Changing your thought pattern

[ana]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to share a tip I've found very useful in lowering my anxiety levels and expanding my radius of movement (I'm agoraphobic). I do need to point out that this is something that will get you results in the long run; you just need to be patient with it.

Chances are you're trapped in a vicious cycle of anxiety because of your negative thinking that fuels the anxiety. I know I have a plethora of fears, and the behaviours I engage in to protect myself from them have never caused me anything other than suffering and lots and LOTS of panic.

What I've started doing (and this was my therapist's suggestion) is writing down notes, affirmations that I repeat in my head, such as: 'I want to go out. Going out makes me feel good. I am perfectly safe.' Then I go on listing what I gain from socialising, going to work, etc.

It sounds very simple, but in the last month since I've been practising positive thinking, I've visited places further away than I thought I'd be able to set foot in, never mind spend hours in and actually feel comfortable. I've managed to accomplish certain things that I never thought were possible.

It doesn't hurt to try and examine your thoughts and make changes to them.
Stay well, everyone :flowers:

[MyNameIsTerry]

Ana, it's really good to hear you are seeing progress.

My dad had depression in his thirties (he was 75 yesterday) but got rid of it and never had it back in over 40 years. When I was struggling earlier on he told me that I had to change how I looked at things. Be more positive. Look towards other possibilities than negatives. There was no therapy back in his day, not even the likes of Dr Claire Weekes, just older meds and left to get on with it but this sort of wisdom has been around for long before psychiatry existed and it must be true as it so time tested. That's what he learnt, it was also probably what those around him told him, and it got him out of it.

It's easier when symptoms aren't bad, I find. So, throughout recovery I've always tried to incorporate change in easier periods if I can't in the harder ones. At least I was trying to change the mindset and what I found was that you see more better periods and it gets easier to keep this thinking going into the harder ones, it just takes time.

So, I agree with you and think it's always important on here to learn from those who are showing it to really work for them. Hearing how you are achieving goals that were unachievable before gives hope to others as it's more than what a text book gets across when it says "think more x".

A recovered panic sufferer who used to be on here talked about the power of wanting. If you really want to do something, it empowers you. It may still be hard but you will find a way to push through it. You learn from this and do it more. That's what you are doing.

At the local charity walk-ins they had a 12 step approach and one step was "get the power". Positive experiences do more than we perhaps realise? They increase our confidence and this builds self esteem too.

We so often view ourselves negatively as weak but what you are doing is moving your mind to view yourself as strong. When you achieve something you then reinforce the core beliefs that are growing/adapting as positive ones, including your new strength, feeling more capable, etc.

[ana]

Terry, your father is a very wise man. I've spent years relying on medication to cure me, my therapist(s) to fix me, someone's advice to change my current situation... when it actual fact all I've had to do is change things from within. Don't get me wrong, I still receive therapy and I'm on medication, and while I give a lot of importance to the help one can get from their loved ones and doctors, nobody other than the person themselves can alter the person's thoughts. I suppose I never realised the importance of thoughts until I started paying more attention to mine.

Wanting to do something... I absolutely agree in that want is crucial. If you want to do something, you have the motivation to do it and so you end up doing it.