emma81
23-10-08, 18:28
Just thought I would share this as it has made me very proud of myself. My agoraphobia was getting so bad I was virtually housebound and then my relationship of 3 years to my fiance broke down 2 weeks ago leaving me feeling like everything was so pointless. I even did something very stupid to myself.
Then out of the blue I decided I needed to relax and decided to go for hypnotherapy against my GP's approval - which I posted about in the Therapy section.
Well it made me feel so calm and I have been religiously listening to the CD she gave me each night until my next appointment in 2 weeks time. It had been exactly a week since I saw her and I have managed to visit my parents - a couple of miles away; go and see his parents - about 5 miles away; then something came over me and I decided to go for a drive in the dark when I knew I wouldnt be able to see how far from home I was and also the roads would be quiet. And I made it to a village about 20 miles from here! :D
A couple of days later, I phoned my ex-fiance and asked him if he would support me through getting better and take me for a drive in the daytime and again I managed to get to the same place 20 miles away :D
I am not going to lie and say I didnt panic - but I decided to set myself steps along the way every couple of miles and see how many steps I could do - rather than set a target that might be unachievable at the moment. There were a few moments where the panic started to get horribly bad but I asked him to pull over and stop for 10 minutes each time while I tried to use my relaxation techniques to calm down again and it seemed to help.
So, tomorrow I am meeting him again and going for a drive and I really hope to get another few more steps further. I'm feeling more positive and calmer than I have in a long time and trying not to let the idea of having a panic attack terrify me quite so much as it did.
I'm really starting to believe that baby steps are the way forward, I will post back again tomorrow evening and see how far I got,
Emma x
Then out of the blue I decided I needed to relax and decided to go for hypnotherapy against my GP's approval - which I posted about in the Therapy section.
Well it made me feel so calm and I have been religiously listening to the CD she gave me each night until my next appointment in 2 weeks time. It had been exactly a week since I saw her and I have managed to visit my parents - a couple of miles away; go and see his parents - about 5 miles away; then something came over me and I decided to go for a drive in the dark when I knew I wouldnt be able to see how far from home I was and also the roads would be quiet. And I made it to a village about 20 miles from here! :D
A couple of days later, I phoned my ex-fiance and asked him if he would support me through getting better and take me for a drive in the daytime and again I managed to get to the same place 20 miles away :D
I am not going to lie and say I didnt panic - but I decided to set myself steps along the way every couple of miles and see how many steps I could do - rather than set a target that might be unachievable at the moment. There were a few moments where the panic started to get horribly bad but I asked him to pull over and stop for 10 minutes each time while I tried to use my relaxation techniques to calm down again and it seemed to help.
So, tomorrow I am meeting him again and going for a drive and I really hope to get another few more steps further. I'm feeling more positive and calmer than I have in a long time and trying not to let the idea of having a panic attack terrify me quite so much as it did.
I'm really starting to believe that baby steps are the way forward, I will post back again tomorrow evening and see how far I got,
Emma x