Therapy Question

[Andrea23r]

Lately I've been having some pretty bad anxiety accompanied by panic attacks and am wondering if therapy may help. I've tried therapy before, but felt as if he just wasn't doing what he was charging for. Does anyone have any experience with therapy?

I'm not shy but I'm very reluctant to really talk about what is wrong. I (myself) know that I need some form of help to calm my mind but I'm reluctant in actually admitting that i may need some guided help. I lately feel like I will just drop dead at any time. I get really nervous that this day will be my last day. Im in no way suicidal, but these thoughts and feelings in my body are driving me insane. I will be driving and then this fear will overcome me that I will have a seizure or I will have a heart attack. I get these feelings at random times of the day and I'm really not sure why. My chest will get tight, I'll start to sweat, get really jumpy nervous or feel like I can't speak or even think.

I'm currently taking Lexapro 10 mg ( I tapered off from 20 mg the past 2 years). I also use to take Trileptal 200 mg ( also tapered off over the summer, was taking for nausea) and Clonazepam .05 (Have tablet when needed for anxiety).

I'm just concerned because I only feel like this during the winter months. In the summer I feel great most days but always get the mood swings or anxiousness during my menstrual time. But its like now  I get myself very down and scared of the world. I'm not sure really what to do. Its really stressing me out that I can't get through one day without thinking I'm going to magically die. I want to try to go back to therapy but I'm not sure who to go see.

Any opinions on maybe what type of therapist to see ?

[Paxiled]

First, there are different types of therapists.  Right now, a form called CBT is considered the most successful at treating anxiety.  It's also hard to do, as it requires a lot of the patient.  Second, therapy isn't really like other forms of medicine -- it's still more of an art than science.  The right therapist can really help, the wrong one, meaning one you just don't work well with, just wastes time and money.  Sometimes you never find the right one.  Sometimes you do.  But drugs never cure the problem because we don't know what causes the problem in most cases; when therapy works, you're better, not just drugged.  We often need meds to tide us over, but it's therapy that cures, and when we never find the right therapist, which is often, drugs are the only things that help, but therapy should always be a part of the program in the hope you can find the answer.  Now, your case doesn't sound like mental illness, so that's an additional concern.  A therapist or drugs to mitigate the effects of mental illness won't help seasonal affective disorder or a hormonal imbalance; those are physiological problems that need to be addressed.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Therapist is someone who will not pass on your conversation and is there to help. If you don't open up to the therapist, you can't get any value from their attempt to help during the sessions, so you should think about releasing if you see one again.

Because you held back, it is not possible to determine anything about your situation, however I can say that therapy is always a great option.