Cognitive Therapy???

[brown90]

Has anyone tried cognitive therapy?  Did it help?  And what does it really consist of??  I have been thinking about trying to find someone in my area that does this but wanted to know if it was worth it. Thanks....

[brown90]

Thank you so much for your advise.  I believe I will try cognitive therapy as soon as I can find someone in my area who specializes in it.  I guess my question is if the cognitive therapy helps you with the way you think about your panic attack then do you ever deal with the cause of them, (childhood, genes, etc)? I just think that if I knew why I had them I could get a better grip on things.  Anyway, thanks again.

[sam75]

yep. i did a six week course at my local hospital and its great. give it a go.  i chose to deal with panic attacks and anxiety this way instead of medication as i have kids and i dont react well to drugs.

[JSGeare]

You are too kind.

Let me suggest to you that "triggers and causes" may be considered as two different things. The triggers are the immediate events and biochemistry that make it happen within a short period of time, and the causes are all the things that make you susceptible. That can range from your genes to childhood experiences -the whole "nine yards." Those are distinctions that I make. A therapist may say otherwise -you get my drift.

The nice thing about your brain is that you really don't need to know everything to "done" with the panic -you just need to know "enough." After a certain threshold boundary, the brain's new way of "dealing" becomes sort of self-working, in my experience. You'll know when you get there. You'll say to yourself that panic is something you don't need anymore.

And getting your head around the concept of NEEDING panic? Well, you'll figure that out in the therapy.

I hope you'll keep us up to date.

[brown90]

Thanks so much.  I do know that now when I have a panic attack coming on (I get an aura much like people with migraines) I can calmly tell myself to breathe and relax and it usually stops it.  I do know from going through panic and reading on this forum that your mind is incredible.  The diseases we all believe we have and the fears our mind creates for us is amazing!  I want to know first what triggers or causes my panic attacks, then I want to learn to control them, so I guess just regular therapy for a while????  You are a very inteligent person, I have been reading your posts all afternoon.  It's amazing how much we learn from each other!!!! Thank you for all you do.

[JSGeare]

Cognitive therapy relies on the basic truth (my layman's way of saying it) that the brain is the only organ of the human body that can change simply by talking to itself.

What a concept.

And it is true. It can't NOT be true.

The trick is finding the subject matter of your experience that will enable you to make changes for the better because you think differently and behave differently.  How well "it" works depends on you and your therapist and to some extent what supportive medications you may be taking.

But to ask if the therapy works is sort of like asking if plumbing can stop a leak. Of course it can -if you've got the right plumber.

Cognitive was a key element of my own recovery because it enabled ME to do the work I need to do. As you will discover, it will turn out that you were the best expert on you all along.

Go for it!