finalf72 Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 i sometimes here people talk about Cognitive Behavior Therapy , like whichwayisup did on the anxiety thread. I have a question : instead of going to your doctor and having him make you have Cognitive Behavior Therapy, can you just do it yourself and put yourself out there without a doctor helping you? would that be the same thing? and wouldnt that save you money? Link to post Share on other sites
whichwayisup Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 i sometimes here people talk about Cognitive Behavior Therapy , like whichwayisup did on the anxiety thread. I have a question : instead of going to your doctor and having him make you have Cognitive Behavior Therapy, can you just do it yourself and put yourself out there without a doctor helping you? would that be the same thing? and wouldnt that save you money? There are all sorts of books available that teach you about CBT. Sam Obitz "been there, done that, try this" is an excellent book and so is any book by David Burns. If you read the other thread going, afew more people jumped on and put more book titles down. If you want and are comfy with it, feel free to private message me and I will do what I can to help you. I can give you some exercises that will help you - A daily CBT routine - and as well as some support. I know how hard anxiety and social anxiety can be. I put this on another post, I think it could help you alot... One thing my Therapist had me do was make 3 lists. 1)Make a list with all your positive qualities. 2)Make a list with all your accomplishments. Everything counts, even the smallest thing! 3)Make a list with all your happy memories, fun things that happened in your life. Good experiences etc... Photocopy the list 6 or 7 times and place around your house. In your bedroom, tape it to your door. In the bathroom, tape it to the mirror. The kitchen, On the fridge...and one beside the TV in your livingroom. And where ever else you want. Everytime you start to feel down, sad or just drained, feeling abit negative - GO to the nearest list and read it. Say it outloud and I can promise you that all the positive things you're reading about YOU will sink and you'll feel really good. Another thing to do is start a daily journal. Everyday write your thoughts (either by hand or on the computer. Hopefully you have microsoft word or word perfect) out. This will help just get thoughts out of your head, see things in a different light as we tend to "think" too much and reading our thoughts on paper brings a different perspective. Exercise. Atleast once a day go for a walk or do some yoga. Do stretches and when you're feeling stressed out or feeling low energy, sit down and put some relaxing music on and just listen...Focus on the music and don't let your mind wander. Do deep breathing and pay attention to your body, how you sound when you breathe, how relaxed you get when you calm. All these things will help you cope. Feel free to ask me anything you'd like, I'm pretty much an open book when it comes to anxiety now and how to deal with it. Link to post Share on other sites
alphamale Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 Originally posted by whichwayisup - A daily CBT routine - my daily CBT "routine" includes the three items below: 1) watch at least one rerun of Seinfeld daily 2) jack off at least once daily 3) have at least one or two drinks per day to wind down. works for me! Link to post Share on other sites
april Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 3) have at least one or two drinks per day to wind down. Ah, yes...for purely medicinal reasons, eh? Actually after a long day at the office we ALL need something to take the edge off. I'm thinking of becoming an IV drug user. Link to post Share on other sites
laRubiaBonita Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 someone CAN do CBT with out a doc. But that person has to be willing to ACTUALLY do the therapy, with very good self control, and not revert back to unhealthy behaviors. CBT is awesome, and it really helps ease the unhealthy thoughts, actions, or whatever. Link to post Share on other sites
Toni_no12002 Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 hi i was told i need cbt but im not sure about going to see a therapist as i havent got the time because ive got a little boy could anyone help me out.has anyone read my threads? Link to post Share on other sites
Author finalf72 Posted August 27, 2005 Author Share Posted August 27, 2005 haha, booze, i dont realy drink it, the most i ever drank was a sip, then i wanted to puke,,, tastes like BITTER how can you guys/girls like that stuff? whats so great about it? Link to post Share on other sites
whichwayisup Posted August 27, 2005 Share Posted August 27, 2005 Just out of curosity... Thoughts on my reply to you? Link to post Share on other sites
Author finalf72 Posted August 27, 2005 Author Share Posted August 27, 2005 its interesting Link to post Share on other sites
whichwayisup Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Originally posted by finalf72 its interesting Hopefully you and anybody else who is that place right now with an anxiety disorder will try out the list therapy. Link to post Share on other sites
