Stories of Success?

Here is mine.

First of all, let me state that I believe that anxiety is a chronic disorder. There is no 'magic cure' and there's not a 'one fits all' treatment. Everyone will react differently to therapy/medication, and management of the disorder is likely to be an ongoing thing...with that said, here is what worked/works for me.

I used to suffer daily panic attacks. My panic disorder came during a lot of family/relationship stress, and affected every aspect of my life. I went to work, took care of my family, and basically collapsed out of fear and exhaustion every night. I became depressed (for the first time in my life) on top of the anxiety because I felt so helpless and frightened.

I sought the help of my doctor, who wanted to write me a prescription for medication. I told her that I would prefer to try therapy first...so she gave me a few referrals. After making a bunch of calls (crying all the while) I found someone who accepted our insurance, and was taking new patients.

I went through CBT and it seemed to help somewhat, but I was still having panic attacks and physical/sleeping problems that were leaving me feeling horrible. I went back to my doctor and inquired about that, ahem, prescription...but she said we should give the therapy some more time.

She was right, after a couple of months (hanging on by my fingernails) I started to see results. In fact, after I had finished the sessions, I found the most progress was happening. It was if it all needed time to sink in.

In addition to therapy, I checked out/bought just about every book on A/P that there is. I took from each book what I thought applied to me, and kind of customized my own self-help techniques.

Coming here is also key! This is a form of group/support healing for me! Knowing that there are others that have the same issues helps to fight the feeling of isolation that anxiety often carries with it. Reading other's experiences validates what I am going through, and being able to help others is a huge help as well.;)

Counting my blessings everyday and keeping as positive as I can also goes along way in fighting the negative/fearful thinking...it is actually a proven antidote for A/P/D!:)

Best wishes Hales and everyone,

S.C.

The last time I got better from my panic attacks, I was put on xanax which helped to relieve some of my symptoms so that I could get back out in the world again. I remember that time...it was kind of nice because things were so simple. A simple trip to the store with my hubby(with no anxiety) was a wonderful experience and accomplishment. Oh, to feel that again. So I believe, for me, part of healing is experiencing little accomplishments-that will have a tendency to rewire your brain a little. Like yesterday-I decided to go ahead and spend money on a program to treat a phobia of mine-1 accomplishment, I got my computer game to work finally(it hadn't been working)-2nd accomplishment, I straightened the house up a little-3rd accomp., and I did all my dishes and cleaned the kitchen-huge accomplishment cause I had let it go for a long time. Next I will tackle my taxes and see if I can get my money heading to my bank account-huge accomplishment! So that's what I'm working on.

I also, when my anxiety was bad before, got every book I could on anxiety and panic and was so consumed with learning that I think that was part of the healing process-not only becoming informed on what was happening but consuming my thoughts with something helped too-kept me busy. That's another thing I want to do-find something healthy to consume my thoughts-like a craft or an exercise like walking or something or researching something.