View Full Version : pink mark arm for 2 months
I've LOOKED back at more photos date early june and I'm sure but can't be certain it is there but I hadn't paid it any attention. Two medical professionals have said they don't think anything to worry about but this type of skin cancer goes undiagnosed.
Nervus can you PM me please?
The moderators closed your last thread. Think why they did this and what you could possibly achieve by posting another identical one?
I've LOOKED back at more photos date early june and I'm sure but can't be certain it is there but I hadn't paid it any attention. Two medical professionals have said they don't think anything to worry about but this type of skin cancer goes undiagnosed.
Nervus can you PM me please?
Go to your doctor and ask for a referral to a dermatologist.
Stop looking for pointless attention.
Make an appointment with a doctor that you trust and explain everything. Say what you think the skin mark is don't fanny about. Then say I'm suffering badly with anxiety at the moment can you help me please. Sound like a plan?? :yesyes:
ServerError
31-07-17, 12:26
She's supposed to be starting CBT this week, so there's not much point mentioning it to her doctor, unless she wants to go on medication. And I doubt she will.
so there's not much point mentioning it to her doctor, unless she wants to go on medication. And I doubt she will.
I actually think that would be a good starting point.
Are you on any meds Helen? If not, have you tried them before?
No I'm not.
I just want someone to relate with similar story
I too think we should be telling her to hold out and wait for her to start CBT (in two days!!!), not go and encourage her waste the time of another doctor about this. If she keeps hopping between different GPs and drop-in centres she'll keep getting the attention she's craving as people look at it anew without knowing the history.
I just want someone to relate with similar story
Yes, absolutely. Believe it or not, I totally can! I too have got obsessed by minor vague symptoms, that other people can barely see, persuading me I have something nasty when in fact it's my anxiety feeding me garbage. So yes, we can relate. But that's not what you mean is it?
For someone who's been pinging between imaginary diseases for two and half years, it would be dark irony indeed if you now for real got a deadly and hard to diagnose disease. And you know what? The universe doesn't deal in dark irony. It's just one more irrational thing to add to your humongous list of irrational things. It will pass, and be replaced with something else. And that's what the CBT is for - to stop this merry-go-round. Luckily you had at least one moment of clarity to realise this and try and get it sorted.
Good luck on Wednesday.
pink mark on body for this amount of time?
I too think we should be telling her to hold out and wait for her to start CBT (in two days!!!)
Good luck on Wednesday.
Do you honestly think she will go? If she did, and you were the therapist, would you bother with someone who isn't remotely interested in putting in the required effort needed to get better? All she's focused on is her "symptoms", and until that changes, it's just the same shit, different day :lac:
I just had a flick through your posts. This doesn't included repeated fears, or ones where I can't for the life of me work out what you're worried about.
July 2015 - Cervical Cancer
September 2015 - Lymphoma
February 2016 - Brain Cancer
February 2016 - Lupus
February 2016 - Multiple Sclerosis
February 2016 - Brain Tumour
February 2016 - Ringworm
March 2016 - Giant Cell Azeris (whatever the hell that is...)
March 2016 - Cat worms
March 2016 - Leukaemia
March 2016 - Blindness
March 2016 - Lung Cancer
March 2016 - Aneurysm
March 2016 - Sinus infection reaching brain
April 2016 - Melanoma
April 2016 - Liver Cancer
May 2016 - Pulmonary embolism
May 2016 - Bowel Cancer
May 2016 - Stroke
June 2016 - Stomach Cancer
June 2016 - Pituary Tumour
August 2016 - Frontal Lobe Tumour
August 2016 - Schizophrenia
August 2016 - Epilepsy
November 2016 - Deep Vein Thrombosis
March 2017 - Memory disorder
March 2017 - Heart Disease
March 2017 - Anal warts
Can you really look down that list and really think your latest fear is not just another one to chalk up? I bet there's many of those you don't even remember being worried about.
pink mark on body for this amount of time?
I personally told you to go and speak to your doctor about referral to a dermatologist. People have told you repeatedly that this isn't anything to be concerned about. People have told you to wait until your CBT appointment. People have told you to try and stop focussing on your symptoms.
You do NONE of that, though. What you do is just act like you're incapable of reading and just repeat the same garbage, over and over and over. No answer is enough, no answer suits you. Nothing works. NOTHING!
You have been doing this exact same thing for over two years now. You have literally clocked up thousands of replies and I genuinely have yet to see you taking even one of those replies and attempt to do as you've been advised.
Please answer this question. What do you want here? What do you hope to achieve by incessantly posting these queries? Please just answer that.
I do but then I see this mark and I see its been there. If someone said they have pink marks on them for same amount of time I'd be calm. Worked self up snd I'm at work can't get into docs until 2 weekss and thays eith the one who misdiagnosed my family members.
I fear this is it. Sick to stomach.
I do but then I see this mark and I see its been there. If someone said they have pink marks on them for same amount of time I'd be calm. Worked self up snd I'm at work can't get into docs until 2 weekss and thays eith the one who misdiagnosed my family members.
I fear this is it. Sick to stomach.
Rubbish!
Your last thread on this, you know, the one you mysteriously deleted, had loads of replies that told you that people experienced this exact thing. As ever, you ignored them.
What do you want?
I do but then I see this mark and I see its been there. If someone said they have pink marks on them for same amount of time I'd be calm. Worked self up snd I'm at work can't get into docs until 2 weekss and thays eith the one who misdiagnosed my family members.
I fear this is it. Sick to stomach.
What, like you were convinced you had cervical cancer? Lymphoma? Brain Tumour? Lupus? MS? Ringworm? Giant Cell Whatever? Cat worms? Leukaemia? Impending blindness? Lung Cancer? Aneurysm? Brain infection? Melanoma? Liver Cancer? Pulmonary Embolism? Bowel Cancer? Stroke? Stomach Cancer? Schizophrenia? Epilepsy? DVT? Memory Disorder? Heart disease? Anal warts?
And any one of us could have jumped in at any point at that and had literally exactly the same conversation we're having now?
And you don't see these thoughts are just another symptom of your anxiety/OCD?
Really?
---------- Post added at 16:15 ---------- Previous post was at 16:12 ----------
And you don't see that if you don't engage with your therapy properly you will add to the list above:
July 2017 - Melanoma again
August 2017 - West Nile Fever
August 2017 - Rabies
August 2017 - Gout
September 2017 - Lycanthropy...
...and this will keep going indefinitely, with you equally sure of your demise at every stage?
And here comes the ignorance part of the thread, where the OP let's enough time pass so she can ignore some very pertinent questions and just babble on about her "symptoms".
MyNameIsTerry
31-07-17, 16:23
If she wants to see a GP, that's something the NHS have to live with when it comes to HA but tying up a dermatologist should not be encouraged. The NHS haven't got the money and it's pushing another patient back in the process.
Not that I think any credible GP would waste a referral for this (at least I hope).
If she wants to see a GP, that's something the NHS have to live with when it comes to HA but tying up a dermatologist should not be encouraged. The NHS haven't got the money and it's pushing another patient back in the process.
Not that I think any credible GP would waste a referral for this (at least I hope).
I genuinely only advised that to see if that was what the OP wanted to hear. Turns out it isn't, hence why I'm asking exactly what it is she does want.
ShaunRyder
31-07-17, 16:38
Good luck on Wednesday Helen! Let us know how it goes :yesyes:
---------- Post added at 16:38 ---------- Previous post was at 16:31 ----------
Helen I also have a reddish/pink mark under my eye, when I went to the docs last Monday I mentioned it and she said it was dry skin, also if I stretch skin either side it will slightly dissappear just like you have described. I hope this can some what calm your fears?
MyNameIsTerry
31-07-17, 17:08
Do you honestly think she will go? If she did, and you were the therapist, would you bother with someone who isn't remotely interested in putting in the required effort needed to get better? All she's focused on is her "symptoms", and until that changes, it's just the same shit, different day :lac:
The therapist will be used to referrals like this. I found it very hard to engage with my goals in therapy but they keep trying as they should.
A therapist knows how to steer conversation. We can't do that on here because there is no unified approach.
I don't won't to be negative but in someone so entrenched in their reassurance seeking, I'm not sure therapy will be enough. It may take multiple attempts, which the NHS are not good at.
I found I could engage more with my goals once the therapy had ended because I found something that helped reduce my anxiety enough to shift my mind to wanting to do things.
I think the forum needs to bare in mind just being in therapy doesn't mean you get better so no point complaining it's not if the posting continues. It's just not that simple.
Meds might be worth a try but they are hit & miss, can take months to help, tend to increase anxiety which will mean more of this posting. Again, I think we need to remember all this and patiently wait for them to start working and expect current behaviours to continue.
For as long as mine has Shaun?
ShaunRyder
31-07-17, 17:14
For as long as mine has Shaun?
I would say it's been there 3-4 months
MyNameIsTerry
31-07-17, 17:17
I genuinely only advised that to see if that was what the OP wanted to hear. Turns out it isn't, hence why I'm asking exactly what it is she does want.
Fair enough, it didn't come across for me hence the wrong could conclusion. Apologies.
My own GP surgery has been unable to keep up with demand so they have closed their walk-in morning surgery which was going for over 3 decades. Now it's back to appointment only, it's cut down on time wasting as getting in hasn't been adversely affected by the removal of that busy service.
Makes me think about the impact of not just HAers but people in general as we have a culture of going to doctors for far too many simple things these days.
OP, can you answer my questions please?
Why do you post here? What is it you want us to say?
Please answer those questions and stop being so ignorant.
I just had a flick through your posts. This doesn't included repeated fears, or ones where I can't for the life of me work out what you're worried about.
July 2015 - Cervical Cancer
September 2015 - Lymphoma
February 2016 - Brain Cancer
February 2016 - Lupus
February 2016 - Multiple Sclerosis
February 2016 - Brain Tumour
February 2016 - Ringworm
March 2016 - Giant Cell Azeris (whatever the hell that is...)
March 2016 - Cat worms
March 2016 - Leukaemia
March 2016 - Blindness
March 2016 - Lung Cancer
March 2016 - Aneurysm
March 2016 - Sinus infection reaching brain
April 2016 - Melanoma
April 2016 - Liver Cancer
May 2016 - Pulmonary embolism
May 2016 - Bowel Cancer
May 2016 - Stroke
June 2016 - Stomach Cancer
June 2016 - Pituary Tumour
August 2016 - Frontal Lobe Tumour
August 2016 - Schizophrenia
August 2016 - Epilepsy
November 2016 - Deep Vein Thrombosis
March 2017 - Memory disorder
March 2017 - Heart Disease
March 2017 - Anal warts
Can you really look down that list and really think your latest fear is not just another one to chalk up? I bet there's many of those you don't even remember being worried about.
This is the saddest thing I've seen in awhile...
