Great post, gives me hope that I can get out of this dark hole I'm in at the moment. Printed off to read over and over.
Great post, gives me hope that I can get out of this dark hole I'm in at the moment. Printed off to read over and over.
Took me a while to write so a shameless bump
"Eat. Drink. Enjoy the work you do. Be thankful for the blessings God gives you in this life. Live, love and seek out the things that bring your heart joy. The rest is meaningless... Like chasing the wind." King Solomon
The best help is the help you give yourself! http://cbt4panic.org/
About 3,641 pieces in your case
Bumping cos I've read this a lot since it was posted and tend to feel very hopeless I'll never get better at the minute. This proves you can. Thank you for writing it x
Wnsos - I felt exactly the same - genuinely I did, but then I noticed small progress, then a bit more and so on. Started to believe it was possible and then frankly I cannot believe the transformation in twelve months. I certainly wouldn't have believed it a year ago.
This really gives me something to hope for. I'm still in the really early stages but I'm sure as everyone knows, we never expect it. I go from being really afraid something f I going on to plain "I think I'm losing my mind." Trying to get psychological help already. I want to beat this. As soon as my constant ache is gone I feel like I might but I'm so wound up that it's daily and I'm doing myself no favours! X
The first and most important step in my view is to accept that the ache is probably anxiety and focus on anxiety itself. Who knows the ache might go away?
To give you an idea, for months after I no longer felt anxious I ached all over, head to toe. Gradually over time as I accepted it for what it probably was it started to diminish and has for the most part gone. Now i just accept I am 36 and will probably have the odd ache from time to time and use it as an excuse for a good massage.
Don't fall into the 'I'll deal with the anxiety when just this tiny thing is better trap'. That day never comes.
I really really do appreciate your advice. I'm on at my doctors for recommendations to therapy and phoned a self referral today. Whenever I think "how did I stop being normal?" I annoy myself more. I'm definitely going to beat this. I've lost too much of my life already to other anxiety. Not letting my body be taken too.
You sound like me in some regards. Before anxiety chose my health as the hole to burst out of, I struggled for the best part of 8 years with something approaching body dysmorphic disorder. Looking back I have had anxiety now since my mid twenties - the last ten years.
Personally it sounds to me like you are doing just fine. Realistic expectations, small steps, determined. I used to get really angry with myself, still do sometimes, but you need to learn to be kind to yourself. Try and imagine what you would do if you were looking in from the outside.
This is the first time in nearly ten years that I have been happy whilst not taking some sort of medication. I am so chuffed with that, and it has convinced me that the vast majority of people have the tools within them to beat this thing.
It has also persuaded me to become a director of a mental health charity - but that is another story. good luck - you'll be just fine..
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