Newbie here! CBT, EMDR, Massages and Hypnotherapy! Phew!

[amyvic]

Hi there

Newbie here!

I've been suffering from anxiety since 03rd April this year and the most terrying symptom for me was the intrusive thoughts - I was terrified it meant I was going crazy and I would harm those closest to me! I got myself in to see a private psychologist who assured me this type of thinking 'is all part and parcel of being anxious' which went a long way to reassuring me. I still see her once a week and we have done a little bit of EMDR with CBT. As I have lost the fear of the thoughts they happen less and less and when they do I do not react at all!

I've not had a full blown panic attack since my first one in April and I believe that is because I have lost the fear of the physical symptoms and the fear of the intrusive thoughts. My only remaining concern is that my mind has been stuck on anxiety for two months and it's always on my mind. However I know the brain can be retrained and I have my first hypnotherapy appointment next week to begin that process! Will update accordingly on another thread.

I'm also having weekly massages which are lovely

My psychologist is a good one and below are some of the statements she has said that has stuck with me and hopefully can help you too:

"It is enough that you want to get better"
"If you had measles, you wouldn't be continually freaked out about the spots so don't worry about physical symptoms of anxiety"
"Recovery is not straight forward, it's a bumpy ride, if you have a bad day just take it as the usual in recovery"
"Your anxiety will resolve"
"Look at anxiety as a noisy neighbour... Just for now"

Another thing I started to do was look at other people and think "I wish I was you, anxiety free and having fun". My psychologist then said if I had a broken leg I wouldn't look at other people's legs and wish I had their leg so don't look at other people and wish you were like them!

She also uses guided fun imagery which is quite cool:

Imagine you have little men in your body, they live in your stomach, your chest and your head.

The stomach men do their job by shovelling food into the next 'passage' , but when the brain sends an anxious feeling to the stomach the men drop their shovels and tighten a band around your stomach cranking it up with each turn. When that happens talk to your stomach men and say ' I acknowledge the feeling, but you can turn down the crank now'.

The chest men live on a see-saw in your chest keeping your heart working, when they receive an anxious message they move up and down the see-saw faster to pump adrenaline around your body and to get your heart racing. Again just as above 'I acknowledge that feeling but you can slow down the see-saw now please'

The head men (don't you just love them! ) - imagine there is a fence inside your head, the head men stand at the fence with their telescope looking for signs of danger. However we know that when you're in an anxiety state the head men's telescopes are far too wired and they misinterpret situations as danger and get things wrong. Again I say " it's alright head men there is no danger here, stand down". Another thing I do is when I do my relaxation exercise and go to my guided imagery safe place ( happens to be a beach) I imagine the head men are sat next to me on their deck chairs chilling out and having a wail of a time! And I'm telling them they've been working overtime for the last few months and now they need to just relax!

I've found a decent hypnotherapy track which deals with obsessive thinking, intrusive thoughts and the 'what ifs' - let me know if you would like the details!

Looking forward to us all fully recovering xxx

Amy

[Spot-the-frog]

Amy!

Look forward to your updates and thanks for the tips above, loved the head men etc

[Snoodlester]

Hi Amy

That's really helpful - looks like you have a good therapist there. I'm still waiting for mine... Would appreciate getting the details on that hypnotherapy track as I'm constantly battling the obsessive thinking and what ifs.

Sue x

[amyvic]

Hi both! Thanks for the welcome.

Sure, it's 'Stop obsessive thoughts' by Roger Elliott

You can either buy from the hypnosis download website or buy from iTunes for£7.99 I think.

If you google the above you'll find it.

I also find imagining that I'm under water and watching the bubbles of obessive thoughts float from mind and pop on the water surface helps.

My biggest what if thought is 'what if I never get better?'. When I said that to my therapist she looked me straight in the eye and very confidently said 'why wouldn't you?'.

Even that gave me confidence. She is a very good therapist, she's in her 60s so very experienced and nothing she hasn't heard/helped before!

Will let you guys know how I get on in hypnotherapy next Monday - the lady is a qualified GP and trained in psychotherapy so hope she's good!

xx

[chantelle]

Hi Amy
have just read your post & want to thank you so much for sharing your tips with us.....I have a sick feeling, muscle tension & a lump in my throat so really appreciated hearing about your therapist. I will look forward to hearing about your hypnotherapy as I am considering this....having my first councelling on Thursday so can't wait.
Chantelle
PS....love the little men....away to reread your tips x

[amyvic]

Hi all - quick update!
Recovery is going well!
Had 3 hypnotherapy sessions thus far - two of which I was hypnotised, first session was just my back story etc etc.
Anyway started to notice a big difference after the third session - it's like she's got me to live outside of my head a little bit more, I'm starting to notice the world around me! And there are moments now where I don't think about anxiety at all! Yippeeeee. I know as times passes these moments will happen more and more.
One tip for the hypnotherapy sessions - first one I chose to sit up, second one I chose to lie down and felt the second time I much more relaxed and went deeper into he hypnosis. Also the hypnotherapist I chose is registered on the general medical council as she is a qualified medical doctor, this went a long way to reassuring me I was in safe hands x

[amyvic]

Just a quick post to add the below link which my psychologist gave to me.
Some really useful resources and workbooks and completely free!

cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/consumers.cfm