Helen, I hope you will join these other posters in the fight to get your life back.
bottleblond
31-07-17, 17:49
Helen
I'm 45 years old and I have yet to come across anyone with flawless skin. I myself have marks on my skin that I have had for years never mind months and YES marks like yours. I've never given them a second thought and neither should you.
If the health professionals can't help you then how do you expect us too?. You've been told hundreds of times that it's nothing sinister so why do you continue to torture yourself?.
Lisa
and does it look like mine?
---------- Post added at 17:49 ---------- Previous post was at 17:49 ----------
I said I want assurance. I worry this is it now.
and does it look like mine?
---------- Post added at 17:49 ---------- Previous post was at 17:49 ----------
I said I want assurance. I worry this is it now.
But you've had assurance, from countless people here and two fully trained medical professionals.
and does it look like mine?
---------- Post added at 17:49 ---------- Previous post was at 17:49 ----------
I said I want assurance. I worry this is it now.
Has anyone ever told you why reassurance behaviour is harmful to recovering from health anxiety? Maybe taking time to dig out useful documents and worksheets about it?
The therapist will be used to referrals like this. I found it very hard to engage with my goals in therapy but they keep trying as they should.
A therapist knows how to steer conversation. We can't do that on here because there is no unified approach.
I don't won't to be negative but in someone so entrenched in their reassurance seeking, I'm not sure therapy will be enough. It may take multiple attempts, which the NHS are not good at.
I found I could engage more with my goals once the therapy had ended because I found something that helped reduce my anxiety enough to shift my mind to wanting to do things.
I think the forum needs to bare in mind just being in therapy doesn't mean you get better so no point complaining it's not if the posting continues. It's just not that simple.
Meds might be worth a try but they are hit & miss, can take months to help, tend to increase anxiety which will mean more of this posting. Again, I think we need to remember all this and patiently wait for them to start working and expect current behaviours to continue.
CBT like any other form of talking therapy requires a level of input and, crucially, attendance. Also to follow basic instructions. With the best will in the world, a therapist cannot help someone who does not think there is any point to it - or need. I don't think Helen will go anyway - if she is telling the truth that is.
I think we are dealing with a personality disorder here based on this person's behaviour. More entrenchment than a coastal shelf :lac:
CBT like any other form of talking therapy requires a level of input and, crucially, attendance. Also to follow basic instructions. With the best will in the world, a therapist cannot help someone who does not think there is any point to it - or need. I don't think Helen will go anyway - if she is telling the truth that is.
I think we are dealing with a personality disorder here based on this person's behaviour. More entrenchment than a coastal shelf :lac:
As much as she behaves like she does here, I don't think it useful to be publicly rubbishing her chance for real-life help, and the chance for a trained professional to snap her out of this when we amateurs have failed.
Rather than writing her off let's give benefit of the doubt and encourage her to take seriously the one sensible step she's taken in two years.
May i ask what you'd do if you were concerned about a mark?
As much as she behaves like she does here, I don't think it useful to be publicly rubbishing her chance for real-life help, and the chance for a trained professional to snap her out of this when we amateurs have failed.
Rather than writing her off let's give benefit of the doubt and encourage her to take seriously the one sensible step she's taken in two years.
I'm not "rubbishing" her. I'm stating my thoughts based on the many, many chances she has had to prove doubters wrong. And on her copious threads and posts. You yourself have also questioned her motives a number of times.
But you believe in her if you like. That is your choice. I don't.
May i ask what you'd do if you were concerned about a mark?
Honestly, and I can say this as I have been there before:
- First off, I'd try to wipe it off. I live in the country, have animals, etc. so it's always possible it's paint or dirt or something else. :D If that doesn't work...
- I would show it to my mother (I am 26). She is well aware of my struggles with anxiety. I show it not necessarily to get reassurance - though sometimes it helps - but because it makes me feel better to say it out loud instead of having the fears run around in my head constantly.
- I would then follow her advice, which is usually to just keep an eye on it. 99% of the time it goes away and there's never another issue. I think ONCE I went to the doctor and then the derm about something -- they didn't know what it was, thought maybe a virus, and a few weeks later it was gone.
Never ever EVER have my HA fears been founded - yours either. It messes with our minds, Helen. I remember vividly about a year and a half ago, in a constant state of panic because I thought my eyebrows were falling out. I look back on it now and can't believe I was so silly! My brows look *exactly* the same as they did then, the issue is that THEN I thought they were thin and falling out and NOW they look totally fine and fantastic.
Seriously, go to therapy. Start on meds - mine were a godsend. FIGHT, Helen.
ShaunRyder
31-07-17, 19:26
and does it look like mine?
---------- Post added at 17:49 ---------- Previous post was at 17:49 ----------
I said I want assurance. I worry this is it now.
Yes Helen, it looks exactly like yours in the picture you posted. Does this help you feel not as worried?
No it doesnt. Im in state of panic that longer i leave it less I have to live. Could you can you aee outline of it when you stretch it? colour goes away? but outline faint.
---------- Post added at 19:28 ---------- Previous post was at 19:27 ----------
I appreciate you
ShaunRyder
31-07-17, 19:32
No it doesnt. Im in state of panic that longer i leave it less I have to live. Could you can you aee outline of it when you stretch it? colour goes away? but outline faint.
---------- Post added at 19:28 ---------- Previous post was at 19:27 ----------
I appreciate you
If i pull either side, yes it it will go away slightly.
but you can still see tge outline? pinkish in the moddle and let go ans colour rushes back? I stress self out so much I can't eat. I cant even get into doctors for 2 weeks and I'm all alone. Can you go hospital for them to check?
---------- Post added at 19:38 ---------- Previous post was at 19:37 ----------
Sorry poppy just saw your comment was walking and messaging. This has been 2 months and I hadn't even realised I am 110% convinced.
ServerError
31-07-17, 19:40
May i ask what you'd do if you were concerned about a mark?
I was concerned about something last summer. I posted about it on here. I really struggled with it, actually. But I went to my GP, who referred me to a dermatologist, who said it was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately, your skin will always have things that appear and disappear. That's the price we pay for having human skin.
For me though right now seeing a doctor and then a derm is a death sentence as I'm so sure. I'm on my own and I feel so scared.
bottleblond
31-07-17, 19:51
but you can still see tge outline? pinkish in the moddle and let go ans colour rushes back? I stress self out so much I can't eat. I cant even get into doctors for 2 weeks and I'm all alone. Can you go hospital for them to check?
---------- Post added at 19:38 ---------- Previous post was at 19:37 ----------
Sorry poppy just saw your comment was walking and messaging. This has been 2 months and I hadn't even realised I am 110% convinced.
Helen
I would suggest NOT going to the hospital because you'll be wasting their time which could be better spent on someone who was actually ill.. I highly doubt you would believe them anyway when they told you it was fine.
Go to your CBT and let the professional help you because NOTHING we say makes any difference.
ShaunRyder
31-07-17, 19:52
but you can still see tge outline? pinkish in the moddle and let go ans colour rushes back? I stress self out so much I can't eat. I cant even get into doctors for 2 weeks and I'm all alone. Can you go hospital for them to check?
Yes I can see the outline and when I let the skin go it goes back to its normal colour. I personally would not go to the hospital for this and they will tell you the same thing as the nurse and doctor have on the other occasions. Once you start CBT on Weds hopefully you can start feeling calmer as the sessions go on.
my aunt just sent me a photo of a pink mark she has on her arm and said she's had it for years. She's getting tired of me too.
ShaunRyder
31-07-17, 20:11
my aunt just sent me a photo of a pink mark she has on her arm and said she's had it for years. She's getting tired of me too.
Hopefully it helps knowing your aunt has the same thing.
ServerError
31-07-17, 20:12
For me though right now seeing a doctor and then a derm is a death sentence as I'm so sure. I'm on my own and I feel so scared.
Do you realise how silly that is? Cancer isn't only fatal if you go to the doctor. If anything, it's more likely to kill you if you don't.
I don't believe you need to see one, of course. I just think it says a lot that you don't seek treatment for these terrible illnesses you think you have. Deep down, you know you're fine.
Hers look different to mine.
and i know Server I have made an appointment for 2 weeks as only one doctor in my shty surgery atm.
ServerError
31-07-17, 21:01
If you do end up going to the doctor, make sure you mention the extent of your anxiety spiral. I appreciate that you're starting therapy, so the doctor won't be able to much other than offer you meds, but make sure you talk about it anyway.
For what it's worth, the thing I had looked at a year ago is still there. It's no bigger, but it's no smaller, either. Things stick around sometimes. I honestly could not care less about it anymore.
Helen, if it were cancer it would have changed in the two months you've had it. You would know - the doctors would know.
You have a run of the mill red mark. Honestly, it's probably a scar from something. I have several where I scratched too hard and the scar remained for a long time (some I still have).
flappergirl
31-07-17, 21:58
Reading your posts makes me sad. You are repeating your cycle, and constantly seeking reassurance.
So, you have a mark. It may or may not disappear depending on whether you stretch it or hide it and peek at it from up your sleeve.
Medical professionals have said it is nothing. But you insist it is something. Why? Has it grown? Does it hurt? If it fades it is unlikely to be bad. Does it look like pictures of the skin cancer you are worried about? Are you high risk? (Ie burnt a lot, very fair, use tanning beds etc). What else could it be? Ringworm? Pityriasis rosea? Bite? Allergy? Dry skin?
You have to think about the realities. It could be anything. It could be nothing. Tell yourself to think about the other possibilities. If it has not grown I really would not worry.
You are obsessing about the thing being cancer. And what if it is? Skin cancers are treatable mostly even the type that you look at. If you can't look at the realities and that it is most likely benign, then deal with your fear head on. If you are scared of death, live your life and make it count. Easier said than done but I want you to make your next post a positive one and tell us one thing that is good in your life or what you have done that is totally unrelated to this obsession.
I never noticed it beinf there before ans this was inbetween the fungal and the other red rash on other arm that came and went so MAYBE they're linked? I haven't been googling and haven't been gawping and i feel so more calmer. I just worry.
flappergirl
31-07-17, 22:18
Yes maybe it is linked to another rash you had. I had pityriasis rosea once and I had a dry scaly pink patch that appeared and then was followed by a few more patches which slowly went away.
Don't look at it for a few days. Don't google!. The more you look the worse you feel and you have been told it is nothing. So probably it is nothing. Find something fun to do. Relax. Live!
Annaboodle
31-07-17, 22:28
Reading these posts makes me sad too. It's just the same cycle over and over. I really hope that the therapy helps and you put as much into it as you can as well as trying all the self-help options out there. I'm in the UK too and I know the NHS does what it can but has its limits.
