Any techniques?

[uru]

So I've been give meds today and CBT is planned for in a few weeks. Is there anything I can do by myself in the meantime? Any good breathing excercises or things like that?

[Oosh]

I tell my thoughts to "shush" a lot :)
And I always have a podcast conversation on. It keeps my mind occupied.

[uru]

Thanks for the advice. I'm at a place where my thoughts drown out the podcast tho...

[MyNameIsTerry]

This is a really good site for tools & techniques:

http://psychology.tools/download-therapy-worksheets.html

There are breathing worksheets in there and Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). The breathing technique is the none my therapists seld help worker gave me before I started therapy. The PMR is very similiar too and this technique is from the 1920's.

I read your intro thread but haven't had chance to post on it yet. There are some good tools in that link that help with challenging your thoughts like Thought Records.

I would also say look up Cognitive Distortions. The one on Wiki matches what I was given. These are critical to understand because you will need to learn how to spot when your thinking is negative and why as well as being able to counter it, hence things like Thought Records.

Mindfulness is recommended too. This helped me more than CBT. If you want any of this, see the link in my signature for a load of free downloads as well as a full 8 week free course of MBSR.

[uru]

Thanks Terry,

I'm going through a REALLY rough patch at the moment. I NEVER thought things would get this bad. I'm sitting at work and my heart rate is 102. I've lost about 5kg. I have no desire to do anything but I'm desperately trying to look normal.

After going to the Drs yesterday I got put on meds for the first time in my life. I'm sitting here trembling and I was in tears twice in the last two days.

I just can't seem to stay away from news sites, FB, twitter. They always make it worse.

My poor wife doesn't know what to do.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Believe when I say you are amongst people who understand on here. We all have our different experiences but we've all been through a lot of rough times with anxiety/depression and what I can tell you will certainty is that how you feel right now is not how it has to stay. I was a quivering wreck sitting on the settee in front of the TV scared to do anything even brush my teeth, eat or wash. But I'm long past all that now.

I had an OCD explosion with my current med. I was so bad I would be reading every lamp post label, house number, care reg (front & back) plus make/model, and many many other compulsions. I've managed to stop them now and it's more about obsessions that are left but back then when I had to stand holding a reailing and reading the lamp post for the 5th time after reading every single one I had walked past in 2 miles, I just wanted the ground to swallow me up so the pain went away.

But things steadily got better and I'm way past all of that now. So are many other people. So, whilst right now it feels truly awful and hope feels pointless, it does exist for you.

Your wife needs to understand a bit about it all. It's not something you can truly understand unless you feel it as it doesn't seem possible to have all these thoughts and be afraid of the simplest of things we took for granted in life, but through reading what others feel and about anxiety itself, she will gain insight into how you feel and perhaps feel less alone herself.