My personal journery through anxiety - questions welcome

Originally posted by KyoZero

Originally posted by valiant


Thanks Kyo!

I suffer from a few similar things as yourself, even one I noticed that i've never thought about so much, the gender thing!
I'm comfortable around both sexes to an extent but I seem to be more so around women! unless i'm attracted to them that is, then I become a nervous wreck and a fool! but yeah I have noticed this about myself but not gave it so much thought till I read your op.

I look forward to reading more and maybe comment myself or ask a question, thanks!

Valiant

well the next thing I am covering is medications and therapies...I found out that medications and therapies are very individual...man have I gone through alot. The gender bias I have really tipped helped tip me off and now it makes so much sense! I lost all the male figures and grew up only knowing women so hey I guess lucky for me :-p

My wife comments all the time that she loves that I actually show my cute side even at my age. I enjoy alot of the things she does and it has made us very healthy. This (obviously) is for a whole other thread but I think it is such a good idea when men and women really listen to each other and watch their cues and learn about the other sex. It really works IMO

Thank you for reading

-Kyo

It got me thinking and it's something that I kind of knew but never thought about if you know what I mean?

Now I grew up with a dad and still live with him, but have never been close at all, and I used to get hit alot from him as a kid, nothing major but it always used to be me and not my sisters, even if i'd not done anything! i've never hugged the man in my life, even as a kid, the thought of him or me saying I love you to each other frightens the hell out of me, but i'm pretty certain that will never happen!

I got all the attention and love from my mam and sisters growing up it was like I had three mums, learnt everything I know from them. all rights and wrongs were learnt from them.

The only other male influence I had was my older brother, who is a wrong'un and led me into a few bad things, started turning me into someone i'm not, now I have nothing to do with him thankfully so he's in the past!

So yeah, I think the gender thing stems from not really having a strong male influence but a very strong female one! i'm a lot more sensitive than most blokes I meet and have always said i'm not a man's man but honestly not thought about it in depth till now!

hope that made sense Kyo, i'm notorious for babbling about nothing!

[edit on 17-3-2010 by valiant]

reply to post by valiant


I totally understand. My wife adores the sensitivity I show. It is a good thing. I mention ZERO names so nobody lose it but I have known many guys who refuse to believe they have a softer side. Their loss? I guess that is for them to decide -shrug-

-Kyo

[edit on 17-3-2010 by KyoZero]

It is understood that the process of anxiety happens in the primal brain where conflict, fear, and fight or flight take place. Most of the time it is healthy such as ducking from something falling near you or dodging a speeding car, or when someone yells "Boo" in your ear from behind. This is reactionary to actual perceived threats to the body's well being, even if they may be harmless.

Most anxiety of the kind mentioned by the OP is the result of perceived threats that do not actually exist. However, once the trigger has been pulled, the primal brain goes into action and you can't control it with your will. Instead you will go on a ride fleeing threats that don't exist until the primal runs out of gas.

Having had such experiences I have been able to finally overcome them. They, like most start off small and grow in number and intensity until it almost becomes a roadblock to normal living. Most all people suffer from anxiety attacks and don't realize it. But let me relate what I did to get out from under the primal reaction to perceived threats.

I did research to understand what the primal brain did, and why it did it. What the bodily reaction were. Here's where it changed.

Those who have attacks understand when they are about to come upon them. The subconscious has memory function and is hard at work replaying events behind the scenes to come to terms, acceptance of, and resolution. Even though you may not know it, it will come across the unresolved "trigger" and "BAM !" them comes the anxiety attack.

The way to not pull the trigger is to first accept that you have had these attacks. Next, accept that they cannot by themselves hurt you. When you feel the anxiety building like a tide of water, talk to yourself and tell yourself it's alright, there is no threat. The next thing is important. Just as the primal brain creates panic, fear, and flight, the sentient mind can create pleasure and desire, and confidence. It is important at the moment you think the trigger is about to pull or has been pulled, redirect your conscious thinking to an event or thing that causes you feelings of satisfaction, peace, and happiness, and fun. The primal will read this and understand this as resolution and will shut down the panic anxiety machine. You will get off that wild bus ride you were on and live free. And if you are confronted with your fear such as spiders and so on. Calmly turn and walk away.