I worry for you if not that you are going to end up living a life like my grandma. She's in her 90s now but lived with untreated health anxiety she refused to even acknowledge her entire adult life. She's exactly like you are on these boards: self diagnosing jumping from one diagnosis to the next; overthinking and obsessing over having illnesses that you likely will never have; ignoring sound advice and clinging desperately onto anyone who will talk to you about your imaginary symptoms. Worse of all she alienated everyone who cared, including her husband and children and has ended up completely alone and desperately unhappy. Yet still the only thing she talks about at 95 is these imaginary illnesses she doesn't have. It's a waste of a life.
Can you imagine 70 years of THIS. Cause this health anxiety is more than capable of consuming your life if you let it.
Catherine S
31-07-17, 22:32
Reading these posts makes me sad too. It's just the same cycle over and over. I really hope that the therapy helps and you put as much into it as you can as well as trying all the self-help options out there. I'm in the UK too and I know the NHS does what it can but has its limits.
I worry for you if not that you are going to end up living a life like my grandma. She's in her 90s now but lived with untreated health anxiety she refused to even acknowledge her entire adult life. She's exactly like you are on these boards: self diagnosing jumping from one diagnosis to the next; overthinking and obsessing over having illnesses that you likely will never have; ignoring sound advice and clinging desperately onto anyone who will talk to you about your imaginary symptoms. Worse of all she alienated everyone who cared, including her husband and children and has ended up completely alone and desperately unhappy. Yet still the only thing she talks about at 95 is these imaginary illnesses she doesn't have. It's a waste of a life.
Can you imagine 70 years of THIS. Cause this health anxiety is more than capable of consuming your life if you let it.
This. Exactly this.
I didn't mean to ignore flapper girl post I didn't see it until just. Thank you so much for your kind yet blunt words.
Also, therapy is NEXT weds i had dates mixed up with another appointment (dentists) haha.
I'm not "rubbishing" her. I'm stating my thoughts based on the many, many chances she has had to prove doubters wrong. And on her copious threads and posts. You yourself have also questioned her motives a number of times.
But you believe in her if you like. That is your choice. I don't.
Well this is the well-known pattern that we start arguing amongst ourselves how to handle this poster, and I recognise we'll have different approaches. I just mean seeking professional help is a new development and I'll put any cynicism (which I do have in spades) aside until Wednesday afternoon and hope it's going to be the start of the end of whatever this is.
If we hear excuses why an appointment hasn't been met or a second one hasn't been booked I'm washing my hands of this woman.
It already cost me the love of my life (who I'm lucky enough has stuck around as a friend) and my family are at the end of tethers. My aunt said to me last time 'you wil end up old lady rabbiting on to herself aboit freckles because everyone else would've left me.
But it's hard explaining my mindset and the real fear i feel and the annoyance of not feeling reassured and the almost obssesion with something needing to be wrong. No way in a million years would I fake feeling this way (to those who still believe i am a troll) I often imagine it to a drug addiction, not that I know or maybe that's insensitive but it's like I have to get my fix of 'you're ok' but its never enough.
Also, therapy is NEXT weds i had dates mixed up with another appointment (dentists) haha.
Oh. :shades:
Well this is the well-known pattern that we start arguing amongst ourselves how to handle this poster, and I recognise we'll have different approaches. I just mean seeking professional help is a new development and I'll put any cynicism (which I do have in spades) aside until Wednesday afternoon and hope it's going to be the start of the end of whatever this is.
If we hear excuses why an appointment hasn't been met or a second one hasn't been booked I'm washing my hands of this woman.
Apparently she mixed it up with a dental appointment.
:yesyes:
it's like I have to get my fix of 'you're ok' but its never enough.
That almost sounds like a sliver of clarity.
Not that I have to prove myself but https://ibb.co/jpq9FQ
TattooArtist
01-08-17, 01:46
Hun, honestly I haven't been an active poster for long, but I really hope you actually go to a therapist appointment soon.
But it's hard explaining my mindset and the real fear i feel and the annoyance of not feeling reassured and the almost obssesion with something needing to be wrong. No way in a million years would I fake feeling this way (to those who still believe i am a troll) I often imagine it to a drug addiction, not that I know or maybe that's insensitive but it's like I have to get my fix of 'you're ok' but its never enough.
That's because you have OCD, Helen. What you are experiencing is "normal" for someone who's OCD is out of control. The cycle of reassurance is an addiction in your brain. You have an obsessive thought (like "What if this pink mark is cancer?"). Then you obsessive over it looking for reassurance. You get the reassurance and feel slightly better...until the obsessive thought starts back up again or moves to something else and the cycle repeats itself. That's why people get so frustrated with you on here. They see what's happening to you, and they know how it is because they've been through that themselves.
MyNameIsTerry
01-08-17, 02:36
CBT like any other form of talking therapy requires a level of input and, crucially, attendance. Also to follow basic instructions. With the best will in the world, a therapist cannot help someone who does not think there is any point to it - or need. I don't think Helen will go anyway - if she is telling the truth that is.
I think we are dealing with a personality disorder here based on this person's behaviour. More entrenchment than a coastal shelf :lac:
I'm not sure, it's possible of course but I would expect a PD to be hampering her life a lot more? But I do think reassurance seeking behaviour is made worse by existing personal traits that many have. Some people seek it all the time without a disorder so add all the anxiety on top and you just get a mega escalation of it.
As for the therapy, meds could give it the necessary push for the person to be able to engage with it. Look at Becky, just like this and so was the forum, meds helped her change from this into someone resembling the rest of the HA posters. Somehow she needs to reach that stage where something shifts in her head. When my GF went through her depression she said hitting rock bottom did that for her, for me it didn't but was a prompt to take some action at least.
From an OCD perspective, I can understand this behaviour being entrenched very badly as mine was. Luckily for me, I'm not a reassurance seeker, but my OCD owned my life for a couple of years non stop. so, I hold out hope and Reb keeps up a job & social life which is the opposite of the severe OCDer who tends to spend so much time inside it they lose out.
If she's a PD, CBT is what they use, which you wouldn't think as you say it's hard to engage with it when you don't see a problem like many with PD's don't. There are newer forms of it though which are believed to be better so there's something out there to try.
She really needs a regular GP just in case it is a PD but she's been diagnosed before with OCD so :shrug:. Hopefully the therapist will be able to work it out. my experience of IAPT is that it's well above their pay grade, as my therapist told me.
curious, what time of PD would you suggest I have? I had OCD & GAD as a teen and my assesment was that i had HA with OCD as they overlap. Nothing about PD. I'm posting photos of what I'm concerned about surely a troll wouldn't.
---------- Post added at 09:37 ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 ----------
and Antsy, I know. i often, always look back at what I was worried about and why and realise what a dope i was. But at the time, like now, its so real.
always look back at what I was worried about and why and realise what a dope i was. But at the time, like now, its so real.
Which says to me you know, deep down this isn't real. The reason people get frustrated is you don't seem to make any effort to resist your fear, and continue to fuel it despite knowing you shouldn't. You never learn from past experience or advice, and we could jump on at any point with the same answers.
The basics of CBT is that your anxiety isn't caused by events. It's caused by your thoughts about events.
You aren't scared because you have a red skin mark.
You are scared because you catastrophise a red skin mark.
curious, what time of PD would you suggest I have? I had OCD & GAD as a teen and my assesment was that i had HA with OCD as they overlap. Nothing about PD. I'm posting photos of what I'm concerned about surely a troll wouldn't.
---------- Post added at 09:37 ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 ----------
and Antsy, I know. i often, always look back at what I was worried about and why and realise what a dope i was. But at the time, like now, its so real.
I've never said or claimed that you were a "troll", but your attention-seeking behaviour, negative or positive attention, seems to stand out.
I hope what you have said re therapy is true, and if so, that you actually go and make the most of this opportunity to change your life for the better.
I didn't mean you but previously in the past accusations have been thrown about.
I am going therapy, no way do I want to stay like this. I'm still obviously worried about the red mark still.
ServerError
01-08-17, 13:03
As far as I know, none of us has the training to diagnose personality disorders, so let's not upset Helen further by going down this route.
If there's a personality disorder there, hopefully it will come to light during therapy and can be dealt with appropriately.
None of us are saying "hmm, maybe she does have cancer", so let's not do the same with a psychiatric disorder.
As far as I know, none of us has the training to diagnose personality disorders, so let's not upset Helen further by going down this route.
If there's a personality disorder there, hopefully it will come to light during therapy and can be dealt with appropriately.
None of us are saying "hmm, maybe she does have cancer", so let's not do the same with a psychiatric disorder.
If you're referring to me, no one is "diagnosing" Helen with having a PD - any more than you're diagnosing her as probably not having skin cancer.
I made a statement based on my observations, which I have the right to do. End of. So I don't know why you felt the need to post this TBH.
Just saw a photo from April and it's there then
Shit.
ShaunRyder
01-08-17, 13:50
I am going therapy, no way do I want to stay like this.
That's the spirit Helen! Try and stay in this positive mind set! Good luck for next weds!
Shaun it was there in April too :(
Shaun it was there in April too :(
What does that prove Helen? :lac:
ServerError
01-08-17, 14:00
If you're referring to me, no one is "diagnosing" Helen with having a PD - any more than you're diagnosing her as probably not having skin cancer.
I made a statement based on my observations, which I have the right to do. End of. So I don't know why you felt the need to post this TBH.
Blimey! Some people are touchy...
I'm not trying to deny you your right to do anything. If I was, I'd have made a complaint about the post in order to get it removed. But I am just as entitled to disagree with what you say.
My point was that raising the issue of personality disorders in a thread by someone prone to deep, obsessive worry about a wide range of illnesses might not be the best idea when none of us (as far as I know) is qualified to make such observations.
And I stand by that. But let's not get into a row about it. Shall we just leave it here? Helen hasn't responded badly to the whole PD suggestion, so perhaps I was wrong. I can live with that.
Blimey! Some people are touchy...
I'm not trying to deny you your right to do anything. If I was, I'd have made a complaint about the post in order to get it removed. I can live with that.
You wouldn't have got very far :shades:
ServerError
01-08-17, 14:07
Agreed. The point I was making is that I did not attempt to deny you the rights to comment that you hold so dear.
What does that prove Helen? :lac:
I asked you a genuine question Helen...
4 months! Surely that's not normal/worrying to you?!
4 months! Surely that's not normal/worrying to you?!
Not really, because as members have said here, some have had marks for a lot longer than 4 months. I know I have.
ServerError
01-08-17, 14:17
4 months! Surely that's not normal/worrying to you?!
I've had a pinkish/red mark on my right hand for 30 years. Literally.
ShaunRyder
01-08-17, 14:19
4 months! Surely that's not normal/worrying to you?!
The one I posted earlier about under my eye has been there for 3-4 months, I also had one my stomach for nearly a year.
But marks that look like mine?! When the nurse looked at it through the light would she have actually seen anything or was she toying with me? she said it looksndry and only first top layer. 4 MONTHS!
