CBT4PANIC are getting on?

Since the forum became closed to the 'outside world' I haven't received or seen much feedback.

Also I am a bit confused at the proportion of people who have viewed the sticky on CBT4PANIC to those who actually try it

according to the stats the sticky has had 16,000 view but only about 500 people have actually downloaded the programme.

Has anyone any idea why that might be?

I imagined that when I made it free the downloads would go through the roof?

From the forum stats it seems that most people here have health anxiety - so maybe only a relatively small amount have panic disorder or panic attacks?

Anyway - any feedback would be very helpful.

Many thanks
Robin

I hope the admin don't mind that I duplicated this post on the panic forum - just wanted to reach as many people as possible.

[nomorepanic]

Hi Robin

We opened up the forum again to the "world" so it can be seen by anyone

We do seem to have more HA members than anything at the moment though but I am sure the programme can still be of benefit to them

[robinhall]

Hi Nic

Sorry - I didn't realise that - that's great news

Let's hope you don't face the same problems as before - here's hoping :-)

Robin

[AuntieMoosie]

Hi Robin, it's lovely to hear from you :)

Yes I'm still plodding along. It's taking me a lot longer than others but that makes no difference to me at all, so long as I'm making progress that's all that matters and I am :)

There does seem to be a lot more HA sufferers than those who suffer with panic attacks or agoraphobia right now, but like Nic has said, I wish a few of them would try CBT4PANIC as I'm sure it could help some of them especially the one's who do have panic attacks as a result of their HA.

I hope more people try it Robin because I think it's an excellent program that really could help many :)

[tiff]

Is it just for people who suffer from panic? I have dysthymia and SA.

[Annie0904]

Hi Robin I posted my success story a few weeks ago and mentioned CBT4Panic in it as it was one of the things that helped me A LOT :) Thank you Robin for all the help you gave me. http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=139621

[robinhall]

Hi Annie and Auntiemoosie

Yes thanks - you have both been flying the flag for quite some time now. I'm so glad the programme has been of help and I'm hopeful that on your recommendation it has helped others :-)

I guess I'm just still confused as to why more people haven't tried it - I still see many threads where people are describing how they can't cope with their panic and they are at a loss as to what to do. So then I wonder why on earth they don't download the programme??. It's clearly in the sticky at the top of the forum, it's free, it's CBT, nomorepanic recommend it and yet they don't try it??

Very confusing and frustrating:shrug:

[*Fallen Angel*]

Hi Robin

I downloaded your materials last week but haven't had chance to read them properly yet. I will say though that the material I have read is very well written and not patronising in anyway like some out there. I like the funny illustrations too. Personally I've not started it because I do have some health problems that I am awaiting blood test results on that are causing me real symptoms. That said, I do have HA so it will be interesting to see how much the materials help once I know what is real and what I'm imagining, if that makes sense?

In response to you wondering why more are not making use of it, well I can only speak for me but I will admit to wanting a quick fix. I have felt this way for the last 6 years or so and I am so far into a rut that I sometimes don't think it's worth trying. That's not to slate your materials, or anyone elses as I appreciate the tremendous effort that goes into them. But it's more about me and my apathetic state of mind.

[robinhall]

Hi Fallen Angel
Thanks for the reply

Other people have told me before that they don't feel anything can actually help them - since they have tried so many things in the past and still feel the same - so maybe that is part of this.

But probably the fact that so many people on this site have HA is the main reason.

Sometimes I am astonished at the number of people on the HA forum at any one time and the frustrating thing is that most people are probably seeking reassurance about the symptoms rather than looking for treatment for HA.

and I don't mean that in a critical way - I suffered from HA on top of the PD many years ago so I understand just how scary it can be.

The symptoms can be SO convincing it can be difficult to put them down to HA

It might be helpful for people on the forum to observe the HA forum the way it appears to someone who has either recovered or has never had HA.

Look at the sheer number of people - observe the similarities in the symptoms, the fears, the safety behaviours, the reassurance seeking and so on. Observe how often the symptoms shift or once a person gets over one symptom the HA causes another one to arise. Rather than zooming in on the dialogue about specific symptoms try to see the wider picture. This might help people see more clearly that the HA is the problem not the symptoms.