Lastly, for those who believe in God, what makes it a lot more easy is the knowing that I belong to God and that nothing can hurt me, and even if it did, I will be with Him, so all in all, I will be just fine.

Don't let the trigger get pulled in the first place. Your fears and anxiety cannot hurt you, they are only feelings. You have a conscious mind, use it to tell you primal mind to calm down. redirect your thoughts to the pleasant things. You'll notice the difference right away.








[edit on 17-3-2010 by Fromabove]

reply to post by Fromabove


Excellent post! Star for you friend. Yes I apologize that I haven't gotten into the details yet. Your explanation is spot on as I see it. Once I recognized the pattern I was in I was quite able to roll through the attacks alot easier...again..awesome post

-Kyo

reply to post by KyoZero


Well, you've been on a rough ride, and literally too

I have to say I first read your post yesterday - or was it day before that - but didn't comment it back then as I had so much running in my head; had to vent it out.

Anyhow, it seems to me like your life today is going on better direction and that is a good thing! I've also had panic attacks, went to doctor suspecting somekind of heart related problems, but the bloodvalues assured that I was fine and experiences mental rather than physical problems. I was offered medicine, but I declined.

Since the first symptoms about three years ago - I was 30 back then - I've been strugling to find peace of mind without chemicals. I concur with you that proximity of other human being is good medicine (meaning the hugging). But I have also found that meditation and contemplation of reality helps a lot. I also find that during the seizure, breathing carbon dioxide helps (breath into paperbag for sometime). Also, the autohypnosis can be helpful and here's how I do it: Before falling into slumber, and after waking up, I mentally recite a 'spell' something like: "I am fine, I am calm" for several times.

With all those combined, I've been able to increase the quality of my life quite much. Sometimes I wonder that if all this anxiety people are experience around age of 30 are related to a thing called "crisis of 30's" or something - you'll probably know what I mean. It has lot to do with anxities. Some people experience fear of death, anothers fear of life and so on. My anxieties were much more general, I couldn't pin point anything except the general feel of anxiety.

I guess the best of the medicines is the common and worn proverb 'know yourself' with all it's implications that it includes.

Take care,

-v

reply to post by v01i0


Well I am glad to see you vent. It is amazing sometimes what a controlled emotional expression can do for a person. Poetry, music, laughter, crying...even I admit that while I was honest in telling you guys that I hope this thread helps people, there was a bit of a selfish part to it as well. Getting this all out continues to do wonders for my sanity.

A personal mantra is something I know alot of people find silly. Those little affirmations, even if you don't believe in the power of the positive words can give you pause and allow you time to focus on you...not your anxities or your fears, just you. I always say if people feel awkward doing that, say them in your head. The nice part about the brain is nobody can hear you in there.

I am really happy to hear you are doing so much better. It's incredible how you feel after you release yourself from these fears and anxieties. Heck I am still barely into healing so I am guessing it only gets better from here.

-Kyo

reply to post by KyoZero


I can't tell you how much of how deeply I appreciate you posting this !!! ***tears**** My youngest daughter is going through the EXACT same thing, even as I type this!!

As I fully expected, she's going through separation Anxiety as well....complicated by past things she was 'told' about me, which were never true....which the State took sides when I motioned for a change of custody.

she's been living with me for the past 6 months and just 2 weeks ago, she completely blackout with seizures during class at school.

this SA has jeopardized her education and now is faced with going to a GED.. As a dad, I'm still raging at the state for doing this to my daughter, they let her live with her mother.. which should have NEVER happened.

reply to post by KyoZero

Originally posted by KyoZero
reply to post by v01i0

 

A personal mantra is something I know alot of people find silly. Those little affirmations, even if you don't believe in the power of the positive words can give you pause and allow you time to focus on you...not your anxities or your fears, just you. I always say if people feel awkward doing that, say them in your head. The nice part about the brain is nobody can hear you in there.

