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How to keep a bump in the road from escalating

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1665

Hi everyone: Great posts! I got a lot from reading them. Good reminders and so true for me.

Sunny

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 286

Thank you so much for the encouragement everyone - you guys are great. I really felt a lot better after reading all of your comments.

Davit - I really like the running up the hill analogy, and thinking about how you get further each time you try. Thinking of it that way makes it feel a lot less like being back at square one, and a lot more like making progress.

Red - The decreased "recovery time" applies to me, too, now that I think of it. Some of my other flare ups led to major meltdowns, but I think this one has already turned the corner after less than a week.

Maggie - It's always reassuring to hear you're not alone! Thanks for responding. I definitely can think of some times where excitement or expected "normal" nervousness has felt like anxiety and set me off. It's important to remember that some of these feelings are okay and part of normal experience, and don't mean I'm panicking!

Ashley - I always push myself so hard, that I can lose sight of being kind to myself. Thanks for the reminder that bumps are part of recovery, and that sometimes taking it easy for a while is an important part of the process too.

Juanita - Sometimes it's easy to go back to that place where you want to get better NOW. I am getting better at understanding it is a gradual and sometimes bumpy process, but I do need to be reminded from time to time! Thanks for the encouragement.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 538

Hi Teebs,

like the others have said, this is just a temporary set-back. You willl not lose all the progres you have made. Just take a little breather, be kind to your self, and you will see....is not all or nothing, its gradual and sometimes bumpy. Hope that makes sense.

Juanita

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 659

Hello Teebs,

I am sorry to hear you hit a rough patch. I have hit quite a few of those myself lately...but I have found out they don't last as long now and I recover much faster now. It did take a few days to recover before. This last time I didn't have any set backs. I did have my safe person drive me to my last 2 exposures and pick me up because I was just to tired and sick from the anxiety and he did walk me in but I was still able to do the actual exposure on my own. When I do my self talk I remind myself that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. If I succeed in doing part of the exposure without my safe person I have succeeded and the rest will come later when I am ready. I try not to be to hard on myself and I let myself rest when I need to.

I don't know if this helps with your situation but I thought I would share it with you because it helps me with mine....

Your Friend

Red

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11214

Hi Teebs,

I am sorry these last few days haven't felt very productive in terms of managing anxiety. Know that set backs are common and even essential to progress. They are a part of the process, try not to be discouraged by them. You have recognized them and now you are taking action to alleviate them. You have already identified when possible triggers could occur. Keep working at it and you will see improvements again.

Magpie and Davit offer great advice and I think it is important to be easy on yourself. If you need a break, take it. Celebrate all your efforts so far!

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Teebs.

I,m sticking my neck out again. I can see you are trying very hard and I think you are doing very good. I will tell you what my therapist told me. She said If you stall and just can not get past a certain point, take a valium and give yourself a break. Rest a day and start over. She was right. It is like climbing a hill. Run at it, get as far as you can and slide back down and have a rest and try again. This is an acceptable way to use medication. It is not giving in because you are not staying on it, It is like house cleaning. You are just cleaning the cob webs. You will find that the next time you run at the hill (so to speak) it is easier and you get farther before you slide back down. Pretty soon all those little things that bother you don't count, because you are doing quick exposure to them on your way (up the hill) to the harder thing you are trying to do. You might do it with out the valium, but it does make it easier. It works. It takes something pretty major to bother me now. I have the same little bottle of valium I have had for a year. Think on it, do you want to bang your head up against the door, or open it and walk through.

Here for you.

Davit.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 63

Wow Teebs, you sound so much like me. That has happened to me before. I do want you to know this will pass. Continue to do the things you have planned. Always, remember it's just anxiety and it can't hurt you. Also remember that we some times confuse feelings of excitement with panic attacks since they are so similar. When we get excited like for example when you were going to the city to meet your boyfriends relatives I'm sure you had a racing heart and it's nerves of excitement. Like I said before continue with your plans don't think back or don't think ahead enjoy today. Please keep me posted.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 286

So, I've been having a tougher couple of days. Last weekend was a big challenge for me - driving to the big city, staying overnight, and visiting some of my boyfriend's relatives I don't know that well - and I got through it pretty well and was kinder to myself about how I did, even though I had one small panic attack towards the end. I gave myself a break the next day after getting home to take it easy before going back to doing my regular exposure work.

I've been feeling more anxious in the last few days though, and had a few other small panic attacks doing things that had been easier for me for a couple of weeks. I know it's not always going to be forward progress and there are bumps to be expected along the way, but the really hard thing for me is to keep these small set backs from escalating. A couple of times I have made a lot of progress only to have one tougher incident set me way back again.

How should I keep trying to challenge this negative self-talk that a couple of panic attacks means I'm losing all my progress? It's just so frustrating to be feeling so fearful about going out to events by myself when I was doing so much better. It's mostly to "structured" events, like to some meetings I've had planned this week for various things, rather than when I'm just going out for a walk or to run errands something.

These other symptoms like racing heart when I'm not doing anything strenuous and feeling panicky after eating a big meal have come back these last couple of days, too. I really want to stop this before it gets worse, but I'm not sure what to do :(

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How to keep a bump in the road from escalating