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To JSGeare - How
JSGeare,
You said you have gotten over your anxiety and panic attacks and you are no longer on any meds. I still don't understand how. I, too, have had anxiety attacks, panic disorder and agoraphobia my whole life. I have been on meds and in cognitive behavioral therapy. I STILL have GAD and panic disorder. I have been doing exposure therapy and I STILL have this disorder. Today, for example, I spent 2 hours practicing exposure therapy to stores and driving where I knew a panic attack would occur. It still does not make it any easier to go back to those places. I still have a driving phobias. I don't take meds while I do this exposure therapy. Can you give more information on what got you free of both the meds and the panic? It has been too many years and I'm so tired of it. I have had this disorder over 30 years.
You said you have gotten over your anxiety and panic attacks and you are no longer on any meds. I still don't understand how. I, too, have had anxiety attacks, panic disorder and agoraphobia my whole life. I have been on meds and in cognitive behavioral therapy. I STILL have GAD and panic disorder. I have been doing exposure therapy and I STILL have this disorder. Today, for example, I spent 2 hours practicing exposure therapy to stores and driving where I knew a panic attack would occur. It still does not make it any easier to go back to those places. I still have a driving phobias. I don't take meds while I do this exposure therapy. Can you give more information on what got you free of both the meds and the panic? It has been too many years and I'm so tired of it. I have had this disorder over 30 years.
I'm going to paste in here a portion of a reply to a similar question I received just a day or so ago, which I hope addresses your question.
*************
The term "cure," is cure -i-ous. If there is a cure, there is a presumption that there was a problem to be cured. And indeed, anxiety and panic are classified as disorders -diseases, if you will. But think about it. A fever, vomiting, headaches, muscle pain and all of that are treated as a "problem -but they really are NOT a problem -they are, rather your body's defenses at work. The "problem" is a bug or a virus that makes all those awful things happen. But those awful things are part of the "cure."
Likewise, the panic and anxiety feelings are not, in and of themselves, the problem. Rather they are, to my belief and experience, part of a signaling system, telling you that "we've got problems down here." Finding the problem is not so much a matter of looking for a smoking gun -an incident or single thing (or a few things) that went wrong somewhere. Rather, it is more like rebuilding a puzzle whose pieces ALMOST fit -so close, in fact, that the puzzle can actually be assembled by forcing one piece to another - because they ALMOST fit. You're suspicious that it may not be quite right when you force them together -but it seems to work, so you move along. And eventually, you do have a complete puzzle -but what it shows is a distortion of what was really there. Even so, it is "together," so you move along. That puzzle -and the method of its construction, sets a pattern for other challenges that come along -and the "forced fit" may be repeated. Eventually, though, the assembled pieces are so obviously wrong that you feel something "doesn't fit," but it is hard to say exactly what.
Fortunately, you need not ever know (so I believe) what doesn't fit, exactly. It might be interesting to know, but it is not necessary for recovery. What you (what anyone) is really concerned about, is the picture or message portrayed in the puzzle(s). If you can know what that is -it doesn't matter that some pieces are not lined up right. In fact, probably NO one has them all lined up right. All you really need to know is that what you see is reasonably correct -and acceptable-as a view both of what is out there in the world around you, and what is "in" there as a view of yourself. There's some magic to this, for the "out there" and "in there" views must be reasonably in harmony for us to be at peace. But only reasonably in harmony, so you can say to yourself that it all makes sense.
It is the job of therapy, therapist and client to move enough peices around so that eventually you say, "NOW I get it!" Do problems magically disappear at this point? Not in my experience. However, our understanding of and approach to the challenges changes so that we are more able to deal with them. We get a clearer picture, more of the time. Although I'm no mathematician, the process is rather like learning how formulas work. Once you've got THAT, you can solve for any set of variables. Knowing that you can do so -and practicing it- produces confidence and competency.
Thus, the hunt for a smoking gun -while a valuable tool of inquiry, is unlikely to be rewarded directly. Instead, what you look for are developmental influences that pulled and pushed you to get where you are. Understand the patterns and predispositions -and you've GOT something.
***********
Now, back to you.
People in our society are for the most part, I think, very oriented toward "instant gratification." Little wonder, it is something promised over and over from lavish childhood toys to complete mac-mansions in the 'burbs. My psych commented to me that I came in to him demanding my problem be fixed, demanding a solution, not caring about the cost. So, I, too, had become caught up in the notion that you can have most anything you want, right when you want it.
But anxiety and panic rarely come from a "thing" like a splinter or a stone in the shoe that can be corrected once you find it. As I have attempted to describe above, it is more a question of patterns, behaviors learned and reinforced over long periods that are involved. For me, there was no mantra, no ritual, no program; rather, there was understanding of how I got to be the way I was, and with that, self-acceptance. When I started dealing the the issues relating to my self-perception, the panic subsided.
I hope this answers your question.
*************
The term "cure," is cure -i-ous. If there is a cure, there is a presumption that there was a problem to be cured. And indeed, anxiety and panic are classified as disorders -diseases, if you will. But think about it. A fever, vomiting, headaches, muscle pain and all of that are treated as a "problem -but they really are NOT a problem -they are, rather your body's defenses at work. The "problem" is a bug or a virus that makes all those awful things happen. But those awful things are part of the "cure."
