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Posted 5/14/2013 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hi!
I have been doing my CBT and TEA forms and noticing positive changes in my mood and overall anxiety reductions. I am also doing guided relaxation on a daily basis. I want to help myself and am sticking to this program! I find that I'm catching my negetive thoughts and talking back to them and generally trying to steer my mind towards the positive and logical.

Today I need some re-assurance that this helps and I'm going to be OK. The last two nights I've had trouble sleeping because of all the thoughts racing around my head. Sunday night I couldn't sleep because Alicia Keys new album was playing in my head over and over along with constant positive affirmations and good thoughts. So I went to work and had a great but exhausting day. Last night took a combo of melatonin, tylenol PM and Xanax and slept about 7 hours feelig physically rested but woke up with elevated anxiety. I did guided relaxation for an hour between 5 and 6, then my TEA forms for a few minutes and still needed a Xanax to calm down.

What's your experiece with CBT and how long does it take to start making a lasting differene. I feel like I took a step slightly back today, as I view Xanax-free days as success and Xanax days as less successful. It's a kind of all or nothing extreme thinking and I know the steps I'm taking are going to help me manage better long-term. I just need help to quiet down my mind and focus on the present? How did you do it or how are you trying?

Is really like to avoid any more medications but I feel like I need re assuranace about the benefits of CBT. A pill seems so much easier at this point!

Much appreciated

Joshua
Posted 5/14/2013 1:24 AM (GMT 0)
Here is a good link that you might find helpful...

http://ask.metafilter.com/97976/How-long-did-it-take-for-you-to-notice-a-difference-in-your-anxiety-treatment

For me, it took two courses for me to really feel better, and in control of my anxiety. That is two courses, not sessions, so I would say that it was about 20 or so sessions.

I also felt like I actually started to improve most toward the end of my treatment. Recovery started slowly, then kind of snowballed and it all started to happen quickly.

Try to remember that healing is not a linear journey. You are going to have setbacks, but that doesn't mean that you have lost ground. It simply means that you need to pick up where you left off, and keep positive that a better day is coming.;)

You have noted improvement with the work that you are doing, so that is a great sign!

Keep up the good work.

S.C.

Posted 5/14/2013 1:42 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Scaredy Cat for being a champion of CBT and for cheering me on. The link you posted is a positive affirmation that CBT has helped many people, and a reminder that I need to stick with it. A week is good but I'm sure like others I'm going to need more time. I have picked up the book by David Burns called Feeling Good - The New Mood Therapy. It is spot on and helping me a lot.

My therapist said he does CBT and much more but we didn't get into much of it during the first session. I basically cried the entire hour because its the first time I finally had somebody to speak to about all the tension, stress, and anxiety going on in my life. I'm going to ask him when I see him again this Friday to help me re-focus around CBT and see what else he suggests. I'm in a much better place than 3 weeks ago to have a rational and hopefully tear free discussion with my therapist.

I find reading the book Feeling Good - The New Mood Therapy is helping a lot, and reading in general gives me a quiet mind as I have to internalize and digest what I'm looking at.
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