Best Treatment - Severe Case

[LittleLionMan]

Good morning!

I am looking for some advice really.

I am in a really bad way, severe anxiety, agoraphobia, and recently it's got worse where I am panicking in my own home, constantly. It's symptoms 24/7.

What is the best way to get myself the best help I can?
I am fine financially, but just don't know the best route to go down to get some much needed assistance.

Thanks,

Phil.

[BlueIris]

Okay, the first thing you need to do is talk to your GP. They will be able to signpost you towards the best resources for you, especially if you explain you're willing to go private if necessary.

[LittleLionMan]

Thanks for the reply.

I've just called my doctors, and a GP is calling me back. I have been dealing with this for years, and have been housebound agoraphobic for a few years now, but I honestly didn't know anxiety could get this bad, it's horrific.

[BlueIris]

It's awful the way it can slip out of control without you realising it, isn't it?

I'm here to chat with you in the meantime if it'll help at all, though.

[LittleLionMan]

The doctor has just been on the phone, and has prescribed me Escitalopram? I've never done very well with meds in the past so will be hopefully this will be different. He didn't have any contacts for therapy recommendations though, so I will find that myself.

I do appreciate the support, I just never hear of anyone being this bad with it, so it's difficult to believe it's only anxiety.

[BlueIris]

Anxiety can do awful things to you. The good news, though, is that you've taken the first step.

There's tons of people here to help you, too.

[ankietyjoe]

I just never hear of anyone being this bad with it, so it's difficult to believe it's only anxiety.

I would estimate that at least half the people on this board have been at LEAST that bad, including myself.

Have you ever tried CBT, mindfulness, meditation, acceptance etc? Doctors are always pretty quick to go down the meds route these days, and although some people find it useful it wasn't a road I wanted to go down. If it helps, my anxiety was at least as bad as yours (at one point I was confined to the sofa for nearly 6 months, even changing rooms was too much) and I beat it without meds.

Please don't start thinking that it 'must' be something else or you're the only one that's ever felt this bad. It's simply not true, at all. Things can and will get better.

[Scass]

I’m glad that you got to speak to your GP and that you are reaching out. Two huge steps and you must praise yourself for taking them.

I think mindfulness is excellent. Even if it’s just enough to stop the panic spiral, then you can see it works and start to put more effort in.

Also talking. It’s much less scarier once you’ve shared it.

[LittleLionMan]

I would estimate that at least half the people on this board have been at LEAST that bad, including myself.

Have you ever tried CBT, mindfulness, meditation, acceptance etc? Doctors are always pretty quick to go down the meds route these days, and although some people find it useful it wasn't a road I wanted to go down. If it helps, my anxiety was at least as bad as yours (at one point I was confined to the sofa for nearly 6 months, even changing rooms was too much) and I beat it without meds.

Please don't start thinking that it 'must' be something else or you're the only one that's ever felt this bad. It's simply not true, at all. Things can and will get better.

I would love to do it without meds, but I just can't seem to get anywhere. I honestly think my therapist has confused me. She's got me asking a lot of 'why' questions and looking at my thoughts, and since, I have been stuck in my head ruminating and the thoughts are becoming darker as a consequence.

It's not a case of letting my heart race, or anything like that, it that I'm so confused by my condition now, that I don't know where I stand with it all.

I am totally against medications, but can't get the help in any other way, and am scared of the route I'm heading down, especially as I've always been anxious without the low mood, but now the low mood has come it's worrying me. The symptoms have evolved past anything I knew anxiety could do?

[LittleLionMan]

I’m glad that you got to speak to your GP and that you are reaching out. Two huge steps and you must praise yourself for taking them.

I think mindfulness is excellent. Even if it’s just enough to stop the panic spiral, then you can see it works and start to put more effort in.

Also talking. It’s much less scarier once you’ve shared it.

I started mindfulness at the time of my therapist asking me to evaluate my thoughts, and it seems to of made me worse. Not necessarily the mindfulness itself, but the place I was in when I was doing it. I feel as depressed as anxious now, and depression isn't something I want to mess about with?