Almenotic melanoma is poor diagnosis anyway but shit man.
ShaunRyder
01-08-17, 14:21
But marks that look like mine?! When the nurse looked at it through the light would she have actually seen anything or was she toying with me? she said it looksndry and only first top layer. 4 MONTHS!
Almenotic melanoma is poor diagnosis anyway but shit man.
I literally mentioned twice in previous posts that the one under my eye looked EXACTLY like yours.
How did yours disappear eventually or is it still there? Man alive this is worse than thought.
---------- Post added at 14:23 ---------- Previous post was at 14:23 ----------
No change at all in those months but i never noticed it at all.
But marks that look like mine?! When the nurse looked at it through the light would she have actually seen anything or was she toying with me? she said it looksndry and only first top layer. 4 MONTHS!
Almenotic melanoma is poor diagnosis anyway but shit man.
You seem to think that others should have a mark that looks EXACTLY like yours in EVERY way which is impossible! Important thing is that others too have "unexplained" marks etc which have persisted.
Do you agree?
Back to the walk in clinic I guess considering how long its been.
But marks that look like mine?! When the nurse looked at it through the light would she have actually seen anything or was she toying with me? she said it looksndry and only first top layer. 4 MONTHS!
Almenotic melanoma is poor diagnosis anyway but shit man.
Nurses tend to toy with patients, I mean they join caring professions for crap wages just to be *******s. Well known fact.
Sorry for the sarcasm but seriously. Come on. No-one here believes you're stupid so we have little patience when you pretend to be.
You know this is just another brain fart, which will be replaced with another brain fart.
Do you want to know a secret? For all I talk, if I came on here and obsessively posted about every little thing I got fear or worries about over the last two years, posting without filter, I wouldn't sound that different to you. The only difference is I know the pointlessness and harm to me and my progress, and utter tedium for others, of of using this forum like that.
ShaunRyder
01-08-17, 14:29
How did yours disappear eventually or is it still there? Man alive this is worse than thought.
---------- Post added at 14:23 ---------- Previous post was at 14:23 ----------
No change at all in those months but i never noticed it at all.
Please read pages 2,3,4 and 5 of this thread to find the posts I done answering this question already.
Back to the walk in clinic I guess considering how long its been.
That's utter rot and a TOTAL waste of everyone's time - and you know that :lac:
ServerError
01-08-17, 14:34
Back to the walk in clinic I guess considering how long its been.
And when they tell you the same thing..?
Nurses tend to toy with patients, I mean they join caring professions for crap wages just to be *******s. Well known fact.
Sorry for the sarcasm but seriously. Come on. No-one here believes you're stupid so we have little patience when you pretend to be.
You know this is just another brain fart, which will be replaced with another brain fart.
Do you want to know a secret? For all I talk, if I came on here and obsessively posted about every little thing I got fear or worries about over the last two years, posting without filter, I wouldn't sound that different to you. The only difference is I know the pointlessness and harm to me and my progress, and utter tedium for others, of of using this forum like that.
You have strained your gills long enough over Helen... Know you mean well and have your own struggles (like most of us here), but unless Helen wakes up and smells the coffee, there will be little hope of breaking this cycle of doom and despair.
Let's hope she attends "therapy" and makes most of it.
You have strained your gills long enough over Helen...know you mean well and have your own struggles (like most of us here), but unless Helen wakes up and smells the coffee, there will be little hope of breaking this cycle of doom and despair.
Let's hope she attends "therapy" and makes most of it.
I know, I know. :shrug:
I wonder if she even realises most of us here are in equally bad places with our health anxiety, or even worse, but are self-aware enough to not dwell on our specific fears. I'm not sure she even realises anyone else in the world is suffering.
It's very sad to see - Helen's like the 'White Whale' on here. You feel if there's hope for her there's hope for everyone. But we shouldn't get confused with shouting loudest with being the worst sufferer, there's people here who can't get out of bed in a morning, let alone jet away to live in Korea for six months (if we choose to believe that...).
Still wish her very well with the therapy but it's not easy to be supportive.
Genuine question - can you not see why I'm worried?
---------- Post added at 14:45 ---------- Previous post was at 14:44 ----------
Nurse said new freckle starting out and someone before said new freckles can start out pink - how true is this?
Genuine question - can you not see why I'm worried?
Because you have health anxiety and have worried about c30 distinct diseases in the last 24 months, none of which are any less likely than this.
---------- Post added at 14:49 ---------- Previous post was at 14:48 ----------
Nurse said new freckle starting out and someone before said new freckles can start out pink - how true is this?
Why would we health-anxious Internet randoms who constantly diagnose ourselves with any old made-up shit know more than an actual medical professional?
I'm not sure, it's possible of course but I would expect a PD to be hampering her life a lot more? But I do think reassurance seeking behaviour is made worse by existing personal traits that many have. Some people seek it all the time without a disorder so add all the anxiety on top and you just get a mega escalation of it.
As for the therapy, meds could give it the necessary push for the person to be able to engage with it. Look at Becky, just like this and so was the forum, meds helped her change from this into someone resembling the rest of the HA posters. Somehow she needs to reach that stage where something shifts in her head. When my GF went through her depression she said hitting rock bottom did that for her, for me it didn't but was a prompt to take some action at least.
From an OCD perspective, I can understand this behaviour being entrenched very badly as mine was. Luckily for me, I'm not a reassurance seeker, but my OCD owned my life for a couple of years non stop. so, I hold out hope and Reb keeps up a job & social life which is the opposite of the severe OCDer who tends to spend so much time inside it they lose out.
If she's a PD, CBT is what they use, which you wouldn't think as you say it's hard to engage with it when you don't see a problem like many with PD's don't. There are newer forms of it though which are believed to be better so there's something out there to try.
She really needs a regular GP just in case it is a PD but she's been diagnosed before with OCD so :shrug:. Hopefully the therapist will be able to work it out. my experience of IAPT is that it's well above their pay grade, as my therapist told me.
I don't see a PD here, I just see really bad, out of control OCD.
KK77, what PD do you think she has?
---------- Post added at 06:51 ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 ----------
Genuine question - can you not see why I'm worried?
---------- Post added at 14:45 ---------- Previous post was at 14:44 ----------
Nurse said new freckle starting out and someone before said new freckles can start out pink - how true is this?
We can't see why you're worried because none of the medical professionals you've been to are worried, dear.
ShaunRyder
01-08-17, 14:52
Genuine question - can you not see why I'm worried?
---------- Post added at 14:45 ---------- Previous post was at 14:44 ----------
Nurse said new freckle starting out and someone before said new freckles can start out pink - how true is this?
I understand why you worry as you are anxious over your health like the majority of us here suffer with.
What I don't understand is why you ask us for reassurance and advice and we give it to you via personal experience or links that will help you and you will either ignore our posts, delete the thread which contains useful information you could go back to and when you are worried or you just ask us the same questions over and over again.
I think I can fainlty see it from a photo back in Oct 2015. Its a filtered photo but something is there if i zoomed in same place
---------- Post added at 14:59 ---------- Previous post was at 14:53 ----------
I don't mean to I really don't i have paid attention and Ib have gotte therapy because you've all made me see sense but this mark is driving me mad. Mostly because I'm terrified this is the dreaded C.
---------- Post added at 15:34 ---------- Previous post was at 14:59 ----------
Thank you all so much for responding to my worries
bottleblond
01-08-17, 15:40
Helen
Let me ask you something. What exactly would it take in order for you to believe you do not have Cancer?. What professional body would you listen to and accept their opinion 100%?. This is a genuine question.
No amount of reassurance will make any difference & I cant imagine what's going on in your head.
I still don't think you have cancer.
From experience, you are unlikely to get a diagnosis for any mental health conditions but instead, certainly in my case, they will work with you to challenge your thoughts & work with what you are experiencing. There is a tendency not to label anymore, if that makes sense.
This thread is exhausting & you must be also. You don't have cancer, you have a pink spot. What you do have is HA taking over & making life difficult. Go for a walk, feel the rain, look at the sky & find some distraction :) x
MyNameIsTerry
01-08-17, 16:45
I know, I know. :shrug:
I wonder if she even realises most of us here are in equally bad places with our health anxiety, or even worse, but are self-aware enough to not dwell on our specific fears. I'm not sure she even realises anyone else in the world is suffering.
It's very sad to see - Helen's like the 'White Whale' on here. You feel if there's hope for her there's hope for everyone. But we shouldn't get confused with shouting loudest with being the worst sufferer, there's people here who can't get out of bed in a morning, let alone jet away to live in Korea for six months (if we choose to believe that...).
Still wish her very well with the therapy but it's not easy to be supportive.
She's far from the first. Remember Becky? She got on meds and those of us who followed hee from there will have seen her reassurance seeking faded very quickly and she started the occasional threads like everyone else with the odd blip.
I can think of others who were like this with their posting on the HA board.
I like that you raised the point about your own worries. I'm not a HAer but I'm no different in that I've had years of daily anxiety. Several years at fever pitch.
To me, she just doesn't fit severe OCD because aside from what the medical professionals themselves say, I've been there, seen it in others and watched the documentaries about severe OCD. You don't have a life with it, just a daily slog. And if you take the posting out of the equation, there are far worse people on here including substance misusers and those in & out of psychiatric wards. I just don't buy it when others say this about a poster like this but it's certainly true that Mild - Moderate apply, like many on here.
Still, glad a few are enjoying the entertainment.
Capercrohnj
01-08-17, 16:46
I don't see a PD here, I just see really bad, out of control OCD.
KK77, what PD do you think she has?
---------- Post added at 06:51 ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 ----------
We can't see why you're worried because none of the medical professionals you've been to are worried, dear.
Not KK and not a doctor but maybe OCPD?
MyNameIsTerry
01-08-17, 16:54
Not KK and not a doctor but maybe OCPD?
OCD and OCPD are very different. It's not simply a more intense version of OCD.
If you look at the different types of PD's you will probably identify with elements of several. I have the minimum criteria for OCPD myself but there is an attitude that comes with it that must be there, which is not the case for me.
That's one for a psychiatrist to determine but this posting & reassurance seeking is classic of OCD (and anxiety) and not in OCPD so I wouldn't be swayed into that based on what we see here.
OCD and OCPD are very different. It's not simply a more intense version of OCD.
If you look at the different types of PD's you will probably identify with elements of several. I have the minimum criteria for OCPD myself but there is an attitude that comes with it that must be there, which is not the case for me.
That's one for a psychiatrist to determine but this posting & reassurance seeking is classic of OCD (and anxiety) and not in OCPD so I wouldn't be swayed into that based on what we see here.
That's it exactly. The OCPD people are the anal retentive type. Every must be in order. They are usually extreme perfectionists, and get easily butt hurt when they are slighted in their efforts.
