My name is Kareem

[kareem]

Hello everyone,
my name is kareem
I am a British citizen of Arab decent who work abroad
I have been suffering from anxiet and phobia for along time
It has affected my life tremendsly
I suffered hundreds of panic attacks, prisperation, high pulse rate and many other unpleasent symptoms.
I tried many things but to no avail.

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya kareem and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[blue moon]

Welcome Kareem:D
My name is Petra ,named after the ancient city in Jordan,I am now Australian citizen originally from Irañ. Hope you enjoy thesite.:D

[kareem]

Thank you Petra

Actually, although I am Palestinan but I am living in Jordan and carry its nationality.

Nice name Petra

I suffered all my life with anxiety that take several forms like social phobia or anxiety setting an exam or going to the market etc ...

It choke you sometimes and hold a big grip on you.

I am struggling with life

Hope to hear from you

Kareem

[bugsmommy]

Kareem,
My name is Kellie and I live in the United States. We are so very far but not so different from each other. When you say, "it chokes you sometimes and holds a big grip on you" I know EXACTLY how you feel. I also suffer from panic and anxiety attacks and the physical symptoms are excruciating for me. Every second is torture and I just want it to go away. I just wanted to let you know you're not alone.

[kareem]

Thank you for your kind words

[Davit]

Hello everyone. Did you know all phobias fall under Agoraphobia which is a fear of not having control of a situation and manifests itself mostly as a fear of the out doors but also of doing anything you are not comfortable with. It has a simple cure but like all cures you have to believe very strong in it. It works for me and a number of other people I'm in contact with. It is a CBT technique. It entails taking back control, not of the situation but of how you see the situation because often you have no control of the situation and that is what is causing anxiety or panic. So instead of thinking "I have to" you think very strongly that "I want to". This gives you control of the situation in a sense even though you don't really have control. It makes it your choice, not the situations. It works best to start with with a mantra similar to, "I'm doing this because I want to"
Have to is negative, want to is positive.
Give it a try, what have you to lose.
Davit

[kareem]

Personaly, I never tried CBT as I am abroad not in UK.

But, I agree that it is a sense of not able to control the situation.

Myself, once I speak to others in meating or interviews, I start sweating allot and my face and ears become red.
Then I start to lose it as I start to struggle not to show it but to know avail.

This is what hurts me allot.

cheers

[Davit]

Hello Kareem.

CBT is two therapies, behavioural therapy which is coping skills such as progressive muscle relaxation, box breathing, distractions and stacking. These are things to cope with anxiety or panic as it happens. The other half is cognitive therapy and is changing thought patterns, mostly by changing negative thought to positive but also calls for changing core beliefs and the coding that causes pre planned reactions to a trigger. The trigger can not be removed but it can be coded to cause a different reaction. In other words you learn to accept the situation and with the coping skills reduce the reaction each time getting more control till you either don't notice the trigger or it causes an entirely different safe reaction. When the coding changes the old reaction (symptoms) are still in memory just not accessible without difficulty.
CBT does work, just not over night. Some relief does happen very fast though.

Davit

PS a very good distraction is trying to use notes as little as possible for a speech so you have to concentrate on it rather than your surroundings.

PPS, if you look up 7+/-2 on the internet it explains technically why distractions work. If you can't find it I can explain it.

[kareem]

Thanks Davit.

I will difintly try CBT once I go back to UK, as it sounds promising and scientific. I can understand the concept.

AS for distractions, I always use visual aides and paper writing to take the focus of people/person from me to that object. But I stll feel the pressure and the discomfort.

Anyways, I will look up this 7+/-2 on the internet and let you know.

Thanks again, really appreciate your input

[PanicAttackGurl]

Hi everyone,

There is an online CBT course offered in the forums. It comes with downloadable books, worksheets and videos. I'm reading workbook 1 now.
I've done CBT already but a refresher or different perspective is helpful.

[kareem]

OK thanks