Likewise, the panic and anxiety feelings are not, in and of themselves, the problem. Rather they are, to my belief and experience, part of a signaling system, telling you that "we've got problems down here." Finding the problem is not so much a matter of looking for a smoking gun -an incident or single thing (or a few things) that went wrong somewhere. Rather, it is more like rebuilding a puzzle whose pieces ALMOST fit -so close, in fact, that the puzzle can actually be assembled by forcing one piece to another - because they ALMOST fit. You're suspicious that it may not be quite right when you force them together -but it seems to work, so you move along. And eventually, you do have a complete puzzle -but what it shows is a distortion of what was really there. Even so, it is "together," so you move along. That puzzle -and the method of its construction, sets a pattern for other challenges that come along -and the "forced fit" may be repeated. Eventually, though, the assembled pieces are so obviously wrong that you feel something "doesn't fit," but it is hard to say exactly what.
Fortunately, you need not ever know (so I believe) what doesn't fit, exactly. It might be interesting to know, but it is not necessary for recovery. What you (what anyone) is really concerned about, is the picture or message portrayed in the puzzle(s). If you can know what that is -it doesn't matter that some pieces are not lined up right. In fact, probably NO one has them all lined up right. All you really need to know is that what you see is reasonably correct -and acceptable-as a view both of what is out there in the world around you, and what is "in" there as a view of yourself. There's some magic to this, for the "out there" and "in there" views must be reasonably in harmony for us to be at peace. But only reasonably in harmony, so you can say to yourself that it all makes sense.
It is the job of therapy, therapist and client to move enough peices around so that eventually you say, "NOW I get it!" Do problems magically disappear at this point? Not in my experience. However, our understanding of and approach to the challenges changes so that we are more able to deal with them. We get a clearer picture, more of the time. Although I'm no mathematician, the process is rather like learning how formulas work. Once you've got THAT, you can solve for any set of variables. Knowing that you can do so -and practicing it- produces confidence and competency.
Thus, the hunt for a smoking gun -while a valuable tool of inquiry, is unlikely to be rewarded directly. Instead, what you look for are developmental influences that pulled and pushed you to get where you are. Understand the patterns and predispositions -and you've GOT something.
***********
Now, back to you.
People in our society are for the most part, I think, very oriented toward "instant gratification." Little wonder, it is something promised over and over from lavish childhood toys to complete mac-mansions in the 'burbs. My psych commented to me that I came in to him demanding my problem be fixed, demanding a solution, not caring about the cost. So, I, too, had become caught up in the notion that you can have most anything you want, right when you want it.
But anxiety and panic rarely come from a "thing" like a splinter or a stone in the shoe that can be corrected once you find it. As I have attempted to describe above, it is more a question of patterns, behaviors learned and reinforced over long periods that are involved. For me, there was no mantra, no ritual, no program; rather, there was understanding of how I got to be the way I was, and with that, self-acceptance. When I started dealing the the issues relating to my self-perception, the panic subsided.
I hope this answers your question.
thats interesting JS, thanks for sharing your stories.
when you realised how the problem entered (eg scared about HIV risk) how to you make the problem go away, what thoughts etc??
when you realised how the problem entered (eg scared about HIV risk) how to you make the problem go away, what thoughts etc??
As a 40+ year veteran, I can identify with your situation.
The answer to your question is that the answer to your question is in YOU. No kidding. I found my answer after 1 and 1/2 years of intensive psychiatric therapy (with "calm down" meds) which helped me understand how I got to be the way I was. Once I understood that, I was able to make changes.
The deal is this: your brain is the source of the perceptions which trouble you. And so, your brain is the source of perceptions that will set you free. No matter the therapy -the brain needs to make adjustments somewhere, somehow, some time. It is not about jumping through enough hoops, doing enough programs or how hard you try. It is simply an issue of understanding how it all works. Understanding how a problem got to be there is the very next step to undertanding how to make the problem go away.
If you can agree and believe that what I just said is so simple it MUST make sense, then you are on the way to the exit.
Free of meds? If there is no more panic and anxiety -then who needs meds?
This probably doesn't tell you WHAT to do -but hopefully it tells you what must be done -in the ways that fit who YOU are.
You tell me - here or in a PM -how do you think you got to be this way?
The answer to your question is that the answer to your question is in YOU. No kidding. I found my answer after 1 and 1/2 years of intensive psychiatric therapy (with "calm down" meds) which helped me understand how I got to be the way I was. Once I understood that, I was able to make changes.
The deal is this: your brain is the source of the perceptions which trouble you. And so, your brain is the source of perceptions that will set you free. No matter the therapy -the brain needs to make adjustments somewhere, somehow, some time. It is not about jumping through enough hoops, doing enough programs or how hard you try. It is simply an issue of understanding how it all works. Understanding how a problem got to be there is the very next step to undertanding how to make the problem go away.
If you can agree and believe that what I just said is so simple it MUST make sense, then you are on the way to the exit.
Free of meds? If there is no more panic and anxiety -then who needs meds?
This probably doesn't tell you WHAT to do -but hopefully it tells you what must be done -in the ways that fit who YOU are.
You tell me - here or in a PM -how do you think you got to be this way?
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