TV DOCUMENTARY I'M IN CHANNEL 4 9PM MON 19TH FEB

[langlim]

HI ALL,

NOT BEEN ON HERE A WHILE AS I'M BETTER NOW, JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THE DOCUMENTARY I TOOK PART IS IS FINALLY COMING OUT NOW ON THE 19TH FEB 2007 CHANNEL 4 @9PM.

4 OF US WERE CHOSEN TO TAKE PART WHERE WE RECEIVED INTENSE CBT THERAPY - WHICH FOR ME HAS WORKED AND COMPLETELY CHANGED MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER!!

I HOPE YOU CAN WATCH - IT SHOULD BE VERY INTERESTING!!

LAURA
X

[bobsy]

Hi Laura

Was the programme about cbt therapy.

Can I ask what did you need cbt for was it panics?

Glad you are feeling much better and look forward to watching with interest.

Bobsy

[langlim]

FORGOT TO SAY ITS CALLED

HYPOCHONDRIACS: I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL

The Bafta-winning Only Human series returns with a film following the lives of people suffering from Health Anxiety Disorder, a condition which makes them constantly question their physical well-being. The programme follows four extreme sufferers as they attend a weekend retreat and undergo intensive period of behavioural therapy.

[langlim]

ALSO, HERE IS SOME INFO MORE DETAILED ON THE PROGRAME

Recent studies suggest that as many as one-in-four GP consultations are now taken up by the "worried well", or "hypochondriacs" as these people are often labelled. But Hypochondria, in its extreme form, is an illness in itself. Doctors call it Health Anxiety Disorder. Can it be cured? This compelling film, kicking off a new run of Channel 4's Bafta-award winning documentary strand, Only Human , follows four sufferers as they live together at a remote country retreat, miles away from their GPs and support network of friends and family. They will undertake a unique course of treatment administered by the Maudsley Hospital's Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Florian Ruths.

Every time single-mum Laura, 26, gets a tummy ache or swollen glands, she spends hours on the internet convinced she has terminal cancer. Her problems began when her father died of cancer aged only 44. Now she's sure she's got it too and it is driving her friends mad.

Kevin is 36, and is in constant fear of contracting HIV. A blood transfusion has triggered an obsessive fear of the AIDS virus, HIV. He has already had three negative AIDS tests but he still worries that he could infect his wife and child. A drop of blood can send him into a state of extreme panic

Sarah, aged 40, is convinced that the smallest ache or pain means that she could die at any moment. She constantly fears she is seriously ill and is a regular attendee at her local GP's surgery. Like the others, Sarah seeks constant reassurance from all around her and their patience is clearly beginning to wear thin

Jane is 37 and has a slightly more complex case for the therapists. Five years ago she collapsed and ended up in a wheelchair. She has not walked since, despite the fact that doctors cannot find anything wrong with her legs. On the face of it, husband Ian, who is now her full time carer, admits that it must look a bit strange that his wife is confined to a chair with no medical explanation..."It's like you see on Little Britain, when the character in the wheelchair jumps out and runs off..." But both he and Jane are unhappy with the doctors' diagnosis and both remain firmly convinced that there must be something wrong. As he concludes, with reference to the fictional TV character, "I know she couldn't do anything like that, there's just no way."

Dr Ruths will try to challenge all their behaviour, their obsessions and their personal oddities. For Laura, this means allaying her fears about collapsing in public like her father did. But will Dr Ruth's attempt at passing out at the nearby supermarket's deli counter have much effect? For Sarah, it means addressing her breathlessness and showing her that exercise won't result in heart failure; for Kevin it means entering into the world of the gay man to confront his paranoia of contracting the AIDS Virus. And for Jane, with the help of her own personal Psychiatrist Dr Lars Hansen, it means bursting balloons and wheeling herself through the local town dressed as a clown... all in the name of therapy.

Will this course of behavioural therapy make them better, or will they remain uncured, destined to spend the rest of their lives in and out of their doctors' surgeries?

[langlim]

AND YES, I SUFFERED SEVERE PANIC ATTACKS HAVING ABOUT 4 A WEEK, STOPPED ME GOING OUT HAVNG A LIFE, CONSTANT FEARS OF ACHES AND PAINS THINKING I HAD TERMINAL CANCER, HAD PRETTY MUCH EVERY ANXIETY SYMPTOM GOING!

FAST HEART
FLUTTERING IN CHEST
PALPITATIONS
UNEXPLAINED ACHES AND PAINS
HAVING TO GO TO TOILET A LOT
PAINS IN CHEST
CRAWLING FEELING IN SHOULDER BLADE
NAUSEA
MUSCLES ACHING
FAKE COUGH (TICKLY CHEST)
TIGHT CHEST

IF I WORRIED ABOUT A ILLNESS SOMEWHERE MY MIND ACTUALLY MADE PAIN OR ACHE GO THERE (WHICH SUGGESTS UNEXPLAINED PAINS)

YOU NAME IT I HAD IT CONSTANT FOR A YEAR ONLY HAVING 2 DAYS IF I WAS LUCKY THAT WERE GOOD IN A WEEK

I HAD 5 DAY INTENSE CBT THERAPY WHICH HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED MY LIFE

[Jem27]

Glad you are well.

I was asked if i was interested in going on that programme but I live too far away, I was gutted.

[Mable]

Thanks for letting us know Laura! Sounds really interesting and I shall definitely be watching.

Mable.

[manmoor]

Thanks Laura I don't want to miss it. xxx

"When There Was Only One It Was Then That I Carried You."

[mooks]

is this a course they run anyway....sounds good...does the hospital offer it to general public??

[jrussell]

Great to read your message, I will definately be watching the programme with interest

I am starting a course with a local GP this Thurs which has taken me a long time to find!!

I am really exited about the treatment and reading your positive comments has helped to enhance my belief even further that this treatment will go along way to recovery.
Thanx!