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View Full Version : ACT therapy and one of my tools to get better



jessjess
02-08-2016, 10:46 PM
I'm currently reading a book that was suggested to me by my therapist as I continue to work on my health anxiety. The book is called "The Happiness Trap" and it is by an Australian psychologist. I highly recommend it. I'm not a fan of self help books, but this one is having dramatic affects on me so far. It is based on the ACT which is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which is a little different than CBT. It teaches you to be at peace with your anxious thoughts, not fight them or overpower them with positive thoughts, but accept them. It was really confronting at first, but it makes sense. It doesn't advise you to believe what your mind is telling you, only to accept that they are there. It has also helped with some of the physical sensations I've been feeling of late.

This is not a plug lol. After years of suffering from health anxiety, I've finally committed myself to getting better and this book has been a part of my journey to recovery. It has helped me somewhat and I feel like I should share with everyone in my position the tools I use to get better - maybe it will help someone too. Besides this, it is fun too. Some of the exercises are so entertaining and actually funny that it doesn't feel lie a chore (which is how I usually feel about anxiety relaxation techniques). They're like playing games in your mind. Hope this helps someone.

Defeat Panic
02-10-2016, 10:48 PM
jessjess good job on finding and reading"The happiness trap". ACT played a HUGE major role in my recovery. You're on the right track and ACT was one of the missing component at the time when I was suffering. ACT might be one of the most brilliant discovery that the Western world has done(by adopting eastern philosophy) .There is a little more to recovery than just using ACT but that's a nice step in the right direction. I wish you luck. We're all going to make it. :)

jessjess
02-11-2016, 06:24 AM
Thanks Defeat Panic! I find that mixing ACT and CBT is really helping at the moment. I'm so glad to hear you have greatly improved with the help of ACT. I'm cautiously optimistic that this might be a turning point for my health anxiety. I agree with you though: we're all going to make it! It just takes a while and a lot of up hill struggle.