I concur, many find the idea even ridiculous. But the thing is that you are affecting your unconsciouss through repeating the 'spell' on the twilight zone, so to speak - the moment before falling a sleep but not being awake either. It's a moment, where many wonderous - even paranormal like - events can take place. It's a duh, but I cannot recall a good thread which I recently - wait I can, here:

Originally posted by LordBucket

Imagine yourself, your being, as existing in a number of layers. You have a physical body. But that is not all that you are. You are also emotion. But that is also not all you are. And you have a mind. But even that is not all you are. And, there may yet be other "parts" of you beyond your mind that you are not directly aware of. Imagine these various parts of your being as laying along a vertical line. Physical at the bottom, then emotional, then mental...and above that, another portion of yourself that you may or may not be directly aware of.

Now, imagine that this portion of your being above the mental level is sending "messages" down through to the rest of you. These messages are ideas. Ideas that some portion of you would like to learn. These ideas are delivered first to your mind. Your mind might or might not choose to do anything with these ideas. Or it might use only some of them. Whatever portion is unused continues on down the line to your emotional self, where again, any portion from none to all might be used. And once again, anything that remains unused continues downward on to the physical portion of your being. But...there is no more further down to go. so anything that makes it this far, is used whether or not you really want it to be.

More...

I found above quite interesting as I've been studying hypnosis and it's mechanisms lately. So far I've been able to validate it's potency with own experiences. Mental medicine

Originally posted by KyoZero
reply to post by v01i0

 

Heck I am still barely into healing so I am guessing it only gets better from here.

-Kyo

Truly you will. Just keep persistently on pursuing the peace of mind.

All the best,

-v

PS. Forgot to mention that if you want to try autosuggestion, i.e repeating a phrase on border of sleep and awake, rather use phrases with positive content like: "I am calm," than "I do not fear." This is what I read from some book, don't remember exactly why, but I suspect the apply different mechanism in brains. Maybe

[edit on 18-3-2010 by v01i0]

reply to post by Komodo


and yet with all this, the State still doesn't recognize the dangers they push on these kids. There will be no way for me to face what you do as I am not a father but I cannot imagine what it is like. I actually am specializing in adolescent psychology while in school. I've seen in many cases that when damage of whatever sort happens as a child, it likes to manifest itself in adolescence when hormones and changes start up. I wanted to target that age group to see if I can help some of them before it goes too far. Of course ultimately the best time is to grab the issue as it happens but sometimes a child will repress an issue so you won't see it until later

Thank you for the very kind words...I am truely in awe with the responses here. Admittedly I thought this thread would go down instantly as a nothing post but I love to see and communicate with people.

Good luck to you and her...I really mean that

-Kyo

Part 3 – Therapy

There are so many methods of therapy; psychology, medication, meditation, yoga, etc…I think I may have tried most of them. Around 17 years old is when I admitted to myself I had a real problem. When I visited the first therapist she referred me straight to an MD Psychiatrist. My initial diagnosis was MDD (Major Depressive Disorder). As with a lot of other people, insomnia can cause depression. I was originally started on a medication that at this time I can’t remember. Shortly after they saw my anxious state and I explained that at times I lack inhibitions so occasionally I will go on a buying spree for items I truly didn’t need. They immediately reversed their decision and changed me from MDD to Bipolar Disorder. The psychiatrist explained that she wanted to start light with a medication called Depakote. When Depakote failed they tried a second tier drug that I also cannot remember. Failing that the psychiatrist started bringing me in 2 days a week and started me on the whopper of bipolar medications, Lithium. Lithium definitely leveled me but there were some hefty side effects that were not worth the fix I was receiving. I remember distinctly travelling through life as if I was a shell. I couldn’t control my emotions one bit. I was simply level. I didn’t have ANY ups or ANY downs. I just was a person who walked around in a haze. After a few months of that I explained that I just couldn’t do it anymore.

After removal of Lithium my body and mind went through hell. I was constantly changing moods rapidly but fortunately the withdrawal seemed to last a few weeks when it ended. I went to my physician (brilliant man) who looked at the doses the psychiatrist had me on and noticed that my withdrawal wasn’t tiered down; it was slowed down slightly and simply cut hence the major effects. Once I was totally clean of the lithium I moved onto another psychiatrist. Over the next few years I was still treated for MDD. I was tried on various MAOI’s and SSRI’s (inhibitors of different neurotransmitters). These medications, although not exactly treating my true issue did help a bit.

Now it’s time to pause and explain something very important. If you are on ANY psychiatric medication DO NOT EVER just stop it cut and dry unless you have discussed with your doctor or it threatens your life. Sudden cutting of a psychiatric medication can cause massive implications.

