Psychiatrist?

[Dasani_]

I suffer from general anxiety and possibly paranoia. I am currently on medication was on citalopram and now Im just on clonazepam.  I got off the citalopram because being on long term medication freaks me out. My anxiety can get so bad I cant watch tv or listen to music, drive, work, not work. I cant do anything. I have tried counselling, but I was never able to trust any of the counsellors enough to accept their advise or continue seeing them.  I don't have a regular doctor, for the same reason. It's really hard to go through life in such a panic all the time, I have been in a relationship for 5 yrs now and I am starting to find I am looking for any excuse to break up (i dont want to) but I am constantly suspicious and anxious about this "serious" relationship, and I can see my lack of trust and my unjustafiable actions are starting to take a toll...  Anyways, psychiatrist? How much better than a counsellor are they? Do I need to be referred in order to see one? Or is it even appropriate to see one, when I should just be searching for a better counsellor?

[Chrissy1972]

Meditation does not help me when I am in the midst of a panic attack. I cannot meditate on my own I use guided mediatation sometimes  when I am too anxious to relax before sleep. I used this last night and I had such a good nights sleep. I downloaded a bunch of MP3's off amazon very cheap too. This really clears my head I fall asleep with no racing thoughts. . My entire neck, shoulders, back were so tight as I layed down to listen to it and when I woke up this morning that tension was gone.
What I was referring to with Cognitive Behavior therapy, teaching you how to force out negative thought when anxious, deep breathing techniques, muscle relaxation etc..
It can take some time before you find a good therapist. Lord knows I have visited quite a few before I picked any Long term.
In the meantime what you can do is try to pick up some books, such as an anxiety workbook, or anything by Dr Burns, he has done several power of feeling good books and they all have a Cognitive approach to Anxiety, panic & depression.
Good luck & keep posting !

[Dasani_]

Hey Chrissy,
That particular counsellor has me in a few sessions of learning the 26 steps of meditation. I went for about 3 sessions and I was getting to know the steps and I wasnt able to use them in reality and or in counselling and it was a little bit annoying and embarassing when she would meditate and I would pretend to, and get very anxious in trying to do so, thats why I stopped seeing her. Is meditation something that helps you or that you would try? I dont know, it just wasn't working for me.

[Chrissy1972]

Dasani

The therapist that wanted to show you how to calm you down during an attack is on the correct path to treating you. I would give them another chance. They are probably using CBT Cognitive Behavior Therapy which is the #1 treatment for panic & anxiety. if you want to live a med free life I suggest you give it an open mind and try again.

best wishes

[Dasani_]

Thanks guys I'm really glad I found this site.  I have been to 3 different counsellors, they seemed pretty generic. Some talked about things I didn't find relevant and I found it sometimes uncomfortable. Another one didn't care about my talk therapy and only wanted to show me how to calm myself down, which I didn't find helpful at all, trying to "calm" yourself during an attack usually will only make it worse.
I dont want to be on medication my whole life, I want to change the way my thought process works and overall feel more comfortable about my life and future..
Sometimes I feel like I need a third party mediator in my life or second oppinion, an unbiased person to tell me how I act is irrational, or rational... and how to understand it better.  I think I will seek out counsellors again and look for a family doctor and see what he reccommends.. thanks for all the advice I just kinda feel stupid when Im talking to a doctor or anyone about how crazy I feel.. and for no good reason!

[Chrissy1972]

My personal observation was this summer when I was seeking help again for my Anxiety in calling Psychiatrists it seemed they either didnt take any new patients or they only saw patients for medicine dispensing only.I even saw 3 who in fact did not do any talk therapy just wanted to feed me more meds.  And I am telling you I had Empire Blue Cross listing of over 100 local psychiatrists. So what I did was find a Psychologist and a Psychiatric NP for my dispensing.

[nursegirl6572]

I always recommend that a person with anxiety/depression, etc seek the help of a psychiatrist.  This is for a few reasons.  First, they are obviously specialists.  If I had diabetes that was out of control, I would want to be under the care of an endocrinologist.  If I had a heart condition, I would want my care to be managed by a cardiologist.  Same thing with our mental health.

Typically, most p-docs (abbreviation for psychiatrist) do not actually provide the "talk therapy", but their participation in your care is important.  They provide a thorough assessment and then an official diagnosis, which is paramount...and in your case...sounds like is something you are lacking.  They also are responsible for prescribing and overseeing any medications that you and the doc decide on.  They also can make referrals to an appropriate therapist who will provide the doctor with regular progress reports on your therapy, which of course helps the whole process.  They pretty much oversee your entire mental health treatment plan.

I think that it is VITAL that you find yourself a therapist that you can make real progress with.  Having a hard time trusting a therapist, or having a rough time being comfortable enough to open up in a manner necessary to allow for progress is not uncommon at all.  Sometimes it takes several therapists before you find the "right fit".

This again, is where the p-doc would be very beneficial.  You can share with the doctor the characteristics that you need in a therapist, and also share with him/her the kinds of therapists that DIDN'T work.

[cj29]

Whether you see a psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, etc. is a personal decision in my opinion.  In my experience, you should go with someone that best fits your needs and one that you are most comfortable with.  I know you have trust issues, but talk therapy is the best way to deal with this in my opinion. Why are you nervous about staying on an SSRI for awhile?  If it helps while you are going through therapy, why not continue it if you are tolerating it.  In my opinion, many people will just quit there medications without the consent of their doctors which can cause more problems than it is worth (and can be dangerous as well).  Getting through this is not easy but it can be done...remember not to deal in absolutes; don't think that you cannot get through a particular problem because it seems so daunting.  How long were you in therapy with a particular counselor?  

[LionHeart1]

I have same thing as you. My psychiatrist thinks it is not paranoia but I think it is. I need to see a counselor. Yes you need referral for psychiatrists and psychiatrists are for medications only.

medications help me but I need to combine it with counseling.