rdodds88
11-26-2012, 02:43 AM
I thought I would share my story with you to try give people who have felt the same some hope. I'll try keep it shot and sweet.
How you feel is not permanent and it is not part of your personality. I think the only reason you acknowledge how you feel is because times have changed and people are a lot more open that they used to be. People have been feeling anxious and depressed for 1000's of years. I have suffered from terrible anxiety and depression, so bad that sometimes I have not wanted to be in this world. Even during that dark time, I knew the things that made me feel that way were so trivial but I just couldn't fight those feelings I was getting. I would share amazing moments with my girlfriend and while she felt so happy, I felt so sad. It all comes down to your mind and nothing else.
I went for CBT with some guy I found on the internet. I will not name him, but he is the worst kind of person that exists. For £100 an hour he tried to fill me with a load of rubbish about stars, the universe etc, even though I told him all I was looking for was techniques to deal with my anxiety. I wasted £400 with that horrible man. He was an example of what some (not all!) private therapists do; get money from weak people who are desperate for a solution. It wasn't until I got on to the NHS (for those non UK that is our FREE health care service) CBT that I saw a real improvement. For 8 years I had suffered with episodes of anxiety and depression. I realize now it was whenever a change came into my life, whether it be falling in love, moving to university, a friend moving away, new job, anything new! With my new therapist, who did her job because she cared about what she did, I made progress I never thought I would make! She made me truly understand the cycles of fear and axiety I was going into. She made me challenge my thoughts. At first, you think it doesn't work, but subconsciously it begins to work! I am not sitting here, the happiest man alive, free from anxiety forever. However, I am sitting here a stronger, more positive person. I still get panick attacks (which are my worst fear) from time to time, but I deal with them a lot better.
I could ramble on for hours but I will stop...
Just remember, you can change how you think. It won't happen over night, nor will you be free from anxiety and depression forever but you can make significant progress. Try find a good therapist but don't just rely on them curing you. Only you can cure you. Do what they say and exercises they give you, find hobbies, keep yourself busy and this will mix into some form of cure. The trouble with anxiety and depression is that the fear of it causes problems alone, am I right? I felt anxious and down today so I started writing this and now I feel better. This is a coping mechanism. You will have some too, but the problem is they will be the wrong kind. My coping mechanism was worrying. I now know worrying does not help at all. Literally, does nothing but bad things for you. So everytime I started to worry I would say outloud or in my head "STOP" "PUT THAT IN THE TRASH" (as in the trash bag in my mind) "DO THAT NOW!" then think about something else. Then soon later another worry thought would come and I would repeat it "STOP"....
If anyone want's to discuss worrying and feeling down I am happy to talk about my experience and the techniques I use.
Rich
How you feel is not permanent and it is not part of your personality. I think the only reason you acknowledge how you feel is because times have changed and people are a lot more open that they used to be. People have been feeling anxious and depressed for 1000's of years. I have suffered from terrible anxiety and depression, so bad that sometimes I have not wanted to be in this world. Even during that dark time, I knew the things that made me feel that way were so trivial but I just couldn't fight those feelings I was getting. I would share amazing moments with my girlfriend and while she felt so happy, I felt so sad. It all comes down to your mind and nothing else.
I went for CBT with some guy I found on the internet. I will not name him, but he is the worst kind of person that exists. For £100 an hour he tried to fill me with a load of rubbish about stars, the universe etc, even though I told him all I was looking for was techniques to deal with my anxiety. I wasted £400 with that horrible man. He was an example of what some (not all!) private therapists do; get money from weak people who are desperate for a solution. It wasn't until I got on to the NHS (for those non UK that is our FREE health care service) CBT that I saw a real improvement. For 8 years I had suffered with episodes of anxiety and depression. I realize now it was whenever a change came into my life, whether it be falling in love, moving to university, a friend moving away, new job, anything new! With my new therapist, who did her job because she cared about what she did, I made progress I never thought I would make! She made me truly understand the cycles of fear and axiety I was going into. She made me challenge my thoughts. At first, you think it doesn't work, but subconsciously it begins to work! I am not sitting here, the happiest man alive, free from anxiety forever. However, I am sitting here a stronger, more positive person. I still get panick attacks (which are my worst fear) from time to time, but I deal with them a lot better.
I could ramble on for hours but I will stop...
Just remember, you can change how you think. It won't happen over night, nor will you be free from anxiety and depression forever but you can make significant progress. Try find a good therapist but don't just rely on them curing you. Only you can cure you. Do what they say and exercises they give you, find hobbies, keep yourself busy and this will mix into some form of cure. The trouble with anxiety and depression is that the fear of it causes problems alone, am I right? I felt anxious and down today so I started writing this and now I feel better. This is a coping mechanism. You will have some too, but the problem is they will be the wrong kind. My coping mechanism was worrying. I now know worrying does not help at all. Literally, does nothing but bad things for you. So everytime I started to worry I would say outloud or in my head "STOP" "PUT THAT IN THE TRASH" (as in the trash bag in my mind) "DO THAT NOW!" then think about something else. Then soon later another worry thought would come and I would repeat it "STOP"....
If anyone want's to discuss worrying and feeling down I am happy to talk about my experience and the techniques I use.
Rich