The above is what I did. I felt better so I stopped the anti-depressant I was on. I thought I was being smart by tapering it down myself but what I was not aware of is that typically when this medication is stopped, another must be in place short term. I went through another bout of pain and torture. After that I went on living through the anxiety but it waned a bit. Upon entering the military my anxiety fell off quite a bit in basic training. The constant exercise was great for me. If only back then I tuned into that fact I would not be here today discussing this with you now.

After a few years the anxiety returned and by the time I left active duty for the reserves and had changed jobs (about 2 years ago) my anxieties were at a fever pitch. Over the past two years my immunity plummeted. Since late 2008 I have had a stomach flu three times, hospitalized for anxiety once and hospitalized for an ulcer in my stomach. I also had a hernia operation. My new doctor finally recognized my real problem which was GAD (anxiety). I went to a new therapist and my physician placed me on Neurontin and Zyprexa. Since then I decided to start making natural moves towards healing. I worked with Yoga first. The Yoga I did was pretty high intensity. The sweat would pour and I felt a lot better in body but my mind wasn’t quite healed yet. I then tried Zen meditation. I had a very rough go of it at the start because the concept of silencing my mind terrified me. My fear was that if I opened my mind I would be flooded by negativity and indeed I was right honestly. So I stopped that and started to feel truthfully hopeless.

That hopelessness led me to believe that I wasn’t truly ready to face my demons. Today I am and thank goodness. Once I had that discussion with my wife, life suddenly got a ton better. Like I said I still have much to do to finish off this issue once and for all but I have found the path!

These days I have a pretty standard regimen. So here are some basic recommendations I have.

Sleep sleep sleep: Do not watch TV or do anything vigorous before sleep. Do some deep breathing before you finally fall to sleep. You don’t need to be a meditative master by any means just focus on nothing but the feeling of your breathing. If you have the capability some music might help though I will caution music can distract the mind in some and worsen the issue

Eat right: This is so vital. Food these days have such nasty products in them and it is mportant to treat that body right.

Hydrate: It is vital that you hydrate, hydrate well and hydrate every day! To this day I drink 2.5 liters of water every day. Now I am 210 pounds and 6’4 so for someone less you should consider less. The rule of thumb (sorry to get gross) drink until you pee clear or mostly clear. If you have trouble with water try tea for flavor. Warning though…those Crystal Light packs are loaded with sugar

Pay Attention to You Body: You simply have to! notice your signs and symptoms. Maybe keep a journal. Attack this problem from all fronts!

Creativity: Find a way to get a creative outlet for your energy…period…poetry…art…music…heck go take a walk or talk to people

Exercise: Burn those synapses and reset them! Wear yourself out a bit. Exercise is great for you all over

Sunlight: Get outside! Sunlight can actually rejuvenate and calm you

Look folks…I am not a doctor yet. I will be one some day but even them the absolute truths are these…

1. Even if I AM a doctor, you are not my client and I don’t know your body. Heck, honestly your doctor won’t even know your body like you will. You can take my advice and great if you do but I recommend you talk to your doctor before jumping on any program like I discuss here

I am not a professional yet! I am merely sharing what worked for me and some general tips. By all means I am happy for anyone to question what I discuss with a professional.

2. I am not you and I am not infallible. On the contrary I make mistakes a lot. You have to create a template of healing that works for you!

Just remember people don’t be afraid of emotions. Emotions are a good thing. I spent almost two decades refusing to face my emotions and that has damaged me a lot more than any nasty bout of crying or pain.

Good luck to all of you and thank you immensely for still sticking with me!

-Kyo

reply to post by KyoZero

Originally posted by KyoZero - edits by v01i0

These days I have a pretty standard regimen. So here are some basic recommendations I have.

Sleep sleep sleep

Eat right

Hydrate

Pay Attention to You Body

Creativity

Exercise

Sunlight

That is some decent list! From it one can obviously tell that you have been through these experiences and have really put effort to research for the cure. I concur! I would add contemplation on the list. That includes both your anxities and their reasons.

And for others that may have be suffering from such anxieties, I tell you that there are probably no single remedy for the symptoms, but as Kyo said, it has to be confronted in all fronts.

