interoceptive exposure

[MindfulMoment]

shew. What an intense experience. Started with my therapist today and will continue to work on it daily with my husband. Basically I made a hierarchy of physical symptoms I have with panic and then one by one I will purposely cause those symptoms and learn to sit with the discomfort. For example moving head side to side quickly to create dizziness. And then walking while dizzy. This is the most intense therapy I’ve ever done. Here’s to hoping

[CLB1125]

Hope it goes well! Keep us updated

[gajh]

You are so brave! Good for you. I thought you would just be doing it with your therapist. I am surprised that you have to do it daily with your husband. I suppose that will give you faster results. You can do it! We are here for you.

[MindfulMoment in reply to gajh]

I was given the option to only do it in therapy but I’m only seeing my therapist once every 2-3 weeks now so I opted to practice at home. We did the first one together. It was scary!!!

[gajh in reply to MindfulMoment]

Why are you only seeing your therapist every 2-3 weeks?? I am sure it was scary. It will get easier over time. I am so proud of you.

[MindfulMoment in reply to gajh]

I used to see him multiple times a week, then we moved to once a week and then every other and now every 2-3 depending what’s happening and how I’m feeling. A lot of the work is done at home now.

[designguy]

Good for you, we need to convince our mind and body that there is no real threat and this is a great way of doing it. One of the things I learned from the DARE Anxiety book is when the symptoms appear, consciously try to make them stronger and last longer by "daring" them to hurt you, it really does work. The reality is that our body produces all kinds of sensations and sounds throughout the day, we're just not aware of them until anxiety makes us aware of them. Once you start to understand what is really going on it helps reduce the fear greatly.

[MindfulMoment in reply to designguy]

You are so right. I do this with my racing heart. I haven’t yet become brave enough with the other symptoms. It seems the more things I overcome new anxiety quirks come up. I’m just gonna keep pushing forward until I’ve tired out my brain lol.

[designguy in reply to MindfulMoment]

yes, anxiety will morph and pop up in other ways and areas so just try to expect it to happen, it's very common. It's also common for your anxiety to increase some before you really start healing. One of the best things you can do is know and reassure yourself that the anxious thoughts and feelings are lies and to not believe them no matter how weird or scary they are. It's not a once and done process but after awhile your mind and body will start to trust that you are ok and it will get easier. Keep doing the exposure therapy. We have bought into the belief that something is wrong with us if we have anxiety and the reality is that there is nothing wrong with us, it is our bodies builtin warning system malfunctioning and you need to desensitize yourself to the uncomfortable sensations and reassure yourself that you are safe.

[Mermaid55]

Good for you!