worried it wont work

[pete24]

hi everyone i start cbt this thursday but i just scared it wont work,then where will i be. I know i should be more positive but i know how illogical i get about checking stools,skin testicles etc.I know also they will say dont go on these forums but sometimes they are my only comfort pete

[paula lynne]

Hi Pete, turn it on its head. Take a deep breath, have faith and trust in the process, and tell yourself..hey..this might work! Repeat it...OUT LOUD! watch what starts to happen..you start to BELIEVE it may work for you. Good luck x

[Groundhog]

Hi Pete
I have my third meeting with my psychologist on Monday and I have to say it’s the thing above anything else that has helped me. I don’t know what other peoples experience is of these folk and I’m guessing depending on your symptoms and disposition the approach and results / treatment is going to be vastly different but I have found the experience to be quite bizarre in a way. The two sessions I have had I have done 90% of the talking, the therapist has picked out certain episodes in my life she asked me to elaborate on and she has also asked a couple of question that I thought at the time irrelevant but after the second session things were clicking into shape in what really seemed a surreal way. I’m almost self diagnosing myself with her help.

Have to say I’m very impressed and can’t wait for my next appointment on Monday
My bit of advice, for what it’s worth, be totally honest with them and don’t feel embarrassed to get everything out in the open. Like doctors they have heard and seen it all before.

Good luck:)

[pete24]

thanks for your encouragement paula and groundhog.I intend to be honest and open ...but i have told my story to so many people[including doctors and councellors]pete

[IndianStar]

im sorry but CBT didnt work for me really but it may have done if i wasnt referred to a computerized version of it. end of the day you have nothing to lose! x

[pete24]

Feel like this is last chance saloon i am in.Do not mean to sound dramatic ...but where do i go if it fails

[paula lynne]

you dont stop trying. its not the last chance saloon at all, it feels like it. I totally empathise with you, but the mind is such a powerful thing, you can tell yourself...ok...im gonna try it, and maybe, just maybe, there will be a positive outcome.
Pete, NEVER GIVE UP
people get well after years of suffering.

[pete24]

thanks paula....you must be some sort of angel to be so optimistic....wish i was.I really dont want to come across as all doom and gloom but i cant see how cbt can change the way i thinnk.I have HA but with a fair portion of ocd thrown in.I have to check several times as i dont beleive what i see then i get the doubts

[paula lynne]

ok, I understand Pete x
You can change the way you think...
how about being an optamist for one day instead of a pessamist..
ocd is dreadful, i get the checking business ok, but it doesnt mean you are a failure.
You are not all doom and gloom actually, because you want to get well, this shows a pro-active attitude, and that deserves a pat on the back.
Try it, you never know ok x I like the thought of me being an angel...in my own world obviously x

[joannap]

i think i am right in thinking that for this form of anxiety/ocd - they get you to work on the not checking for signs? that your anxiety is kind of held more in check (sorry - no pun intended) when you do check and so its a vicious circle - you feel anxious - you check - you feel anxious - you check again.

it could be that you will ask you to stop checking and then let yourself FEEL the anxiety that naturally climbs because you are not doing your coping behaviour.

To give you an example - i used to suffer HORRIBLE intrusive thoughts and i used to try and think my way out of them - my mind would go round and round in circles - that was my coping behaviour. I started to let the thoughts be there and worked on the anxiety rather than the thoughts - once i could let it wash over me and realised that it did reach bearable levels - the thoughts did not stick so hard or mean so much so its not so much the checking that it is the problem because this is fuelled by the underlying anxiety.

i also remember thinking (when i had to put cbt/positive thinking into practice) what if it fails? but when i am honest - part of me did not want to even try unless i was certain of a positive outcome - it was like i wanted to give in before i started but then i realised that i had nothing to loose - i was feeling this way anyway and so had to put in the effort if i wanted to get better - you WILL improve - it could take a long time and you may feel you are taking steps forward and then steps back but once you are on the road to recovery - you will know it xx