Ashley
Most definitely. This condition has so many factors and one of them is deficiencies. But then if a person is seeing a Doctor they should catch that. But of course there is the problem of going to see one if that person has a Doctor phobia. I do believe this program and CBT in itself can help a persons body to produce the missing chemicals or modify their use. Maybe not totally but enough to see a Doctor. So don't get me wrong I'm not saying that if a person is stuck at a certain point that that is as far as they can get. It isn't. CBT does work, some times though it does need help. We are different from normal people in how our minds work. And not because we are diseased but because we are conditioned different. That being the case this becomes a condition not a disease. True mental diseases can have the same symptoms as Panic disorders and need to be separated and can only be diagnosed by a doctor. CBT techniques can and do still help them though.
One thing we do have in common with normal people is good and bad days. (minutes, hours) But knowing what we have dictates how we treat it. This knowledge is something we can not ever not know but with time in my case I find myself using the skills more and more subconscious and closer to normal. Five years ago my world was more noticeable and I constantly had to use my skills and knew I was doing it. This alone was enough to bother me. Now a combination of not focusing on the negative and automatic use of the skills allows me to have a normal life.
The expression cool as a cucumber does fit some people but most of these do it by being not concerned with anything but themselves. Sorry, but I prefer to have feelings. I'm cool in a crisis but suffer after. This I believe is normal.
An interesting point is that if 25% of the population has some sort of mental condition then what is normal. As far as I am concerned normal is being able to function in the world with a minimum of stress how ever close you may or may not be to 100% stress free. There are days when I would say I'm stress free except I know I'm not I'm just not focusing on it due to skills like distractions and too busy to notice. Like right now, I know coffee on an empty stomach was not a good idea for me. I'm not going to panic, I'll ignore it and it will pass. This puts me into the realm of not 100% but then normal people get this too. Therefore normal people are not 100% either.
My only beef with medication is using it when it is not necessary. Living in a fogged in world so you don't have to try is your choice but you are missing too much in the emotions department. On the other hand living with constant stress when medication could relieve it is dangerous and hard on the physical body too. There are no simple answers. But CBT such as this program certainly is not going to do any harm. Excess stress will.
Davit
