The TV show "The house of agoraphobics"

[sgreen007]

Everyone will live their lives using avoidance to a greater or lesser extent.
It is part of the motivation strategies that we as humans all have.

We have two motivation strategies:
1. Away from pain
2. Towards pleasure

Anyone suffering from Panic/Anxiety/Agoraphobia will be unconsciously
using these strategies:
"Get me out of here," (away from pain) "and get me to somewhere safe"
(towards pleasure/comfort).

So we all use avoidance. The difference is between the perceived danger
and actual possibility of real danger.

For panic sufferers, the perception is exaggerated.

So... all you avoiders, you are all normal.

Cheers
Steve

[Piglet]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">So... all you avoiders, you are all normal.

Cheers
Steve

<div align="right">Originally posted by sgreen007 - 17 January 2007 : 15:52:59</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

Aww thanks hun - you say the sweetest things

Seriously Steve that made a lot of sense and like you say is an instinctive human trait.

We are told to trust our instincts aren't we, the trouble is with anxiety and panic that all gets a bit muddled up and then we have to try not to pay attention to our instincts in that regard, as they are leading us up a blind alley!!!

Not easy is it folks!

Piglet

"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.

[thriver]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">
Also remember once people are 'cured', they seldom come back and tell us. We mostly hear from those still struggling.
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

I suppose I'm cured.... haven't had an attack in ages, and can do anything I want to do. And I'm not limiting my wants due to panic!

I "came back" because of this programme and because of the fact that I could relate so much to the lives of the participants.

First and most importantly, I think of panic disorder as I do of alcoholism, or certain cancers, etc. IN THE SENSE THAT I don't believe one is ever "cured." I was completely panic-free and off meds for a year and then relapsed horribly. I think that it's unrealistic to hope for a "cure" -- to live like I lived before the onset of panic disorder, blissfully ignorant. I go by the quality of my life and of those around me.

And I also know that it's possible to relapse a little bit or a lot. I need to keep doing things that used to set off attacks, or that I wouldn't undertake due to anticipatory anxiety, to keep "limber" as it were. My biggest triggers are flying, being far from home, and being alone under certain circumstances -- so I do as much of the above as I can because before panic and after panic, I really do enjoy travel.

to PaulS: I have been in a major CBT programme at a university that is intense work for two months and then years longitudinally. I thought everything was spot on -- until the trip to Tokyo. There are challenges and then there's flooding. I'm stable on meds and I so hope that there's room in your belief system to believe that some people will require meds no matter how educated they are about the disease. In my case it's an SSRI and Klonopin, one of the well-hated benzodiazepines. I have no side effects or cognitive problems with these, and am able to function in a full-time engineering career and as a divorced mother. Xanax did cause short-term memory loss though when I was on it regularly, I *DID* need to be on it regularly. I still take it PRN for long-haul flights. Tapering off was physically horrible, but I did it (years ago).

I'm simply amazed and grateful that you gave these people a chance to *live* in a programme AND that it was shown on television.

to Archana: my heart went out to you from the start. For me, pregnancy and panic disorder are intertwined: the hormones of pregnancy cause a tremendously bad mental state, especially in the first trimester. And I also began my CBT treatment while in my first trimester. I was so disturbed at your husband's threatening to take custody of your child that I cried, because my ex-husband left me near bankruptcy trying to do this to me, despite the fact that he knew full well what toll just being pregnant took on me mentally and physically (I had severe medical complications as well). We now share joint custody and I've survived being on my own without him and the kids as well as single parenting.

to Su: as a fellow mum I also felt for you. I saw how very much your daughter loves you and how she tries to care for you and how much you want to do what "other" mums do. I cried tears of joy when I saw you playing with your daughter in the park. No one can take your amazing achievements away from you, EVER. But you have to get well for yourself. I have experienced having everyone let me down and I know that at the end of the day you can only ever rely on yourself.

to Simon: I feel as if I know you because you remind me very much of a Simon I do know. Like you, I work with computers. A lot of it can be done remotely which is a blessing and a curse as it allows one to stay home and it can lead to isolation if done too much. I had a feeling that anyone into technology would love a trip to Japan but I wasn't sur