The OCD cycle of reassurance seeking is OCD. The obsessive thought leads to compulsions leads to reassurance seeking. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Some people can have both, though.
has everyone even looked at photos?
MyNameIsTerry
01-08-17, 17:18
has everyone even looked at photos?
Reb, I have done when you post a new thread because it's an opportunity to try to challenge your thoughts as it's beginning. But I don't as the cycle continues because it won't make any difference as the poster is just chasing reassurance that achieves nothing. What could someone like me, with no medical training & experience, say that a nurse can't? I couldn't spot more than a tiny % of physical issues that he/she can.
Keep to your regular GP surgery. Walk-ins should be for gaps in a GP service and don't go to hospital as anything that is even cancer is nothing more than a GP can fast track or refer as an emergency, not that I believe this to be the case for you anyway.
A regular GP can do more for you than a walk-in. You really need to confront that element as I suspect you know how this cycle makes you appear and worry what a GP will say unlike walk-ins who are like strangers a lot of the time. You won't get judged but you will get helped.
You won't be alone in here in how going to a GP makes you panic. It took me months to be able to settle with my GP when I relapsed and he has been seeing me regular for 4 years at least before this when I had the breakdown. It can be hard because you are going to be confronted with taking action and that is something many of us are just as terrified of because we fear the increased anxiety. Therapy will mean increases in anxiety as you have to confront your fears, it's one of the reasons it's so hard to do.
The only, literally obly GP is the one who misdiagnozed my fanily members skin cancer so I doubt i want to go to him.
MyNameIsTerry
01-08-17, 17:31
I understand that, I wouldn't give him the time of day either after that, but could you look for another surgery?
Capercrohnj
01-08-17, 18:13
OCD and OCPD are very different. It's not simply a more intense version of OCD.
If you look at the different types of PD's you will probably identify with elements of several. I have the minimum criteria for OCPD myself but there is an attitude that comes with it that must be there, which is not the case for me.
That's one for a psychiatrist to determine but this posting & reassurance seeking is classic of OCD (and anxiety) and not in OCPD so I wouldn't be swayed into that based on what we see here.
Ok thanks for the info. I was misdiagnosed with a PD once and it still haunts me. I was diagnosed by a psych who didn't like me as having borderline PD which actually turned out to be bipolar 2. When people see borderline on your chart they treat you differently because of the stigma attached to that diagnosis
bottleblond
01-08-17, 18:39
The only, literally obly GP is the one who misdiagnozed my fanily members skin cancer so I doubt i want to go to him.
You can see another GP. Everyone is entitled a second opinion.
Ok thanks for the info. I was misdiagnosed with a PD once and it still haunts me. I was diagnosed by a psych who didn't like me as having borderline PD which actually turned out to be bipolar 2. When people see borderline on your chart they treat you differently because of the stigma attached to that diagnosis
I was misdiagnosed with PD by a psychiatrist as well & it really affected how I was treated. It still haunts me too because although nobody agrees with the diagnosis it has not been removed:( Being treated for anxiety / depression but for the moment it's a label that I am stuck with x
You can see another GP. Everyone is entitled a second opinion.
I think Helen nodded off - it's been a long day :lac:
No there is literally one GP at my shitty surgery lol.
---------- Post added at 22:03 ---------- Previous post was at 20:35 ----------
Is it possible I've had this for years. Are pink marks normal? I may have never noticed it because its always beem there. Older photos there is definitely something there but filters I can't be 100%.
ShaunRyder
01-08-17, 22:09
No there is literally one GP at my shitty surgery lol.
---------- Post added at 22:03 ---------- Previous post was at 20:35 ----------
Is it possible I've had this for years. Are pink marks normal? I may have never noticed it because its always beem there. Older photos there is definitely something there but filters I can't be 100%.
Helen, go through old posts on this thread, this question has already been answered for you :)
Oh my God, are you still asking about this?
Let's put it clearly and concisely so you don't need to ask again;
1- 2 medical professionals have said it isn't anything of any concern.
2- multiple people have told you it's normal to have marks on their skin, sometimes for years.
3- multiple people on here have looked at your photos, and to the best of our ability, told you it doesn't look at all concerning.
4- Melanoma in any form would have changed in the time you've been obsessing over this. Your pink dot has not changed.
5- Seriously, you don't have cancer.
I honestly don't know what you're trying to achieve here. Nothing more can be said to you. Two medical professionals have been unable to convince you so why you insist on demanding answers from a bunch of random internet strangers is completely and utterly beyond me.
You are reveling in this attention OP, it's so obvious it's actually nauseating. You play this poor innocent person with all these worries and yet you consistently manipulate people into lathering attention on to you. It simply isn't washing, with me at least.
Stop pestering this forum day in day out, go to your therapy session and for the love of all that is holy, for once take some responsibility for yourself and your mental health.
I really want to get better.
---------- Post added at 22:28 ---------- Previous post was at 22:26 ----------
I don't have anyone else to talk to about this so internet strangers make do for the time being
Jackrabbit
01-08-17, 22:34
I will put the same thing I did on the other one. You need to check what you are putting on your skin and perhaps practice different (since people got their panties in a twist about the word "better") hygiene. If you are getting all of these different things on your skin it is most likely because of something that you are putting on it.
Catherine S
01-08-17, 22:37
If you really want to get better Rebecca, then stop posting these threads. Do yourself a big favour and stop posting. Go to your therapy sessions and come back in a few weeks and tell us how you get on. Stop the endless cycle and don't post again for a good while. That's the way to get better.
So it might be a really good idea if people would help her out by not reacting, by not replying, by not keeping this cycle going. Everybody has had more than enough input now on all of these threads so surely there's nothing more to add? So let's all help Reb to break the cycle Ok?
Go to bed Rebecca. Go to work tomorrow and itd be better for you not to post another thing about this. Go to your therapy sessions and give yourself the chance to recover away from the forum for a while. And most of us replying to you are hardly Internet strangers, we've been with you for the last 3 years on most of your threads!
I really want to get better.
---------- Post added at 22:28 ---------- Previous post was at 22:26 ----------
I don't have anyone else to talk to about this so internet strangers make do for the time being
What about all those friends that you were parading this spot to and allowing to pick at it? What about the boyfriend/friend? What about your aunt that sent you messages only the other night?
It's not that you only have us to talk to, it's just that no matter how much attention you get it's never enough. Besides, you claim you want to talk about this yet you ignore the vast majority of responses to you.
You only seem to want to talk, not listen. Quit trying to tug at heartstrings here, it won't work.
My boyfriend left me because of my anxiety so I don't bother him about it now we're friends. My aunt has said she can't do it anymore either
Catherine S
01-08-17, 23:04
Gary please, ok? Again i'm asking nicely that everybody can let her step away from all of this. Nothing is helping her on the threads so she needs to break away for a while. Is it too much to ask that people stop reacting and replying?
Reb go to bed now ok? Take a break for a while, it will help with your therapy sessions if you do, please believe that.
Really nothing has changed at all. Can't quite believe something hasn't give in this cycle.
Nothing at all will help this OP except themselves, especially not this forum :shrug:
MyNameIsTerry
02-08-17, 01:22
No there is literally one GP at my shitty surgery lol.
You can switch surgeries. I realise you are worried about seeing them and the possibility of tests but you can do this. I have little faith in mine when it comes to mental health meds so I've disengaged but I'm in much more control of my anxiety, you really need someone to be steering you.
You just won't get that here.
So, why not look for another surgery? Walk-ins are another avoidance to me, it's like doctor shipping and it only stops you confronting the real problems.
---------- Post added at 01:22 ---------- Previous post was at 01:14 ----------
Ok thanks for the info. I was misdiagnosed with a PD once and it still haunts me. I was diagnosed by a psych who didn't like me as having borderline PD which actually turned out to be bipolar 2. When people see borderline on your chart they treat you differently because of the stigma attached to that diagnosis
At one of my last CBT sessions my therapist raised OCPD for me. She showed me the criterias and that a minimum of 4 was needed. I had 4 of them. She said it was beyond her ability to diagnose so it would need a psychiarist but my GP wouldn't refer any further anyway. I did some reading on this to find, like Vee said, it's not just the minimum criteria but also a very strict attitude. A couple of my criteria were only there because of my work environment, which was caused by them constantly shifting offices and sacking everyone so they kept reducing the skilled people and we had to go through years retraining them. This meant a lot of us wer surrounded by rookie managers from other industries and ended up feeling it was just better to work longer and do it ourselves. Outside of this, this attitude wasn't there but in a PD it would be very strong and unlike the fear needing compulsions in my OCD, in OCPD the feelings would be coming from not fulfilled the perfectionism and others impacting on it.
I remember looking at all the PD's and it's true that you can see the odd one here & there across the others that can also apply.
I was misdiagnosed with PD by a psychiatrist as well & it really affected how I was treated. It still haunts me too because although nobody agrees with the diagnosis it has not been removed:( Being treated for anxiety / depression but for the moment it's a label that I am stuck with x
Sorry to hear that. I've spent time talking to some with PD's on here and that stigma issue is a concern.
You can ask them to change those records though. Your GP could surely sort that one out?
Catherine S
02-08-17, 10:09
That worked then. Ah well, twas worth a try, as you were guys...carry on. Good luck with your therapy Rebecca.
Take care
:)
Catherine it won't make a bit of difference. She will just pull in people who aren't familiar with her "issues". So there will never be a time when she doesn't receive some response. I could say many things but they will be deleted so I'll just say...
there, there Helen.
Catherine S
02-08-17, 10:33
I agree about the newbies not realising the situation Swajj, but it gets to me that those who do know her issues, those regulars who carry on feeding her anxiety under the guise of 'helping' her, seem very keen to keep the drama going. But like you, ive learned the hard way not to get too much into it and can only wish her well before I leave the thread.
Hope you're ok too :)
I'm really well Catherine. Hope you are too. I know you are right but I guess some people keep coming back just to see where we're up to. It's got the same appeal as an addictive soap opera. I remember when I was young my mum was addicted to Days of Our Lives. I swear 30 years later the same storylines were continuing. If I checked it today I'm sure that would still be the case. So it's kind of like that. lol
MyNameIsTerry
02-08-17, 12:05
Well there's always the other thread for some of you, isn't there? :whistles: I'm sure that one is helping people when they read about laughing at other members in open, no names mentioned of course. :doh:
Forgive me if I don't take your judgement seriously.
Helenhoo: Identify yourself and state hoo you are working for. Are they N Koreans? We are under attack and I demand answers! :lac:
Status: Classified
What's happening lol?
Also in regard to arm would you accept itd part of skin or wait for it to go?
ServerError
02-08-17, 13:24
Well there's always the other thread for some of you, isn't there? :whistles: I'm sure that one is helping people when they read about laughing at other members in open, no names mentioned of course. :doh:
Forgive me if I don't take your judgement seriously.
Well said, Terry. I'm with you in this.