Ejames Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 its interesting Whichwayisup is very generous in their offer to help you. I went through cbt and read the Obitz and Burns books and all are great. The important thing is not to lapse in doing the exercises. Like someone else already said you can do cbt on your own as long as you are dedicated to doing the work. Link to post Share on other sites
whichwayisup Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Thanks Ejames... I'd love to hear about your situation and how you've dealt with anxiety and/or depression? I'm at a point now in my life where I don't have panic attacks, I sometimes feel the anxiety building up - I get nervous in certain places and situations but with the CBT I can handle it now. I don't freak out and worry as much as I used to. I'm not scared of the attacks, I fight them! Link to post Share on other sites
JS17 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 I've recently thought about CBT and possibly group therapy for anxiety. I'm not sure about it although I'm pretty open to anything. I'm in a good place but there's always a way to improve. I'd be interested to hear how CBT helped you WWIU if you're interested in sharing. Link to post Share on other sites
Ejames Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 Thanks Ejames... I'd love to hear about your situation and how you've dealt with anxiety and/or depression? I'm at a point now in my life where I don't have panic attacks, I sometimes feel the anxiety building up - I get nervous in certain places and situations but with the CBT I can handle it now. I don't freak out and worry as much as I used to. I'm not scared of the attacks, I fight them! I suffered panic attacks and was on meds for them for a few years before I learned cbt. I was also pretty depressed and the meds seemed to bring me up to where I could function but didn't help the anxiety or panic. I joined a cbt group and was struggling with it at first and then my therapist suggested I read the book by Obitz and it might give me more confidence in cbt. I was feeling just like the part where he wrote how he thought the exercises were to simple to work for him and realized I probably was not taking them seriously enough for them to work for me. As he outlined his experience learning cbt and thankfulness for it, I decided to force myself to do the tea form exercise everyday and wear the wrist counter and within a week or so the light went on for me and I began to make more and more progress. I still try and do my tea forms everyday even if nothing is bothering me and always use them when I feel anxious about things or am under stress. I also re-read the Obitz and Burns books just to make sure I am not forgetting anything. I have not had a single panic attack since I learned cbt and that alone made it worth any price. I still occasionally wake up short of breath and ready to panic but all I have to do now is remind myself that the physical symptoms are not dangerous and I instantly relax and go back to sleep. I was so weary all the time from living in fear before I learned how to help my self with the cbt exercises and it really built up my confidence higher than it had ever been before:D Link to post Share on other sites
theduke Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 ... is simply taking time each day to breathe deeply. it relaxes me and focuses my mind. Link to post Share on other sites
PYT Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 I think it can be done on your own if you have good self-discipline because you really need to practice doing the exercises for them to sink in. I battled panic attacks as I suffered horrible episodes of them as well as general anxiety for several years before joining a cbt group. We used two really good books Been there, done that? do this! By Sam Obitz and Mastery of your Anxiety and Panic-Third Edition by Michelle Craske and David Barlow so you may want to go to the library and check them out, they do good job of describing the tools you need to practice using to get better. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
PYT Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Hi finalf72, I was just wondering how you are doing? Did you give cbt a try yet? I hope things are getting better for you. Link to post Share on other sites
theduke Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Just finding a manner like a TEA form to write out the anxieties and feelings seems to help- as long as it is an effective manner/medium of working these things out. Link to post Share on other sites
PYT Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 Just finding a manner like a TEA form to write out the anxieties and feelings seems to help- as long as it is an effective manner/medium of working these things out. I agree but countering these thoughts have been the key component for me in my recovery. finalf72- How's it going? Link to post Share on other sites
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