exposure

[blackie]

Hiya
Can exposure therepy really work?
Has anyone had any real experiece with it?
I am so fed up of being agorophoibc but i dont know what to do to help myself. When i have managed to go out before i was doing ok then i couldnt do it anymore.
Any advice on how to do it and how long it takes for the feelings to start to be reduced would be great
many thanks
Blackie

[PUGLETMUM]

:winks: hi blackie,
yeah my cbt is in the form of exposure therapy and seeing as currently my biggest fear is panicking when on own and not in contact,im not actually achieving what my therapist wants me to!!!:mad: she will be very angry when i see her on saturday and she finds out ive hardly been alone at all in the last 2 weeks:blush:
anyway though it is seen as the most effective therapy for agorophobia so could you find a therapist privately? the good thing about that is that if you dont like them you can just find another one, although some of the things they say make you not like them anyway, they dont tellyou what you want to hear:wacko:
hope this helps, if you want any more info just shout,all the best emma :hugs:

[Trev]

It's the way forward.

Set targets and take small steps. You don't need to attempt what seems massive to you straight away.

The exposure allows you to build confidence through experience. As you get comfortable with each step you slowly push back the boundary. Confidence is key to facing our fears.
For example, you may want to spend a week just opening the door to the outside.
Once you are relatively comfortable with this you can try to step outside.
As you become ok with this you can then look at going to the end of the road.
You get the idea.

As you gain experience from doing these things they will come to mean less and the anticipatory anxiety (which causes half the problem!!) will lessen and fade away.

Good luck with it.

[candie]

Hi blackie,
i agree with small baby steps and then increasing when you feel more comfortable.As dr claire weekes says in her book-see it as a practise and never a test and then that way you wont fail,you'll just try again.
Good luck and take care,Candie xx

[nomorepanic]

Mine was kind of large steps cos my main fear is driving in roadworks or in contraflows or on roads I couldn't get off.

There was no inbetween stage so i just had do it and cope and I did - even though a lot of the time I had to call partner to reassure me.

Did it work? Yes it did - continually doing it and pushing the boundaries worked for me cos I knew that once I got on that road I had no choice and couldn't pull off.

Just try small steps but remember that big ones won't kill you either.

Read the success stories on here for reassurance

[blackie]

Hiya
many thanks for all your replies. Given my loads to think about
Emma: Thanks. I use to be terriable about being alone. I spend so much time alone now though that i am getting alot better at it. I am having a meeting with the local mental health team on the 17th july for an assesment. Dont know what they will be able to offer but we shall see.

Trv: yeah i am terriable with anticipatory anxiety. Tis a hudge part of the promblem. Like you said little steps.

Nigel: Many thanks for the link. I will cheak it out. I think i will deffinatly create a program which i can work on and set myself small achivable goals. See how it goes and then i can keep an idea of my progress too. :)

Canidie: dr claire weekes, ive heard her mentioned alot. Is she any good?

Nicola: When i first learnt to drive about 2 years ago now i was terrified of going on the duel carrageway because you couldnt just get off. My driving instructer was amazing though and new just how far to push me. After a while i managed it and was growing with conferdence. Sadly i never managed to take my test due to panic attacks. I fall apart in exams. But like you said even the big steps are possibale with enouth practise. Your much braver then me though.lol

Thanks all for your replies. You have given me so much to think about and hopefully i can put some plans into place.
Take care all
Blackie

[mirry]

see this is where Im getting frustrated, Ive had the agrophobia and panics for 6 years now and In that time Ive done the school run and the local shops 5 days a week as well as go out with hubby at the weekends.
Yet I still get the panics , it doesnt get any better ?

Now I used to have a terrible phobia of birds when I was younger, I used to panic if I got near one, In the end I avoided birds all together , I used to go places where they wouldnt be, this went on for 10 years and in the end my panic about birds went ! Its like my body had a good break away from them and forgot that I was scared of them.

I wonder if by facing my fears every day is just reinforcing them every day ?

[blackie]

Hiya
Mirry: I complete understand what you mean. At the end of last year i was able to go out into town with my family and even went out alone with one of my friends. I managed to travel an hour and a halfs journey to my grama and now i am completly stuck in the house again.
I think my mastake was not going out frequently. if i had gaps then it made going out alot harder. Also perhaps i wasnt thinking the right way. Maybe i wasnt thinking in a possitive way that i could do something.
But lkike you say, maybe having a break from all the stress could do alot of good. Everyone needs a brake
Blackie

[PUGLETMUM]

:winks: hi guys,
the problem is that we have to keep moving forward,we cannot rest on our laurels!!!!:lac: but we do and this is what the experts know is the problem:wacko: we depend,we avoid and we dont move forward:shrug: you've already answered your own questions, but even finding help does not guarantee getting better:blush: as ive said before im having 8th week cbt and im hardly better at all because i just WONT DO IT!!!!! its that simple, we wait till we feel like it and then wonder why we feel like crap when we do or we are amazed that we no longer feel frightened,but then feel anx/panic in some other situation! this wont work!!!!! the more we avoid the worse it gets:weep: sorry if this sounds harsh but unfortunately this is the truth(me included)
:hugs: and:flowers: to all my fellow sufferers, i know we can help each other out of this:yesyes: emmaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[blackie]

I went to the docters on my own.hehe
the docs is only over the road for me but i went there on my own.lol, i was going to mow the lawn but it rained.