Recently I read an article from a scientific journal, that carbonhydrates affect the excretion of serotonin, which again directly affects the pleasure centers of brain. This can be either good or bad, depends much how you utilize it. Too much will may cause some kind of addiction and that brings other downsides, but with a controlled use of carbonhydrates, I think, positive results may be achieved.

-v

reply to post by v01i0


contemplation...oooh good addition. I'm happy to have others adding their experiences. As I said I am only me and can only give you what works for me as a guideline. Thanks alot!

-Kyo

Originally posted by Compulsionist
My advice to anyone suffering from panic attacks , is to enjoy the ride.

Try as hard as you can to make one happen and when & if it does hit , live it , experience it , enjoy it.

I guarantee it will be your last one.

take care.

I think maybe you took what Compulsionist was saying as a jab at your OP but it really works. As a suffer of anxiety attacks for many years, this was exactly how I fixed my problem. After a while, what really makes these attacks happen is your anxiety about having an anxiety attack. Once I accepted that they may happen, will happen, identified the feelings associated with them, realized that it wasn't going to kill me, they happened much less frequently. I actually feel much different about them now. It is almost like I feel better because I realize a truth about myself. Sounds weird I know. I understand the true pain and fear that this brings. Hang in there. You are not alone.

Originally posted by axiomuser

Originally posted by Compulsionist
My advice to anyone suffering from panic attacks , is to enjoy the ride.

Try as hard as you can to make one happen and when & if it does hit , live it , experience it , enjoy it.

I guarantee it will be your last one.

take care.

I think maybe you took what Compulsionist was saying as a jab at your OP but it really works. As a suffer of anxiety attacks for many years, this was exactly how I fixed my problem. After a while, what really makes these attacks happen is your anxiety about having an anxiety attack. Once I accepted that they may happen, will happen, identified the feelings associated with them, realized that it wasn't going to kill me, they happened much less frequently. I actually feel much different about them now. It is almost like I feel better because I realize a truth about myself. Sounds weird I know. I understand the true pain and fear that this brings. Hang in there. You are not alone.

oh I promise Iw asn't upset at all...I really truly was confused. His words don't seem that foreign to me now

-Kyo

Part 4 – What have I learned

So here I sit. I have told you all but the question is what have I learned from all of this; the thread, your lovely comments, my life and experiences. What can I pass on to you?

Well I think I should revisit what I said before. I am not a doctor and I am not you. Only you (if you find the need for therapy) and/or your mental health professional can really do what will need to be done. I hoped that this thread would do a couple of things.

1. Let people who are suffering anxiety know they are definitely not alone. I have found that GAD or other anxieties can isolate a person quickly. They can feel lonely like nobody else understands the pain they are going through (I sure felt that).

2. Let people know it isn’t hopeless. There is a myriad of treatments both chemical and non-chemical to help people through what you are feeling. It is a hard life when you constantly worry (I will be covering several options later in this post)

3. To relate my stories in hopes that others who may have issues can summon the courage to take the beast head on. A lot of 12-step programs will tell you that admitting is the hardest step but (and this is of course opinion only) I think that step two where you finally face the beast is the hardest but I have learned that once you do and blast through the pain there is a brighter tomorrow.

4. To open myself for anyone who would ever like to discuss these things in private. Should anyone feel like talking support or even to vent I promise you three things; total privacy, a good supportive ear (or eyes since we are typing) and no pretentions. As I said multiple times I am not here to heal anyone. To think that I was would make me one heck of an ego-case and trust me that is not the case. Sometimes it’s good to just chat it out but trust me you won’t hurt my feelings if nobody messages me

So you have a few main avenues for healing. I wanted to take some time and break each down a little. Clearly I cannot cover every possibility in such a forum without typing for weeks so please if you have anything to add I would be very happy to hear them all!

Self Help

I think it is a truism that healing begins at home. It’ funny saying this because ultimately it sounds as if I am trying to put myself out of my future job as a psychologist but I think it is perfectly reasonable to state this.

You cannot heal if you are not fully prepared. As I said whether you do therapy or decide to tackle this on your own you are probably going to face some heavy and intense emotions. These emotions have the capacity to scare the heck out of people. I honestly do typically recommend you get help if your anxieties have any severity to them. These professionals have studied these things and there is definitely a reason they exist. However there are a few things you can do on your time should you be unwilling or incapable to see a professional.

