View Full Version : Did you get over your HA and how long did it take, what did it take to do it?
If you don't mind me asking... thanks!
In a nutshell, getting there, too long and stopping drinking, this forum, keeping busy.
Thanks luc. Sometimes, I think how long do these constant illnesses have to go on for. Couple of good days then bang bad days.. Having a weak moment. This time it seems IBS is kicking in atm. But I'm hoping its okay to moan about it as long as I don't worry about it being something else. How long have you been less anxious about everything now? When you stop getting anxious do the illnesses actually stop too? Sorry.. Questions..
I was strict with myself, and accepted that I needed to stop acting on the need to google things and letting thoughts like that snow ball. Essentially I put up a Don't feed the anxieties sign in my brain :P
I kept busy too. Distraction and reasoning with myself were a good combo.
I shared all my HA thoughts with my boyfriend, who would reason with me too which helped a lot.
I still have bad HA thoughts, they just don't get very far anymore. The panics took a while to go and still pop up occasionally but I can control them pretty effectively now. That's just me though.
I've been pretty good recently. No GP for a good 2 months! Until today. Thanks Luc for sharing. Seems like you are doing well. Hopefully, I haven't got far to go to join you.
I am Trueman and I am really chuffed with myself. In ten years I went from being a high flyring PHD graduate with a good job, lovely house and a love for travel to a drink dependent semi recluse who had just about given up. Anxiety really got the best of me. I lived with fear, regret and above all HA. Things had to change. I still live with HA but I deal with it now with a clear head, medication and a lot more self worth. It is an absolute soul destroying 'Illness'. Today I have had about ten attempts by the dragon to get to me whilst I tried to pack for my upcoming holiday. I still react, I always do:wacko: but now in a much speedier and measured way. For example, there was a bra trying jump out on me today to be examined. In the past I would have examined said bra for about 2 hours until I was mentally exhausted, moved to the next thing again wit crazy rituals. More exhausted I would probably then get squiffy (for squiffy see lie down mortal. today however, I gave it about a minute then went out for a walk:) and met some friends and had a Laugh. Those friends don't recognise me as the person I was six months ago:yesyes:.
Stay strong,
Luc.
Hi Trueman, sorry I only saw your post today. I'm not fully over my HA, there are still some things that can challenge me, but I'm a lot better than I used to be and consider myself well out of the woods.
The things I did to get myself here include:
- learning about what happens in the body with anxiety, especially during a panic attack, and understanding that the fearful feelings are worsened by my own thought processes. I basically educated myself about anxiety and how it works.
- going to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
- over the years I have also gone to regular psychotherapy, to help me deal with problems in my life and talk about everything, it helped a lot. I still go for the odd visit to a Neurolinguistic Programming therapist, she helps me to work through difficult issues and gives me advice on practical action I can take in my life.
- learning Emotional Freedom Technique to cut off panic attacks. It's a weird looking tapping technique that really helps with panic. A therapist showed it to me, but there are actually loads of free videos on YouTube that will teach you the same thing.
- worked on daily relaxation methods. This is really important because it will engage your parasympathetic nervous sysytem (PNS), which naturally helps combat the stress hormones released by anxious and worrying thoughts. I love meditation, even just 10 minutes a day has been proven to have beneficial effects on both physical and mental health. I'd recommend going to a class, or I found a book called Soul Centered by Sarah McClean a wonderful guide to the different types. Yoga is also an excellent way to help engage the PNS, with it's focus on the body and breath, it's deeply relaxing.
- mindfulness can help you come to terms and deal with the difficulties of day to day life, as well as the tougher challenges you face.
- exercise releases endorphins naturally and helps you to sleep better.
- making an effort to get good quality sleep.
- listening to guided meditations or hypnosis CDs for deep relaxation. There's loads of this kind of stuff available for free on YouTube. I also love the hypnosis CD that comes with Paul McKenna's book: Control Stress (I'd recommend reading the book too)
- another really helpful book was Flagging Stress by Dr Harry Barry. Reading it was the first time I realised how much stress can affect the body and mind if it's not managed properly.
- indulging myself in my hobbies and the things that make me feel good (see my post on the importance of happy hits (http://nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=153962)!). I basically learned how important it was for both my mental & physical health to make myself *feel good*!. It's essential to be kind to ourselves and be active in generating good feelings, as it will encourage our brains to release hormones that will help us get better.
- learning about how diet and lifestyle can affect anxiety levels. Skipping meals can worsen how you feel. As can eating foods that will add more stimulation to an already sensitive nervous system, such as sugary & processed foods, or things that contain caffeine. My diet is far from super healthy, but I look after myself, eat regularly and avoid too much of the bad stuff!
- taking a vitaming B complex supplement, to help soothe the nervous system. When we're anxious we use up those B vitamins fast, and they're essential to good mental health.
- learned to understand the 'fear of fear', and how being afraid of symptoms in my body and also being afraid of anxiety just set of a cycle of endless panic and stress. Learning how my thoughts control how I feel, and how I can control my thoughts. It's wasted energy to worry about things that may never happen. Learning not to be afraid of anxiety, it's just chemicals in my body that make me feel on edge, if I worry about feeling anxious then that will only make things much worse.
- this was a tough one, I had a 'victim' mentality, the 'poor me' feeling a lot of the time. I recognise this in a lot of others suffering with anxiety, but it's a difficult one for us to acknowledge. Once I began seeing this I worked hard to not want people to feel sorry for me, not to want attention through pity, and to learn to be strong by myself and rely on myself a lot more. I read a lot about Caroline Myss's idea of 'woundology' and watched YouTube videos/read her book about Why People Don't Heal and How They Can. Some of what Myss talks about is deeply spiritual, and I'm not sure I believe in it, but I do believe there's something to be said for her idea that we hold on to this identity of wounded people and that it's very damaging to our sense of self and strength.
- basically I gathered a thorough understanding of what anxiety is, what helps, and how I can be proactive in my own recovery, taking responsibility for my mental health.
I still do struggle at times, old habits die hard, but it doesn't last as long, I'm able to work through it and take action to boost my mood. The CBT helped me to rationalise things, it was an important part of the process.
I hope that this helps you if you're looking for answers yourself, if I think of anything else I'll add it on. And if you want to talk about any of this I'm always here to help :)
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