gillebro
14-09-17, 12:14
CW: health/death anxiety thoughts
Hello all.
I've been spending a bit of time here, mostly in the HA forums, and I figure that now is a good time to introduce myself.
I'm an Australian-born UK dweller, and I've had depression/anxiety issues since I was a teenager (at least, although probably for longer. Just over 5 years ago my anxiety suddenly became worse and became far more health focused.
I've done some smaller bouts of therapy and that, but nothing that was particularly concrete. A few months ago I was having a particularly bad time, and an asthma nurse (of all people - my mental health was hardly the point of that check-up) told me to get in contact with Let's Talk; a mental health service in the UK. I called them, had an in-depth phone consultation, during which several tests were done, and we discovered that my anxiety, and my health anxiety in particular, can actually be classified as 'severe'.
That was quite an eye-opener for me. Because I knew, of course, that I had an anxiety disorder and that I was really struggling, but I hadn't realised that what I was going through was actually fairly extreme. I've forgotten what it's like to not be constantly thinking about being being unwell, or imagining yourself being unwell in the future, or thinking about you or your loved ones dying. It was almost like I figured everybody is always thinking about that sort of stuff, and they just handle it better than me. The idea that most people rarely think about these things, if they think about them at all, hadn't fully occurred to me.
It was decided, based on that consultation, that I needed a course of intense CBT. I've been on the waiting list for that course ever since, and it will still be a few months before I make the top of the list. But honestly, that's OK. Just knowing that help is on its way, and that I might soon learn how to keep my anxiety at bay, gives me hope.
Nice to meet everyone. :)
Hello all.
I've been spending a bit of time here, mostly in the HA forums, and I figure that now is a good time to introduce myself.
I'm an Australian-born UK dweller, and I've had depression/anxiety issues since I was a teenager (at least, although probably for longer. Just over 5 years ago my anxiety suddenly became worse and became far more health focused.
I've done some smaller bouts of therapy and that, but nothing that was particularly concrete. A few months ago I was having a particularly bad time, and an asthma nurse (of all people - my mental health was hardly the point of that check-up) told me to get in contact with Let's Talk; a mental health service in the UK. I called them, had an in-depth phone consultation, during which several tests were done, and we discovered that my anxiety, and my health anxiety in particular, can actually be classified as 'severe'.
That was quite an eye-opener for me. Because I knew, of course, that I had an anxiety disorder and that I was really struggling, but I hadn't realised that what I was going through was actually fairly extreme. I've forgotten what it's like to not be constantly thinking about being being unwell, or imagining yourself being unwell in the future, or thinking about you or your loved ones dying. It was almost like I figured everybody is always thinking about that sort of stuff, and they just handle it better than me. The idea that most people rarely think about these things, if they think about them at all, hadn't fully occurred to me.
It was decided, based on that consultation, that I needed a course of intense CBT. I've been on the waiting list for that course ever since, and it will still be a few months before I make the top of the list. But honestly, that's OK. Just knowing that help is on its way, and that I might soon learn how to keep my anxiety at bay, gives me hope.
Nice to meet everyone. :)