Seems like DBT = Mindfulness + coping skills to have under your belt
So far, and I quote " Mindfulness: Being mindful is helpful in reducing anxiety in all sorts of ways and can be effective in treating general anxiety disorder and panic disorder....some examples of how it can impact anxiety: Mental noting of anxiety sensations can help you to accept and validate these sensations rather than continuing to fight them which causes more anxiety. Regular practices of formal mindfulness exercises such as those in Ch 2, can have the effect of calming your mind and decreasing the amt of time you're feeling anxious due to thinking about
the future. Being aware of when you are in emotion mind and avoiding situation s due to your anxiety will allow you to use skills such as acting opposite to your urge, which will help to decrease your anxiety in the long run."
OK, as if you could miss noting your "sensations", validate them, stop fighting them, causes more anxiety, maybe, avoiding situations? can you identify something here? in a situation using skills to oppose the "urge", hmmm. Not so helpful I don't think, but maybe would be to you. Onward !
Whoa, Nellie. They have a thing called Interoceptive Exposure Techniques. (yes, interoceptive is spelled right) You "make" yourself have the sensations. Looks good, but not going there now. Get the book if you want to pursue that.
"Mindfulness Practice (Ch 2) ...is a form of meditative practice that has been used for thousand of yrs and in Zen. ..you do not need to be religious or spiritual... have an
open mind and willingness to try. ..not sitting cross-legged on the floor.....defined as purposely paying attn to the present moment without judgment..."
"Mindfulness... will, decrease medical symptoms, reduce anxiety and stress, improves your ability to tolerate upsetting thoughts activates a part of your brain that is connected to experiencing happiness and optimism in other words, helps you feel good." from Harvard Medical
Lots of studies since 1992, showing the usefulness of mindfulness ..."depression is a big part of bipolar disorder, and that anxiety often co-occurs with the illness, it only makes sense that mindfulness will also be helpful in treating bipolar disorder itself."
Page 34, 35, how to, instructions, lengthy. Just can't do this here, now.
Page 38, How Mindfulness Can Help Relieve Bipolar Symptoms, Controlling Your Thoughts, that caught my eye, there are others, lengthy.
Page 50, recommend 5 1 min sessions to practice. Says stop here for a week and practice before going any further in the book.
Chapter 8 The Additional Challenges of Anxiety Disorders.
So, this is what I am working on, since I am a little stronger today. Sounds like it is worth it for me. I am an advocate of as much self-help as you can muster, not discounting the importance of meds/pdoc/therapy. Its too much to try and reiterate here, but pls understand that it is a simple practice that will become more ingrained the more you practice it, for future anxiety episodes. That Interoceptive stuff sounds serious.
Hope the other stuff was OK, at least something there.
I recommend this book which I got on Amazon, used very good, free 2 day shipping I think, can check coupon codes for Amazon, for further discounts maybe. Feeling really curious, go to Amazon, if they have that peek inside feature, go to table of contents, or do the search on Chapter 2, Mindfulness Practice, or go to pages I noted. A lot of scrolling involved. Can you believe I'm this cheap, I mean frugal.
There are other coping tools in the book, not just Mindfulness.
Hey, so now I am ahead in my reading, thanks Tim.
I did this for myself as much as for you.
Think I'll take a little rest now.
Later, Guy
Post Edited (Trying to Understand) : 10/26/2010 4:31:01 PM (GMT-6)