Your mind can lie to you but your eye has a hard time doing it unless you are on opiates or lsd.
This is why journaling works so well. Everyone will tell you the best way to build positive thought is to write down the positive thoughts. Some of the stuff you write might be negative but you will see a pattern and be able to correct them.
Thank you all for your inspirational words. It means a lot to hear that others are going or went through the same as me. It's funny that your gut and your mind says to do something else but the answer is to do nothing at all. It is very difficult to do that especially when you are having a panic attack or are nervous. You think that something is wrong and so you HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! I guess the more I do NOTHING of and the more I start to confront my negative thoughts the less I will be afraid. The thoughts are what confuse me because I will not be afraid of one thought then another will pop in that will question my belief and then my vicious panic cycle begins all over. You never know what is true and what is false. I have relied on my mind to inform me of anything bad that might happen and I have believed in it all my life, so now when I am asked to not believe then that is what makes it so difficult. I will keep on trying because that is ALL that I can do. Is try and try again.
I got to thinking about your question and the thing that I do is I try to find a distraction and this helps me. It calms me down and the anxiety passes much quicker for me. Some of the distractions I use are Exercise, journaling in my blog or on my personal computer if I want to keep it private or coming here and posting till the anxiety passes, reading, sewing, looking up something on line I am interesting in could be something as simple as a word, a place to travel to, the tide reports, plants, or a craft I am interesting in etc etc. You get the idea. I also use prayer to help me if it is real bad. This is not something everyone is comfortable doing but it helps me.. I hope these ideas help you in some way... keep posting .... We are here listening and we care. You are not alone in this....
Hi dawaud: I remember the first time this worked for me: I was very busy that day and I felt a panic attack coming on. I was so fed up with them I said out loud "Go ahead, do what you have to do. I'm busy I'm doing what I have to do". I remember I really meant it, I really was on a shedule of sorts and had to get things done. Well, it passed, just like that, it never came. Wow, the paradox worked. You know, when you tell your heart to beat faster, go ahead and do it. It didn't go any further. My fear of fear ended right there and then.
I don't know if this will help you or not, but when I'm trying to just sit through a panic attack there are a couple things I repeatedly tell myself:
*This is a panic attack. I feel miserable, but it will not harm me.
*It will pass. It always passes. I will not feel this way forever.
Definitely continue to do the homework to challenge your anxious thoughts. Write down what your worst fears are when you're having a panic attack (ie, "I will faint" or "I will never be able to stop thinking X thought"). Then go back after the fact and see how many of those fears came true - probably none of them.
When you confront your anxiety head-on sometimes it will get a little worse before it gets better. I also experienced more panic attacks at the beginning of working through the program. But it's all part of the process and you will improve!
It sounds that you are a little disappointed in the amount of attacks you are still having. This is a completely understandable and normal feeling.
However, you should really give yourself some credit...I think you are doing a great job. It appears that you have been able to incorporate many of the skills of the online program and this has turned into some early deferral of many of the negative thoughts you are having . This is a huge win.
How is the homework coming along? If there is one homework session to revisit, it should be session 2: anxious thoughts homework. This homework section will arm you with some tools, that may help you in the situations you
highlighted.
Please take your time with the sessions. A week will provide the amount of time needed to reflect on the information.
Well this past month I have had several attacks. Yesterday I had several attacks within an hour. Unlike before I just sat through them. I realized that this made me have more attacks than before. To be honest I get a little confused when this happens. One of my fears is when my mind starts to scare me with something then it says, "hey I will bother you and scare you forever". This really scares me as it is my mind and myself wrestling with each other for control. I know that control is the reason why people have anxiety. I was wondering what others have done that really calms them down or provide something that satisfies their mind and themselves. Basically my mind is scaring me with things and then I try to sit through it - but the thought comes back whether it is OK to have such panic attacks. Whether it is OK to feel the way I feel and have my mind take over me. When I was going to a therapist he just told me not to worry about and nothing will happen. I know nothing will happen however it is something that bothers me so much so that I worry about it constantly and that worrying eventually leads me to have a panic attack. How do I successfully break that cycle. When I am having the attack I tell myself "let's do this. What is the worst you can do?" I feel confident for a while, then thoughts come back that make me scared. I know I am back in the anxiety cycle but I am not sure what I need to do.
In addition, is there anyone in Houston or someone that can recommend a good therapist in Houston who really cares for their patient and believes in CBT? I strongly believe in this program but I think I need a little more professional help. I have read and re-read the chapters but I am having difficulties with exposure work and what to do when such a think of "continous or uncontrollable thought" comes to my mind?
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