I hope more people consider trying CBT for HA - it really can be very effective

I also teach Mindfulness and there is an introductory workbook in CBT4PANIC on Mindfulness that could be very helpful to anyone on NMP

[Chester]

Hi Robin.

I've mentioned the CBT 4 PANIC to my Therapist and she had heard of it and is quite interested. At the moment she feels I'm not in a good position to do 'self learning' and that I still need some guided learning so she's going to go through one with me.

Perhaps people like us are quite wary of doing things by ourselves and need that hand holding motion.

But as you rightly say there's that concept of re-assurance which we all know feeds the cycle and it doesn't help but the problem for us is that we are in that cycle and challenging it can and is very difficult so we perhaps avoid or shirk direct challenge (safety behaviours perhaps?)

I can echo Fallen Angel and the quick fix. I am educated to a high level and I treat CBT as a degree course (which I know is wrong) and don't engage with the emotions, I'd rather google for another answer. It's a silly as a paracetamol not making my headache better so not taking it again but in a moment of HA I don't think in those lucid terms.

Just my thoughts, I'm sure you've seen patients and experienced yourself what a stubborn yet fearful bunch we all truly are

[AuntieMoosie]

Hi Robin,

Oh how I soooo agree with you on the HA sufferers. I have, many times now, tried to advise sufferers to try CBT and that instead of thinking of their physical symptoms, which I do understand is extremely hard to do, it would be more beneficial for them to focus on the HA as that is the root of the problem. The thing is though, if I'm understanding correctly, sufferers maybe need to be at the end of looking for a physical cause, before they accept that CBT would be helpful to them, I may be wrong in this and it would be interesting to hear from HA sufferers what their views are on this :)

I suppose it's a case of getting them to understand and believe you.

I was kind of like that when I was completely housebound with agoraphobia, may people told me that in order to overcome my fears that I would have to go out and face them, but my answer for a long time was "I can't" because I couldn't even bare the thought of being out anywhere, it just terrified me.

No one person was able to move me on this until I joined NMP and I found your program, reading through it, I could recognise myself so clearly. So for a good few weeks I just studied it and read it and read it again, and finally, the penny dropped and for the first time in years, I actually had the courage to go out and do it :)

I want to sometimes scream it from the roof tops, that this can help you, but I guess other folk are like me in the way that they have to wait until their moment is right :)

If anyone of this thread suffers from any kind of anxiety or panic or both, it doesn't matter what you actually suffer with cos to my mind it's all just about that word "FEAR" and how we interpret it and deal with it, please give CBT4PANIC a try, I never thought anything in this world would be able to help me, but it has, you've nothing to loose, the links to the program are on NMP and some of us have the link to the thread in our signatures, it's not going to cost you any money, which is always a big plus especially now that so many of us are having to tighten our purse strings.

Go for it!!!! Just download it and have a good read, I've read it lots and still read it. I understand that CBT isn't for everyone, we're all different, but why not give it a shot, at least that way you can at least say that you tried and will have lost nothing, but on the other hand, it could work wonders with you and give you back your quality of life :) :hugs:


Robin, I have already told my GP about your program, which they were very interested in and I've told a Benefits Adviser, who helps people get back to work following mental health problems, and she too, was very interested and took all the details from me :)

[robinhall]

Hi Auntie Moosie

Yes - with CBT for HA one of the first things you have to do is convince the person to 'try it and see what happens' - rather than dismissing their symptoms altogether you just take a neutral stance.

When one is convinced that a symptom is very serious it is hard to hear someone saying they don't really buy that.

So you have to walk a thin line between acknowledging their fear yet trying to get people to see it from a different angle. Not easy let me tell you..

Anyway - thanks once again for recommending CBT4PANIC - I was just thinking that maybe I should put a few pages online so that people can see it is a 'friendly' programme - with lots of cartoons and easy to follow text as opposed to the usual dry 300 page CBT books that look like a school exam.

Thanks again :-)
Robin