Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

[Munchlet]

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience of this?

I'm currently taking part in group CBT and private hypnotherapy. The hypnotherapy is good as it's getting to the root of where my HA originated but I'm not sure CBT is for me.

I've done CBT before and thought maybe it didn't work as I wasn't putting the effort in but this time round I've been trying to use the tools but I find if I'm in the middle of a panic attack I just don't find they help and a lot of CBT seems to be understanding why you have the sensations that panic creates and how HA manifests. I feel that I know all of this but what I want to do is not allow those thoughts to control me.

My GP mentioned acceptance and commitment therapy and it struck a cord with me because ultimately the biggest fear with HA is being seriously ill/dying, well it is for me anyway and I just feel that the only way to overcome this is to accept it.

If anyone has any experience of this I'd be really interested to hear.

Thanks

[NotDeadYet]

Munchlet

ACT fundamentally changed my life and the course of my HA!

I began with CBT like you and found it helpful in doing as exactly as you described. There were a lot of subconscious issues that I wasn't confronting. Once I confronted those issues it became time to actually practice living and ACT helped me do that!

ACT is NOT a passive practice. In order for it to fully work, you have to put in the work and the work takes place every second of every day. If you'd like a good self-introduction, I would recommend working through the book "The Happiness Trap" by Russ Harris. Harris is the creator of ACT and the book does a great job at laying the foundation and providing some practical things you can begin doing. It is not a self-help book meaning you can't just read it, feel inspired, and move on. He gently guides you through the therapeutic modality and allows you time to practice.

I'm excited you are interest in this. I hope you find it as helpful as I did.

Best Wishes.

[Munchlet]

NotDeadYet,

That sounds good!

I really feel as if I've got to the point now where I know I do just need to accept this and get on with living my life.

Can I ask do you still suffer from HA? I imagine that it's something that I will always have but it's almost like I want to get to a point where I just say "I'm ok with this". Does that make sense?

Thank you for the recommendation, I will get that book and make a start.

I'm doing group CBT therapy at the moment but it almost feels like a beginners course for me as it is just covering what I already know. I've had a look and can see that the NHS mental health service do provide ACT in my area and my therapist said if I feel this current course isn't helping then to let them know and they would look at something else.

I think I might ask if I can be put on the ACT list. It certainly seems as if that's more appropriate to me at the moment.

Thanks again. I will update with my progress (hopefully!)

[NotDeadYet]

Munchlet

Yes, I do still have HA and will for the rest of my life. I no longer fight against it though and instead accept that it’s a part of me. I hope you are able to get into it as soon as you can.

Best wishes

[pulisa]

I think ACT can complement CBT, Munchlet and it is a much more recognised option on the NHS now. Ultimately it's all about using techniques which you find helpful to manage HA. You can have your own set of "rules" too which don't necessarily fall into any therapy type.The most important thing is that they check the urge to spiral.

[Sparky16]

CBT has its limits. I'm a big fan of ACT for anxiety. One of the benefits I've gotten out of therapy is realizing that it's OK to be an anxious person. I used to feel a lot of pressure to be "normal" and with therapy, I've realized that it's OK that I'm not OK! :) It sounds depressing, but it was actually very freeing, and I was able to set my sights on different goals that mitigate my anxiety, rather than try to change myself into a person who never feels anxious. I've also gotten very interested in some aspects of DBT that may help. Parts of DBT are about helping you tolerate and cope with distress, building a "toolbox" you can use when you're having a bad time. There's definitely no single technique that is the answer for everyone.

[pulisa]

I was going to suggest DBT for anxiety too and that's also offered by the NHS.

I think the most important thing is your attitude to HA management, Munchlet and willingness to try different approaches.

[Munchlet]

Thank you everyone.

I've not heard of DBT so will look into that.

I'm willing to try anything and have decided I'm going to speak to my therapist tomorrow and see if I can self refer for ACT or whether I need my GP to do it. Most of the talking change therapies in this area are self-referral so hoping this is the same.

It's become very apparent over the last week that I need to get this into some sort of perspective. Following on from my blood tests where I said I wouldn't worry I am still convinced that my abnormal haemoglobin level is the result of a rare blood cancer or some other tumour and needless to say, it's going round and round in my head. However, I have managed to avoid a full blow panic attack and I'm trying to just deal with the discomfort of it but it goes to prove I have a very long way to go with this and I know it won't be easy.

Trust is another thing that I've only just started to recognise is a major issue. I always used to think that Dr's telling me everything was fine was enough for me but clearly not!

[pulisa]

It's NOT an "abnormal" haemoglobin result though..Just your interpretation of a level which is very very marginally out of the "normal" parameters but one which your GP has assessed as normal for you and not significant clinically.

[Munchlet]

Pulisa I wish I could view it that way.

Stupidly I googled it after speaking to the Dr and mine is 15.8 when for a woman 15.1 is the highest so it's quite a bit over. I have to say I had not eaten for 24 hours and barely slept so not sure if that could have altered the result but it was quite a bit over as it's a narrow range.

Now the rational side of my brain says if the Dr was concerned she would be ordering more tests and wouldn't have passed it off as No Further action and satisfactory but as we know the nagging HA side of my brain delights in telling me otherwise!

[pulisa]

Sorry, Munchlet. That's an excuse. Why believe your HA brain when the fact is that your GP isn't concerned at all. What medical qualifications does your HA brain have apart from a long history of consulting online health websites?

[Munchlet]

I totally agree Pulisa and I am frustrated that once again I have gone down this road.

I hate the fact that I feel the need to doubt everything I am told and know full well that I should have just accepted “satisfactory “

I think I need to start blocking some sites as I obviously can’t be trusted not to hook up with Dr Google 😢

[pulisa]

I'm afraid that cutting ties with Dr Google is an absolute essential if you are determined to get a good hold on your HA. You can have so many good intentions and read all the HA books under the sun but if you continue to "research" health websites you will continue to be under the HA cosh and you will continue to doubt everything your own doctors tell you about your own condition..which doesn't make sense.

[Munchlet]

So I had a chat with my Therapist and explained what was going on and how I felt I just needed to learn to accept things and not be consulting Dr Google or questioning my Dr etc and she agreed that the CBT I'm currently doing is probably not going to be very useful for me. So she has referred me to another therapist for more intensive CBT and ACT. I actually feel quite excited about this and really hope I can start to move past this obsessing and learn to just accept things! I also managed to go to a dentist apt today which I'd been putting off, partly due to Covid but also because I was convinced my sore gum was a sign of something. Well it was a sign of something, I need a filling, needless to say a lot less serious than I'd been thinking!

[pulisa]

Glad you've got your referral and won't it be good when you can stop catastrophising and recognise minor symptoms for what they are! I bet you were relieved that it was "just" a filling you needed!:D

[Munchlet]

I was relieved Pulisa. It was actually quite funny because my dentist said I needed quite a large filling, to which I groaned. He then replied with, “I can take it out, it’s a Wisdom tooth so you don’t need it”. Needless to say I told him a filling sounded perfectly reasonable. 😂

[pulisa]

Oh yes...A filling sounds far more doable! You did well to get that properly assessed by the dentist rather than making your own assumptions..