As I mentioned before watch your physical body. Treat it right by getting water, eating right and sleeping. I used to fight taking a nap because I didn’t want to miss any portion of the day but once I gave in I found out I was much more useful to myself. I drink a lot of water each day and I find that this has helped immensely. It makes me feel more alive. The diet on the other hand I still struggle with and this is a knock on me. My wife tries her best to get me to eat properly but as I have said if I am not ready to give up those ways it isn’t going to work.

Meditation, yoga, physical exercise. My doctor (the MD) once told me the reason people with GAD often feel so tired is because their constant anxiety keeps their internal body moving. They have a hard time relaxing at it is as if they were running miles a day and wearing themselves out without the added benefit of the exercise. Instead, he mentioned exercise. When you exercise you actually help to reset the synapses in your brain.

Exercise

A brief primer on the chemistry of the brain

Brain Chemistry

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that travel down a brain cell into another brain cell. There is a miniscule space inbetween the two cells. Inside this space is where the magic happens. The transmitting neuron will carry the neurotransmitter towards the space, then send it into the space where special ‘receivers’ take in the neurotransmitter and complete the cycle. There are a few problems that can occur in people who have disorders.

a. the transmitting neuron can fire less efficiently.
b. the neurotransmitter can be in short supply
c. there aren’t enough receivers to take in the neurotransmitter
d. the neurotransmitter can be sent back into the transmitting neuron (we call this reuptake)

In each case exercise can help by resetting and helping these neurons do their job. Though I will caution that a doctor should at least examine you. I don’t want people to think they can cure severe anxiety just by running a few miles a day. Regardless exercise is vital for good overall health to include mental health.

Meditation is a wonderful thing. It can ease the mind and relax the body. In some cases it helps you tune into your body where you can learn a lot more about yourself and what you are really feeling deep down. As I mentioned you don’t have to be a Zen master or a Yogi. Meditation really is quite simple.

Meditation

Yoga

Spirituality…I know…here comes the touchy subject so let me throw out a HUGE caution first.

I am NOT by any means saying health can only come through religion and spirituality. There are plenty of Atheists who are tip top in mental health. They aren’t stupid, lost or any other insult some religious folks will hurl at them. I am not debating that they are wrong because frankly they aren’t. Nothing has been proven so let’s not jump my case on this.

Now…IF you are of a religious mind get in touch with that spiritual side. This can help ease tensions.

Reading is great. Although you should never make a habit of it as repression can be a dangerous thing, a good escape from reality from time to time can be a good thing.

On the same note creative expression is wonderful. These days art therapy is becoming large because it can release emotion and give the health provider and the client a good look into what is happening internally. Even on your own, creative expression can be wonderful thing to help you release your inner pains.

Try nature once in a while. Get off the computer and away from the television. Go outside and get some sun, ride a bike or take a walk. Fresh air is amazing (though admittedly difficult when it is -20 degrees out like it sometimes hits in Chicago)

Relate: I can’t stress this enough. Talk to others. I don’t mean you have to do like I am and spill your worries and experiences out to others but find support groups or even one-on-ones with people who suffer the same as you do.

Relationships: Choose your poison. Friends, a lover, family, animals. Whatever you pick find a bond or several bonds somewhere. It is remarkable what a friend can do for you. Often when a person suffers inner turmoil they are focused inwards and can’t see the real issue. A new pair of eyes can really help you find things you couldn’t see before…besides…just having a friend to laugh and cry with does wonders.

Clearly this is much you can do on your own and like I said this list is not the end all be all. Feel free to add to it!


[edit on 19-3-2010 by KyoZero]

[edit on 19-3-2010 by KyoZero]

Psychology

As I said it is sometimes important if you have a moderate or sever case of anxiety that you should at least see a professional. For all my yammering I have done these last couple pages, it cannot add up to a fully trained professional in certain cases.

Beware the insurance. Some insurances will accept mental health professionals and some will not.

So let me cover a few basics here. What a few people may not know (I apologize if you do…certainly not trying to insult intelligence here) is that there are several different schools of thought. I will link to a summary of most of them and give a short synopsis of a few of the currently popular schools.

