I much prefer accupressure and its offshoots. Shiatsu is a common form. In many centres you may find that a college for accupressure/shiatsu will offer low cost treatments to allow their students in training to gain experience.
I have had accupuncture but did not enjoy the sensation as much as the gentler accupressure. Others I've known swear by it.
Trying different avenues to discover what works best for you would be my suggestion.
Thanks Sylvie,
I am back at work full time and the last few weeks have proved very challenging. Some of the ways I've managed to successfully navigate this period is by:
Recognizing that it won't be so busy always, that there will be down periods.
Ask others for help instead of floundering alone.
Accept that the extra stress means that extra sleep may be required.
Remember that the extra stress shouldn't stop me from doing other positive activities. The day I made it to the treadmill was the best compared to others where I gave in to the mental exhaustion.
We are none of us perfect. Though I've had to learn to accept a lot of boo-boo's it seems. I pray that nothing excessively bad happens as a result.
But survive this period of extra stress I did. As I develop tolerance and thicker skin, I hope to cope beyond survive towards thrive.
Hello Rick and Mike,
Not to be negative, but I sometimes view my approach to anxiety as a management more than a cure. Expecting it will simply disappear with no recurrence is certainly a noble hope. I prefer to stay prepared for flare-ups, ready to apply various techniques to deal with physical symptoms or mental undermining.
I read the article about SSRI's. It is important to work with a medical professional in assessing how you are or aren't affected by various medications. My doctor has moved me off SSRI's but onto a different combination. I made the mistake of stopping an SSRI abruptly and it really damaged my recovery.
It is customary to wear an item of green clothing. And I'm sure McDonalds has some green milkshakes. Skip the green beer, you might start seeing leprachauns.
Had a shocking experience this weekend. I have been hosting a teleconference for people with Social Anxiety. After the meeting this week, the leader of the organization contacts me and begins accusing me of publicly criticising him and using the teleconference as a forum to bash him.
I have been nothing but compliant and accomodating of this leader and was severely shaken by this turn of events.
I was suffering severe tension headaches all the next day, significant mental trauma from immediately after the event for days afterwards.
I did manage to utilize the technique of muscle stretching as one coping method. I spent significant time and effort to stretch, starting with my neck, onto the shoulders then onto the larger muscles around the hips. This was not a casual stretching but hours of effort utilizing a strap to assist and really generate movement to stiff muscles. This helped immensely.
I did manage to talk with a few people about it and could really tell just how shook up I was, but the simple act of talking about it did disipate the energy somewhat.
I had just made the decision to dispose of a couple of the TV's in my house so the default distraction of gazing at the tube was less available adding to the severity and need to deal more directly with the aftereffects of this confrontation.
I still found myself looking for means to distract from it, and then choosing positive outlets became the challenge.
I have extricated myself from the situation though don't feel very good about it, but also have to accept that it was an unsafe environment given the paranoia and accusatory nature of the leader.
this is why the oft used "evidence to dispute" your anxious thoughts approach can be problematic. I find that in the heat of an episode, trying to view evidence as countering the panic response only fuels the fire. I need to counter what I see not give credence to evidence that I invariably interpret as negative while in crisis.
When I was placed on disability last time, it was because I kept phoning in to work, essentially allowing the anxiety of having to face the unknown and potentially stressful situations of the work environment creating an inability to take the necessary steps required to get myself to work.
After returning to work, I was on a strict probation such that any sick days would be eyed very cautiously by the insurance company. Now that the probation is over, I have phoned in sick three days in a row after being away on a short respite from work. I am a bit concerned because I have every intention of going to work the night before but upon awakening, I can't seem to muster the courage and energy required to overcome the fear.
It is tough to talk with others about this out of shame and I can only hope that I will overcome this obstacle tommorrow and that I'm not in too much trouble at work.
Thanks for providing a forum for this otherwise unexpressed situation.
I think the myth is believed by many in the general population. For those that have never experienced it, it can be difficult to appreciate the inability of the sufferer to simply pull up their boot-straps.
On the other hand, I feel that I do have a responsibility to take steps to manage the illness as best I can. Learning and applying techniques to combat the tendencies and coping with symptoms and behaviours. It is frustrating to have to apply extra effort that others may not have to, but I do attempt to function as best as I can. The shame comes from wanting to keep the illness buried and hidden from others when it is such a major part of my daily efforts.
Thanks Sylvie, I've been off the computer for a few days while I was away from work.
I create stress by a belief that life should be enjoyable. Activities that don't seem enjoyable may not get done and then the consequence of not doing them remains. I finally cleaned up all my dishes which felt like a miracle but had created a horrible feeling for many days. I will have to get my taxes done and spend more effort worrying about it than would be expended just getting them done.
I went to visit my dad in a senior's home and allowed my discomfort of seeing him in a fading light to colour my experience for many days afterward, denying the negative feeling and never facing the emotion of sadness. This denial and evasion of negative emotion becomes a source of stress for me.
I think my inability/unwilllingness to stay in a state of discomfort, I am more likely to jump straight to dissolution as a default. Especially when I don't read that the other person is very willing to change though this may be due to mindreading more than actually checking in with the other.
I definitely need to practice negotiating more before bailing out all the time. It is a bad, deeply entrenched habit and sticking around and working through disagreements would be a new activity for me.
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