That thread is no different to this one: people feeling the need to comment on things they could easily ignore.
Well said, Terry. I'm with you in this.
That thread is no different to this one: people feeling the need to comment on things they could easily ignore.
Nothing worse than sitting on the fence :lac:
What would you like? A medal?
MyNameIsTerry
02-08-17, 14:28
What's happening lol?
Also in regard to arm would you accept itd part of skin or wait for it to go?
We've got a spam bot on the loose. Admin are on it. Someone mentioned about the harsh responses to you and your job in SK...we thought you had brought in the heavies. :roflmao:
Acceptance is a very big part of what you are going to need to do overall. They always say to apply a waiting period woth compulsions, the HA books Elen linked talked about that.
---------- Post added at 14:28 ---------- Previous post was at 14:25 ----------
Well said, Terry. I'm with you in this.
That thread is no different to this one: people feeling the need to comment on things they could easily ignore.
Agreed. If people want to comment, use PM. Put it on the forum and it's just opening the door to arguments unless everyone feels the same. I wonder who else will be talked about on there next?
If people want to try, that's up to them. If some want to deride them for it, they are entitled to defend themselves, but why even start it?
There are no professionals on here.
Lmao oops I have no dealings with this haha.
I think starting world war 3 would be concerning haha.
Terry would accept it?
MyNameIsTerry
02-08-17, 15:31
It wouldn't even bother me in the first place because my anxiety is about other things. But I still go through daily anxiety and you do have to learn to accept it because otherwise you fight negatively with it and it's just another way of sucking you down the rabbit hole.
It's very hard to learn acceptance. When the symptoms are bouncing you off the walls, it's very hard to get past that and get on with things but we do have to try. That's why we are telling you to distract yourself, get up & do things and push on, etc because this can help. Sitting with your thoughts won't at this stage, that's something that will come in time.
Catherine S
02-08-17, 15:41
Well there's always the other thread for some of you, isn't there? :whistles: I'm sure that one is helping people when they read about laughing at other members in open, no names mentioned of course. :doh:
Forgive me if I don't take your judgement seriously.
You don't take anybody seriously except yourself Terry. You just love all the drama don't you, and your constant sniping and cheap shots at those of us you don't like very much are all wearing really thin. So please do forgive those of us who'd rather not take your judgement seriously either.
I'm not looking for an argument with you either Terry so no need to bore me with one of your long rambling replies. Thanks.
You don't take anybody seriously except yourself Terry. You just love all the drama don't you, and your constant sniping and cheap shots at those of us you don't like very much are all wearing really thin. So please do forgive those of us who'd rather not take your judgement seriously either.
I'm not looking for an argument with you either Terry so no need to bore me with one of your long rambling replies. Thanks.
That ignoring these threads and not adding to the drama is going well for you, then.
Where's that Chinese dude when you need him...
Catherine S
02-08-17, 15:55
Axolotl, mind your own business. My comment wasn't aimed at Helen, it was aimed at Terry's sniping at certain members as he always does, and i'm sure he doesn't need your protection.
My suggestion to stop enabling Helen by not posting was a genuine one and one that I stand by. That it was ignored, well that's part of life on nmp isn't it. No biggie. But as far as what goes on with Terry...none of your business sorry.
MyNameIsTerry
02-08-17, 16:07
Axolotl, mind your own business. My comment wasn't aimed at Helen, it was aimed at Terry's sniping at certain members as he always does, and i'm sure he doesn't need your protection.
My suggestion to stop enabling Helen by not posting was a genuine one and one that I stand by. That it was ignored, well that's part of life on nmp isn't it. No biggie. But as far as what goes on with Terry...none of your business sorry.
Whether I want to reply to any thread on here is also none of your business but you chose to reply anyway. It's not about you, so you don't need to take it as some sort of challenge to your suggestions.
If you choose to comment on something someone says, they have a right to respond just as you do.
And if your comment was aimed at me, do you think it is the right place to be doing it on the thread you want everyone to stop posting on?
I don't see why people can't just accept that if some want to reply and want to help, that's their business and other than Admin no one else has a say in whether they are allowed to or not.
There are no professionals on here. People can note advice, it doesn't mean it has to be taken.
Catherine S
02-08-17, 16:18
Yep, whatever Terry. Ramble on.
ServerError
02-08-17, 16:21
Is any of this animosity doing anyone any good?
I'm sure we all basically just want to help Helen and others?
MyNameIsTerry
02-08-17, 16:38
Is any of this animosity doing anyone any good?
I'm sure we all basically just want to help Helen and others?
You've got my vote. :yesyes:
The sexual tension in this thread is ridiculous. :roflmao:
MyNameIsTerry
02-08-17, 17:19
:roflmao:
So, that's what that acheing is. That saves a thread asking.
bottleblond
02-08-17, 17:33
The sexual tension in this thread is ridiculous. :roflmao:
:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
---------- Post added at 17:33 ---------- Previous post was at 17:32 ----------
Helen
What day is your CBT.
What day is your CBT.
Don't ask silly questions BB. Doomsday 33rd Julember 2066 of course.
And may the force be with her! :shades:
bottleblond
02-08-17, 18:45
Don't ask silly questions BB. Doomsday 33rd Julember 2066 of course.
And may the force be with her! :shades:
:roflmao:
bottleblond
02-08-17, 19:50
9th next Wednesday.
Good luck and I hope it goes well for you.
Maybe someone could call our South Korean friends in from earlier & see if Ban ki Moon is free to cool things here !
MyNameIsTerry
03-08-17, 02:54
Where's that Chinese dude when you need him...
Maybe someone could call our South Korean friends in from earlier & see if Ban ki Moon is free to cool things here !
Looks like he's granted your wish! :ohmy:
Don't ask silly questions BB. Doomsday 33rd Julember 2066 of course.
And may the force be with her! :shades:
lol
---------- Post added at 17:39 ---------- Previous post was at 17:38 ----------
whoops are we allowed to laugh?
It's a serious place after all. :unsure:
Looks like he's granted your wish! :ohmy:
:doh: Careful what you wish for I guess......
I think i had it back on Sept 15 so thats a good sign right? If it's been there for that long. Cant be 100% but at least 80%
I think i had it back on Sept 15 so thats a good sign right? If it's been there for that long. Cant be 100% but at least 80%
Yes :) it would have changed, grown, etc if anything sinister.
Try to relax, you're fine x
Ridiculously, ridiculously faint because of the filter but in the red circle you can see a similar mark it matches location of where it is now, but its there right? https://ibb.co/gAysNF
Yes, you see its nothing:)
MyNameIsTerry
03-08-17, 18:46
I think i had it back on Sept 15 so thats a good sign right? If it's been there for that long. Cant be 100% but at least 80%
So, if you had it then, and your anxiety was bad then too, why are you focusing on it only now? Why do you need top urgently see medical professionals right now?
Feeling you need to be 100% is often another anxiety trap, as seen in black-and-white thinking which is one of the Cognitive Distortions, because we can't always be so accurate. Living with possibilities is important, accepting the grey areas.
Why only now? Why wasn't this such a problem when you were obsessively worrying about other marks?
This is what your therapist is going to be picking holes in to point out irrational thinking. You weren't focusing on it then or this type of fear.
I've onky ever noticed it recently thats why but from that photo I'm retty sure its there, same location same arm. But my anxiety wasn't as bad then, I think it had started summer of that year so was creeping in.
MyNameIsTerry
03-08-17, 18:54
Yes, but doesn't it demonstrate to you the irrationality of your obsession that you've had it all along and only now do you see it & worry? You've been very anxious for some time and it never came up until now. You sat with a potential worry trigger on your body all this time and never realised.
MyNameIsTerry
03-08-17, 19:52
But a weird mark that even by your own thinking was there 80% last year and that never bothered you until now.
It likely is the same right?
There's now 163 posts in this thread, you've had two other threads on this same issue that must have totalled roughly the same post count, and yet, you're still asking the same questions that you did with your very first post about it.
I'm sorry OP, but you're not even trying to get over this. Quite the contrary, you appear to be actually going out of your way to keep this absolute nonentity of a mark relevant.
Can you at least try to let this go, for goodness sake?
Two years ago if the photo is true.
Two years ago if the photo is true.
I'll take that as a no then.
MyNameIsTerry
04-08-17, 02:27
It likely is the same right?
What do you think? What I think doesn't matter.
Based on what you have said and my two posts above, what is your conclusion?
Lol now worrying about red spot on leg which I'm concluding is ingrown hair as I can see a hsir follicule in centre. I aim to leave it a week and check on it. The one on leg I had before is faintly there, haven't used cream for a week so do i leave it?
Lol now worrying about red spot on leg which I'm concluding is ingrown hair as I can see a hsir follicule in centre. I aim to leave it a week and check on it. The one on leg I had before is faintly there, haven't used cream for a week so do i leave it?
You'll ask this question, ignore the responses, go on to needlessly fret about this for 300 and odd posts and then start another thread about something equally meaningless while not telling anyone how you came to stop worrying about the pink mark on your arm.
You've been doing this for over two years and have shown absolutely no sign of changing or that you're remotely interested in doing so. You're apparently going for your first CBT session in under one week but rather than spending time discussing that, you've dragged out two threads, each with 100+ replies about some utter nonentity of a pink mark.
You've created a ridiculous amount of division and bad feeling on this board and you don't seem to care in the slightest. You just keep doing it, keep asking the same tired questions, demanding the same attention and generally just babbling utter nonsense.
You need to stop this, you really do.
MyNameIsTerry
05-08-17, 05:13
Lol now worrying about red spot on leg which I'm concluding is ingrown hair as I can see a hsir follicule in centre. I aim to leave it a week and check on it. The one on leg I had before is faintly there, haven't used cream for a week so do i leave it?
Ok, applying the wait period is good. The worry will be there but you need to try to resist compulsive activity such as poking & prodding, checking, etc. Accepting the worry it is causing without obsessing over it is the goal so try to stop yourself being sucked into the negative thinking and tell yourself it's just a mark and you are coming back to it in a week and will think about it from there.
What do you think about the other mark? You say faintly so does that imply it has faded? So, if it has faded what do you think is the likely reason and do you think something to be concerned about would fade away?
Do we reckon the faint mark is the same? I'm sure it is but would like confirmation.
You have your CBT appointment tomorrow Helen. You haven't forgotten?
Good luck - let us know how it went.
Todays the day.
I thought your appointment was at 930am though? Hope you weren't kept waiting too long due to the time you posted this?
First CBT appointment done, over very quickly but said she doesn't like to overwhelm first time. Rwckpns I only need 4 sessions but can have up to 6 and has givn me some work sheets to complete and read for next time.
---------- Post added at 15:12 ---------- Previous post was at 15:12 ----------
it was but I changed it because of work but eneded up booking day off anyway.