Schools of Psychology

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) – This is working on responses. You learn to recognize behavioral patterns that typically lead to bouts of anxiety or panic in the eventual goal of finding your triggers and learning how to cope with them on a healthy level. CBT is fairly popular these days and unfortunately has suffered some dilution of talent. Sometimes you can run into a CBT professional who only focuses on the triggers and while they may indeed help you find how to stop triggers, they won’t heal the underlying issues.

Psychoanalysis (Freud) – It is very popular today to insult Freud and the idea that everything revolves around sex and the sins of the flesh. Well I will jump on the wagon and say I agree. The thing is for all of his follies Freud made a remarkable association between childhood trauma, repression and eventual manifestation of disorders. A good psychoanalyst will take a long hard look with you into your past and find out what could be the major causes of your anxiety. The psychoanalyst won’t just put a band aid on your problems; instead they will work until you fully cope and accept the past regressions and ultimately heal.

Existentialism – This is a powerful therapy that works on the pains of the human condition. It deals with the basic tenets of what causes us pain such as freedom and responsibility, death, limitations, isolation, meaninglessness and futility, and emotions. This approach can be spiritual or atheistic in its approach.

Like I said psychology is an amazing set of tools. You should test your therapist though. Find out if you connect and if not you really should seek another. Like anyone else, therapists greatly vary in their approaches, mannerisms, and personalities and it can be difficult to find a good one right away.

Psychiatry

Sometimes it is thought that therapy alone is not capable of really digging at the problem. On these occasions help from medicine is recommended. You may be referred to a Psychiatrist who is typically an MD. They have an enormous host of medications ranging from very mild to full blown dosages of intense psychiatric stabilizers. I always recommend arming yourself with knowledge in the case of medicine. One great site is RXList.

RX List

If indeed you are prescribed a medication you can look here and find a range of information on your new medication.

One word of caution and a word of warning…

The caution is that on many medications, there is a buildup phase where the medication will not show its effects for sometime a few weeks. Do not lose heart by this. The other caution is that using a site like RXList can cause problems in and of itself. Use the site if you like but don’t drive yourself crazy in every detail and cause more worry. It is meant for some general information.

Warning: Always ask your doctor before quitting taking a pill. In some cases simply cutting off the medication cold can have severe consequences to the body and the mind.

I will say it again…I am NOT yet a professional. My greatest recommendation is that if you decide to seek a psychiatrist you should keep a good constant relationship with them. Always update them on how you are feeling so they can assess the efficacy of the drug or any potential dangers

So there you have that section. I really am not sure what else to cover in this thread so as always comments and questions are welcome.

Just remember folks a lot of people suffer this and other issues. It isn’t hopeless even though it often seems that way. Sometimes there are avenues that you haven’t tried yet. Never give up hope and if you are lucky to not suffer any problems but know people who do, be patient with them. This is very hard for them and likewise if you do suffer issues know that it can be hard on your friends and family too as they may not understand what you are going through. Support each other, love each other…just be good to each other.

Thank you all immensely for reading and commenting with me.

-Kyo


[edit on 19-3-2010 by KyoZero]

I really enjoyed reading your thread Kyo, thank you for being so honest and thank you for sharing this. I think it is very brave. It seems you have come such a long way and it is great you have such a supportive wife, you know for sure you're not on your own!
I find it very interesting that you chose to become a psychologist, is this related in any way to the journey you've taken for so many years? It's like being on the other side, with a lot of personal experience to help those who come to you.
I myself suffer from arachnophobia, I'm terrified for big spiders and we have a lot of them where I live. I have not yet found a way to deal with this fobia, it seems to increase every year.



[edit on 21-3-2010 by Gwynniver]

reply to post by Gwynniver


Yes part of my career choices were personal. I realized a great psychologist can be born from painful beginnings. Please don't take this as me bragging. Only time and effort will determine how effective I will be. What I mean to say is I think those who have lived the pain will have a deep appreciation for the personal feelings that come along with it.

For phobias I always recommend cognitive behavioral therapy. They can take a step-by-step approach and CBT is very good at targetting fears or anxieties with a specific focus.

CBT

Thanks for reading

-Kyo

[edit on 21-3-2010 by KyoZero]