Is anyone cured??

[peppercchook]

Hi. Would love to hear of anyone who has beaten this and what worked for them. I still suffer though not as bad as in the past. I do believe anxiety can be overcome through meditation and belief in self.

[Anna C]

Hi,

You will find posts from people who are feeling better or who are well on their way to recovery in 'Success Stories'.

Good luck with your recovery. Anna x

[mysonmarcus]

Hi Peppercchook

Maybe this will help.

At 29 and through to 40/41 I suffered from panic attacks and generalalised anxiety and bad depression including forms of health phobias and social phobia's, not diagnosed.

I went on Propanlol/seroxat at about 38 and was on it at a low dose for 3 ish years. It took me to a point of almost total inablity to function before in total despair and terror I did finally go to the Dr's.

Without exageration I panicked each and every day and many times per day and triggered by everything from the door bell, to being alone, god forbid to drive the car and get out and go into the petrol station or to buy a paper and the supermarket was OUT. I finished up in A&E a few times because I was having a Heart Attack I thought. .....I wasn't and didn't.

I feel quaified to talk about recovery because I feel I got as close to 100% of the way for a loooong time. 3 years.

I went from what you read above to traveling alone in Europe on more than 4 occasions. How???????????...., well the tablets provided the buffer that brought the anxiety down to a level that I could deal with cognatively.

Then I foccuessed totally on stopping thoughts that I recognised as anxiety producing, I stopped memories of defeat and panic. In fact as nutty as this seems I shouted stop in my head many hundreds if time during the very early recovery stage........ad by the way, this technique I found on the internet written I think by Japanese man, a website I never ever found again. This was 6 years ago.

The advice I followed was VERY SIMPLE, I said STOP, STOPPED myself from thinking those thoughts..........................I added somethings of my own. I would suffer very bad morning depression, you know also when you wake the scary stuff starts in seconds. I made myself lay for 20 minutes training my mind to think of what I wanted to think of, for me I picked what I enjoyed which as football, golf etc etc

Might I add at this point that I did what will be regarded as opposite to conventional therapy........... the suggestion that we should let the thoughts come and come until they mean no more. I figured that without the thoughts stoking the fear the cycle would be broken. I think this was right, it makes sense and worked for me.

I didn't Do distraction consciously as a coping mechanism.....I didn't want to 'cope'. I found such things as further anxiety triggers. Counting back from 100 in the end caused the panic reaction.

The key at that time I believe was that I TRAINED MYSELF TO THINK OF THE THINGS I WANTED TO and only those..................... this worked when it was quiet and I could concentrate but harder when I was occupied but this busy-ness helped as a distraction so it served some purpose. Although I dont think overal a helpful one

I didn't have an easy time during these years of recovery, I had to deal with custody battles and court cases, 2 changes of address and very little money but still I regarded myself cured.

I was panic free, forgot my anxiety condition for weeks and months on end at times and truly felt I could do anything I wanted and I could. Truly a wondeful time. In all that time I visited the doctors only twice and saw a cousellor on one occasion.

I have relapsed, I started a new business, the strain of which brought the condition back, bells and whistles and all. I am working from home because being in the garage I cant take right now........there is no embarassment in this statement.

Right now I dont feel hopless, right now I would say that the amount of concentrated effort I am putting into recovery is very low. I am relaxed in this anxiety if you know what I mean. I am enjoying the benefits of being at home.

Right at this momment in time the things that are triggering my panic are as follows........

people in general and being caught in a conversation specifically
things I hear & see on tv or radio
going to the shops but not driving
being away from the car
being at the garage
bodily sensations including pains, sneezing, change of lighting conditionsi
queueing
waiting
traffic stop light (one of the first symptoms of this new phase)
sex

I will tell you how I get on...............if I am kidding myself or if I get something wrong I will stay the same, this time I will try to recover without tablets.

Hope this didn't bore you all.

best wishes to all

Mark

[NoPoet]

Nice reply Mark, I hope your recovery does reach the 100% mark :D

I've suffered bouts of anxiety and mild depression through my life and conquered them each time. What I've been through over the last couple of months has been far beyond anything I've experienced before. I do believe it is possible to recover 100% from panic, anxiety and depression, but I don't think it comes easily!!

[mysonmarcus]

Hi Poet

Thank you, the easier you take it, the less you expect, the least urgency you give it, the surer you are of the cause, the easier it comes.

I am 7-10 days into recovery, I have begun to be able to have thoughts with no fear attatched, its encouraging so far.

................good luck to you too. Mark