MyNameIsTerry
09-08-17, 15:25
Are you seeing a Psychological Welbeing Practitioner? If so, that would explain why you got in so fast and why the course is so short. They are Level 2 services. Level 3 is full CBT and takes months to access for many.
I would grab onto as many sessions as possible while you can.
If you are at Level 3, that's really a very short course for a service like that.
Well done for going. It's a first step. :yesyes::yahoo: Read the worksheets, they will look just like the stuff we have been posting for you.
Thats exactly what she called herself lol. How do I get a level 3 then? She'll still be able to help won't she? 4 sessions really doesnt feel like it. I think I was too logical and accepting and knew what my condition is.
Capercrohnj
09-08-17, 16:32
Wow the UK system is odd. Here in Canada once you get in the system (mind you it's a year waiting list for hospital psychologists though if you have money you can go to a private one right away) you go as long as you need. They don't have a 4 or 6 session limit.
MyNameIsTerry
09-08-17, 16:54
I did wonder with it being 4 but I have seen people say they've had as little as 6 before in full CBT. It depends what she is offering though, if it's something like 30 minute telephone sessions then it will be Level 2.
PWP's have to train up under supervision to get into Level 3 work and whilst they do this they can be delivering Level 3 services. Mine was. So, I would just clarify more about what you are getting.
Accessing Level 3 is up to them. If they think you need more intense work, often term high intensity therapy, they will put you in the queue...and there is often a wait of months because these sessions are longer so the therapist can't have as many patients on the go at the same time as PWP.
Mine wouldn't offer L3 until I had gone through L2 but I have seen other IAPT's serving people on here not take such a bureacratic stance.
My view was that any help is better than no help and I went through L2 to get to L3 but still trying to benefit from it.
I'm meeting her weekly for face to dave sessions.
---------- Post added at 16:59 ---------- Previous post was at 16:56 ----------
face to face hahaha
MyNameIsTerry
09-08-17, 17:00
Wow the UK system is odd. Here in Canada once you get in the system (mind you it's a year waiting list for hospital psychologists though if you have money you can go to a private one right away) you go as long as you need. They don't have a 4 or 6 session limit.
It gets more strange. It's only services covering by NHS England that introduced IAPT. NHS Scotland is still on the old system, as will be Northern Island.
Many of the IAPT's are charities being given graats to cover NHS services.
Above the IAPT we still have the old system in place. They are the ones that take a year to get into because they are really mean for more complex mental health issues such as schizophrenia, biploar, etc. IAPT was introduced to cutdown waiting times for those with less complex disorders, like us.
When I first had my breakdown it was before IAPT started. I was told a minimum of 12 months wait to get any help outside of my GP. They basically just sat you there to suffer with GP's throwing meds at you as that's all they could do in the 10 minutes of appointment time the NHS tends to allow them. A guy turned up to assess me, nice bloke, and explained that buzzing feeling all over to which he said he had never heard of it before...it's only one of the most common anxiety symptoms :doh:
Capercrohnj
09-08-17, 17:26
Frustrating! I live in an area with huge Dr shortages. I used to be in treatment but walked away. When I was diagnosed with Crohn's i tried to get back in (I have BP2, GAD and ed nos but formally ana b/p diagnoses). I finslly had an intake interview after 9 months. Because I still have some ED issues they referred me to the ED clinic even though I really was looking for depression and anxiety help and had my GP prescribe an anti depressant ( which is bad news if you are bipolar as anti depressants alone can cause hypo mania unless very low dose) 3 months later I got my ED assessment (June 2016) and at the end of it they inform me that the ED Dr was leaving and the clinic closing so they can't offer any treatment. A whole year for nothing especially since it wasn't ED help I was looking for. I was re referred after my surgery in May and just got a call for a phone intake interview end of August. I don't have any expectations that this time will go any better than last. I think they are only concerned if you are actively suicidal. I have suicidal thoughts but I would never go through with them so I guess that means I am ok. I am currently on trazodone for sleep but a pretty low dose because of hypomania risk.
nomorepanic
09-08-17, 17:54
You should get 6 session free on the NHS and the possibility of extending that.
I really don't think 4 is enough for you to be honest.
Have you told her how bad your HA is?
4 sessions? What are they, all day sessions?
I'm sorry but unless you went in there and lied through your teeth there is no way on this earth that any qualified mental health professional would ever look at you and say you only needed 4 sessions of CBT, especially as they didn't want to "overwhelm" you with your first session.
Perhaps you should print off the list that axolotl posted a few days ago with all of your concerns that you've had over the past two years.
4 sessions? :lac:
Does it vary by area? I'm in the North of England and when I was referred for CBT, I had 12 weekly sessions where I met with the therapist at my local well-being centre and we went through a CBT programme on the computer. First session was just question and answer assessment to see what I needed.
They told me I could have a more intense form of CBT but would be a long wait.
ServerError
09-08-17, 18:30
When I lived in west London, I got eight sessions, and then my therapist offered me a further two, which I took him up on.
Butbive just referred myself here on Merseyside for some more therapy and the guy on the phone said they rarely do more than six. So who knows?
MyNameIsTerry
09-08-17, 18:45
Frustrating! I live in an area with huge Dr shortages. I used to be in treatment but walked away. When I was diagnosed with Crohn's i tried to get back in (I have BP2, GAD and ed nos but formally ana b/p diagnoses). I finslly had an intake interview after 9 months. Because I still have some ED issues they referred me to the ED clinic even though I really was looking for depression and anxiety help and had my GP prescribe an anti depressant ( which is bad news if you are bipolar as anti depressants alone can cause hypo mania unless very low dose) 3 months later I got my ED assessment (June 2016) and at the end of it they inform me that the ED Dr was leaving and the clinic closing so they can't offer any treatment. A whole year for nothing especially since it wasn't ED help I was looking for. I was re referred after my surgery in May and just got a call for a phone intake interview end of August. I don't have any expectations that this time will go any better than last. I think they are only concerned if you are actively suicidal. I have suicidal thoughts but I would never go through with them so I guess that means I am ok. I am currently on trazodone for sleep but a pretty low dose because of hypomania risk.
That is really frustrating!!! I don't think they have much understanding of how hard these disorders are to go through each day. It's the same for physical issues in non life threatening cases too. I remember my grandad waiting for years before they wold finally amputate his painful leg.
It's more the other way here, ED is hard to get into and you end up stuck with anxiety/deprsson treatment due to waiting lists.
No wonder peer support like these places is booming.
I've heard some of our young doctors are heading to Canada now, as are nurses, so hopefully you might get some more.
---------- Post added at 18:45 ---------- Previous post was at 18:34 ----------
I suspect it's the L2 service. That's "Guided Self Help" level, it's not the CBT seen in L3 where you can get 12-15 sessions worth which can be longer.
Here are the OCD guidelines by NICE:
1.5.1 Initial treatment options
Adults
The intensity of psychological treatment has been defined as the hours of therapist input per patient. By this definition, most group treatments are defined as low intensity treatment (less than 10 hours of therapist input per patient), although each patient may receive a much greater number of hours of therapy.
1.5.1.1 In the initial treatment of adults with OCD, low intensity psychological treatments (including ERP) (up to 10 therapist hours per patient) should be offered if the patient's degree of functional impairment is mild and/or the patient expresses a preference for a low intensity approach. Low intensity treatments include:
brief individual CBT (including ERP) using structured self‑help materials
brief individual CBT (including ERP) by telephone
group CBT (including ERP) (note, the patient may be receiving more than 10 hours of therapy in this format).
1.5.1.2 Adults with OCD with mild functional impairment who are unable to engage in low intensity CBT (including ERP), or for whom low intensity treatment has proved to be inadequate, should be offered the choice of either a course of an SSRI or more intensive CBT (including ERP) (more than 10 therapist hours per patient), because these treatments appear to be comparably efficacious.
1.5.1.3 Adults with OCD with moderate functional impairment should be offered the choice of either a course of an SSRI or more intensive CBT (including ERP) (more than 10 therapist hours per patient), because these treatments appear to be comparably efficacious.
1.5.1.4 Adults with OCD with severe functional impairment should be offered combined treatment with an SSRI and CBT (including ERP).
So, less than 10 hours. My L2 was phone therapy, 5 sessions of 30 mins each. It was more like coaching.
Here's the GAD one:
Step 2: Diagnosed GAD that has not improved after step 1 interventions
Low-intensity psychological interventions for GAD
1.2.11 For people with GAD whose symptoms have not improved after education and active monitoring in step 1, offer one or more of the following as a first-line intervention, guided by the person's preference:
individual non-facilitated self-help
individual guided self-help
psychoeducational groups. [new 2011]
1.2.12 Individual non-facilitated self-help for people with GAD should:
include written or electronic materials of a suitable reading age (or alternative media)
be based on the treatment principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
include instructions for the person to work systematically through the materials over a period of at least 6 weeks
usually involve minimal therapist contact, for example an occasional short telephone call of no more than 5 minutes. [new 2011]
1.2.13 Individual guided self-help for people with GAD should:
include written or electronic materials of a suitable reading age (or alternative media)
be supported by a trained practitioner, who facilitates the self-help programme and reviews progress and outcome
usually consist of five to seven weekly or fortnightly face-to-face or telephone sessions, each lasting 20–30 minutes. [new 2011]
1.2.14 Psychoeducational groups for people with GAD should:
be based on CBT principles, have an interactive design and encourage observational learning
include presentations and self-help manuals
be conducted by trained practitioners
have a ratio of one therapist to about 12 participants
usually consist of six weekly sessions, each lasting 2 hours. [new 2011]
1.2.15 Practitioners providing guided self-help and/or psychoeducational groups should:
receive regular high-quality supervision
use routine outcome measures and ensure that the person with GAD is involved in reviewing the efficacy of the treatment. [new 2011]
Step 3: GAD with marked functional impairment or that has not improved after step 2 interventions
Treatment options
1.2.16 For people with GAD and marked functional impairment, or those whose symptoms have not responded adequately to step 2 interventions:
Offer either
an individual high-intensity psychological intervention (see 1.2.17–1.2.21) or
drug treatment (see 1.2.22–1.2.32).
Provide verbal and written information on the likely benefits and disadvantages of each mode of treatment, including the tendency of drug treatments to be associated with side effects and withdrawal syndromes.
