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stubborn thoughts in the heat of battle.


18 years ago 0 375 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi Saint, That is great that you are doing more things you used to avoid doing. That is an excellent sign of progress. As of the challenging your thoughts question. I would challenge your thoughts ONE AT AT TIME as they come. So, i know your thoughts jump from one thing to another and accumlate so that your thinking of a million negative things at one time! Believe me i have been there and i am still am there haha. so thats why you have to tackle them in order (or as Diva said, you can tackle the one that scares you the most.....whichever makes you more comfortable to do first). For example, "I dont have to get out of here, I have done this so many times...and I know the things i'm feeling right now are just anxiety. Anxiety cannot harm me. Everything that I think will happen to me (such as fainting, stop breathing, heart attack) will not happen and cannot happen from a panic attack. There is really no difference if I stay here for a few more minutes, or get out of here now. I have done this before and felt this before....i got through it everytime (and nobody really noticed my symptoms anyways) so i will be just fine!" Practice saying this to yourself. Bring out the positive things in you and the fact that you WILL BE OK AND YOU WILL SURVIVE. I think you are doing a great job so far. Keep up the good work!!
18 years ago 0 8760 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Saintsfc, I'm not sure what session of the program you are at but if you make this an exposure therapy goal, you can do both. Just as you said, those thoughts can be stubborn but practice makes perfect. Danielle _____________________ The PC Support Team
18 years ago 0 2101 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Let me know how it goes :) -Diva
18 years ago 0 21 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Thanks for the reply. That gives me a little direction and will give it a go and see how I get on. :)
18 years ago 0 2101 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hiya Saint, Hmm i am no thought challenging expert but i would say to answer question number one. Challenge the thought that scares you most. Challenge the thought that once challenged will bring the most anxiety down then challenge the other one. But then again what do i know. As for stubborn thoughts well the way i see it is ou challenge your thoughts for as long as you need to bring your anxiety down to a descent level. Then if it goes back up you do it all over again. Eventuelly i figure you need to do it less long and less often but at first i fugre if they are stubborn I can be stubborn too. Anyway, i hope this helps ... -Diva
18 years ago 0 21 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I went shopping to the supermarket the other evening, it was a really busy time of day and guess what I survived......but then I always do! I have two questions about my anxious thoughts. My anxious thoughts, like a lot of peoples go like this. (I wont go into too many details) I have to get out of here, why? Because I am going to die it I stay here? Why? I am going to have a heart attack. Of course its easy for me to sit here and say well it just doesnt happen but its a lot harder in the heat of battle! 1. What should I tackle first, the thought that I have to get out of here, i.e. No I dont, I can stay here and enjoy it. Or should I tackle the last one, I am going to have a heart attack. 2. Secondly when I am in the heat of battle so to speak, the thoughts are very stubborn. Is it a case of repeating my challenging thought over and over again? If I just do it once (as with the Anne waiting for here boyfriend in the caf in session three), the negative thought just comes back a few seconds after I finishes challenging it. Just to end on a positive note. I have had some really great successes recently, I have been for drinks in cafes, been shopping, eaten in in KFC and McDonalds, gone into work for a few hours and stayed on my own for longer periods of time. So thanks to everybody for their support. I know I dont always post but I do read a lot of your posts!

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