Base the choice of treatment on the person's preference as there is no evidence that either mode of treatment (individual high-intensity psychological intervention or drug treatment) is better. [new 2011]
High-intensity psychological interventions
1.2.17 If a person with GAD chooses a high-intensity psychological intervention, offer either CBT or applied relaxation. [new 2011]
1.2.18 CBT for people with GAD should:
be based on the treatment manuals used in the clinical trials of CBT for GAD
be delivered by trained and competent practitioners
usually consist of 12–15 weekly sessions (fewer if the person recovers sooner; more if clinically required), each lasting 1 hour. [new 2011]
1.2.19 Applied relaxation for people with GAD should:
be based on the treatment manuals used in the clinical trials of applied relaxation for GAD
be delivered by trained and competent practitioners
usually consist of 12–15 weekly sessions (fewer if the person recovers sooner; more if clinically required), each lasting 1 hour. [new 2011]
1.2.20 Practitioners providing high-intensity psychological interventions for GAD should:
have regular supervision to monitor fidelity to the treatment model, using audio or video recording of treatment sessions if possible and if the person consents
use routine outcome measures and ensure that the person with GAD is involved in reviewing the efficacy of the treatment. [new 2011]
When you get guidelines that say "less than" or "up to" it's going to be open to local variations...managers alone may seek to manipulate it to ease queues. :whistles:
I did I was very honest. i said I was so bad i pissed off an anxiety forum and that I didn't believe medical professionals. She said this was common symptom. i worry that I was too aware for her to see how bad I was. i said it varies from moderate to severe.
MyNameIsTerry
09-08-17, 19:58
Good. Its best to tell them everything. They will determine how severe they believe you to be from what you say.
My therapist explained that they come up with the treatment plan after the initial assessment but then have a meeting with supervisors to ensure it's adequate. Then they have regular case reviews with supervisors.
What people on here get frustrated with is just another day in the office to them!
I just don't see how 4 weeks is enough
nomorepanic
09-08-17, 20:49
Tell her you want 6 then
Say HA is ruining your life and need 6 weeks therapy. You can only try.
flappergirl
09-08-17, 22:51
I had my initial CBT appt today too. The practitioner recommended hour long sessions for 8-12 weeks. My HA is currently severely impacting my life. I am surprised that they have not given you more time but they may review it depending on how successful they feel it is.
Good luck
bottleblond
09-08-17, 23:28
4 sessions? What are they, all day sessions?
I'm sorry but unless you went in there and lied through your teeth there is no way on this earth that any qualified mental health professional would ever look at you and say you only needed 4 sessions of CBT, especially as they didn't want to "overwhelm" you with your first session.
Perhaps you should print off the list that axolotl posted a few days ago with all of your concerns that you've had over the past two years.
4 sessions? :lac:
:roflmao:
Capercrohnj
10-08-17, 00:19
Mynameisterry it usually is harder to get in ED programs but before I moved to my current location i lived in a big city (ottawa) and I did 12 weeks inpatient and 14 weeks intensive day hospital for anorexia plus I was in the program in my current location (they have outpatient only) when I walked away so they look at that and think that's where I need to go. About new doctors, they aren't coming to my area. I live on cape breton island, Nova Scotia so not exactly a draw for new professionals.
:roflmao:
I still blame Helenhoo for the Korean bot invasion :lac:
MyNameIsTerry
10-08-17, 02:36
I had my initial CBT appt today too. The practitioner recommended hour long sessions for 8-12 weeks. My HA is currently severely impacting my life. I am surprised that they have not given you more time but they may review it depending on how successful they feel it is.
Good luck
That's a L3 service then. High Intensity CBT. I had that. Even after the sessions they gave me 2 6 monthly reviews just to check in although these weren't therapy sessions.
---------- Post added at 02:36 ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 ----------
4 sessions? What are they, all day sessions?
I'm sorry but unless you went in there and lied through your teeth there is no way on this earth that any qualified mental health professional would ever look at you and say you only needed 4 sessions of CBT, especially as they didn't want to "overwhelm" you with your first session.
Perhaps you should print off the list that axolotl posted a few days ago with all of your concerns that you've had over the past two years.
4 sessions? :lac:
Sadly, that's IAPT for you. She saw a PWP, they only do L2 services. the PWP would need to go to their supervisor and request upgrading to L3 which means a new assessment with the High Intensity Therapist and then the full course...which is still a stripped down version of CBT because that's just how IAPT works.
Honestly, I got 5 30 minute telephone sessions with a PWP. I had been off work months, was on a med and could barely leave the house. Let alone all the OCD that had come out from the med.
Remember, she holds down a job and can socialise. Many on here can't and we get exactly what she has had here.
flappergirl
10-08-17, 02:53
Thanks Terry. I'm glad that I am getting the beefier CBT as this is the 2nd time that I have gone for counselling/help. Last time was talking therapy and was ok but I had no strategies to help me tackle the OCD/HA. Initially I was put into an online program but it did not work for me and now I have been referred to the 1:1 service. Also on meds again so hoping to regain control!
MyNameIsTerry
10-08-17, 03:03
Yes, I know what you mean. When I had the telephone sessions they weren't much use. The PWP seemed to jump from addressing one issue to the next without anything really being achieved but to fair she did say at the assessment that I needed the high intensity as more time was required due to the number of issues.
What my therapist did was have fortnightly sessions initially but as goals were added we moved to 3 or 4 weeks in between. On occasion it was longer. They are quite flexible.
The online CBT takes even mor commitment in my opinion, you are much more alone with that.
Take what you can from it. I found I couldn't engage with a lot of it as the med was really causing me problems early on. After the course I had started making some headway and then I wanted to address goals I found impossible in the therapy. So, even if you don't get as far as you want to, keep using what you've learnt afterwards. That's really part of CBT, education to tale forward and use on your own as you self monitor.
Reading these comments doesn't make me feel too excited about going now. Mine are face to face and she's given me workbooks and some online stuff to use aswell.
flappergirl
10-08-17, 09:34
Helen,
Don't feel like that, everyone has different experiences. The online bit I did I felt didn't address my problem. I did not have face to face, only occasional telephone reviews and I felt very alone. My anxiety escalated and after a long wait (since Feb) have got face to face. The workbooks sound good and online exercises will all help you as you will be able to review with your therapist. I was told
CBT is better the more you put in, so if you keep doing the exercises and applying the strategies, it will help. That's what I'm hoping for me, lol
Good luck
Good luck flappergirl sorry you've had such a long wait.
I can't moan too much in retrospect really. I'm proud of myself for referring, proud of self for going and i will ask for the 6 sessions.
Do we assume that I was too dare I say 'sane'? I mean I've been fully aware for years of my condition but that doesnt doesn't make it any less serious. I'll show her my threads next week too.
flappergirl
10-08-17, 12:36
Too sane lol! I don't think that I rolled up full on crazy but I did throughly explain my experiences, and I mean thoroughly... I was in there 1hr15mins! We didn't talk to the same person or even the same service provider so they might all have different responses?
I would definitely show and talk about the posting. I don't post often but I do drive my family mad with reassurance seeking and my cycle is similar to yours. Like I said, they may review you if they don't think it is working. Be honest with them if you feel you need more sessions or a higher level of support. It never hurts to ask.
MyNameIsTerry
10-08-17, 16:36
I think it will be better face-to-Dave :winks: I found the telephone a bit impersonal.
If it's not enough, they assess you at the end and whether you need to go up a level.
My advice is to take what you can, every little bit can help.
UPDATE: I've been better and trying (sometimes failing) to put some Cbt Into play. For instance I hear a gate creak while sleeping in my aunts room while away and no idea where this gate is (there are some gates around the front). I didn't think anything of it until I allowed the thought to spiral 'am i hallucniating? am i schizpohrenic? maybe the skin cancer on my arm has spread to my brain' Now even I know it's far fetched but the anxious feelings are still there.
---------- Post added at 10:34 ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 ----------
I've noticed if im worrying about something else I don't feek anxious. Recently feeling down about the break up and focused my worries into that.
---------- Post added at 12:17 ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 ----------
LOL gate creak is old man few doors away just saw him open his back garden gate same creak sound.
Today i worry skin on arm around mark feels different than other arm therefore is SC. It is there in the photo from 2 years ago isn't it which means it's ok. Panic setting in again now.
---------- Post added at 10:43 ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 ----------
Today i worry skin on arm around mark feels different than other arm therefore is SC. It is there in the photo from 2 years ago isn't it which means it's ok. Panic setting in again now.
First therapy last week (mostly introduction) continuing tomorrow.
I'm just so anxious today because rash on arm and thr darned leg one is there. It comes and goes but so many health professionals have looked at it. Isn't always dry but can be. I'm trying not to worry but shall I go back to the doctors again? I logically googled rash appearing and it seems a good chunk have recurring eczema. It goes away on its on but I do itch my leg sometimes (both can get itchy).
Elliejane44
14-08-17, 19:07
What are you worried it is ? Most rashes are nothing serious . What does it look like ?
its like a circle of eczema that improves with cream but crops now and then. Nurses and pharamcists said its nothing few times I've shown them
Elliejane44
14-08-17, 20:15
That is really common don't worry xx
MyNameIsTerry
14-08-17, 21:15
Despair. The one star hiders are back. :doh:
nomorepanic
14-08-17, 21:16
I am going to merge this with your other post as it is all about the same thing really.
What cream do you use on your skin, Helen?
Livvy_rice
22-08-17, 16:10
I think people on this post are being rather nasty. Aren't we all supposed to understand eachothers health anxiety and understand how no matter how much reasurance we get, once we believe something its very difficult to get it out of our heads? I thought thats why we were all on this page x
ServerError
22-08-17, 16:49
Whether people are being nasty or not, I don't know. This poster has been following the same formula for two years, and until recently showed little signs of wanting to directly tackle her anxiety. Fortunately, she has now reached out for help in the real world, so good on her.
Some people choose to be blunt in trying to help others. Understanding and sympathy are fine, but in my experience, they do literally nothing to help the sufferer get better. In many cases, the keep the self-pity cycle going. After two years, I think the tea and sympathy approach with Helen is well and truly exhausted, though people are free to continue it if they wish.
MyNameIsTerry
22-08-17, 16:59
Whether people are being nasty or not, I don't know. This poster has been following the same formula for two years, and until recently showed little signs of wanting to directly tackle her anxiety. Fortunately, she has now reached out for help in the real world, so good on her.
Some people choose to be blunt in trying to help others. Understanding and sympathy are fine, but in my experience, they do literally nothing to help the sufferer get better. In many cases, the keep the self-pity cycle going. After two years, I think the tea and sympathy approach with Helen is well and truly exhausted, though people are free to continue it if they wish.
The poster is new to NMP. They will soon see for themselves that opinion is mixed on this issue with no method working better for some.
ServerError
22-08-17, 17:09
I know they're new. That's why I explained about Helen's long history here.
One thing is for sure, there will always be different approaches here because there will always be different types of people.
Fortunately, she has now reached out for help in the real world, so good on her.
.
And I truly hope that is the reason for her absence and taciturnity.
Hopefully her therapist will have advised her to stay off this site to prevent sabotaging her recovery?
MyNameIsTerry
23-08-17, 00:43
Hopefully her therapist will have advised her to stay off this site to prevent sabotaging her recovery?
I want such a therapist!!! :yesyes::winks:
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