How can I stop these feelings coming back!

[loopsyloo]

I have been doing really well for the past 6-8 weeks following a terrible few months suffering from GAD and Health Anxiety one of my particular fears is that one of my children are going to get really paulie . I read far too much into things and catastrophise everything. I have been managing really well but the past 48hrs I have found myself slipping back into that nasty panicing state. Reading DR GOOGLE and convincing myself the syptoms my child os showing must be something horrific . I am still on fluoxitine and I have tried the techniques shown to me in my CBT classes but am finding it difficult to control. Any advice Please ?

[miarose]

setbacks like this are to be expected,but if you remind yourself what you were told at CBT,and know that this will pass,and recognise it for what it is..it wont last long,remember the positives thoughts,anxiety is trying to get a grip on you again,don't let it,the longer you think negative thoughts like this the longer it will stay..Dr Google is the worst Dr to go to,,he just feeds your anxiety..so chin up your kids are fine and all is well ,you know in your heart this is true.god bless mia.xxxxx

[Hidden]

Hi Loo,

Firstly we CANT control these feelings coming back, by trying to, we justify our minds to allow us to keep punping adrenaline into our systems.

We have to understand anxiety comes from our thoughts, its ours, we make it happen.

But thats ok, its just we have to deal with our anxiety in a different way to most other things in life.

Your CBT will or should of told you that in a panic, or raised anxiety, our feelings will at first rise, then if allowed by not fighting or running will slowly decrease to normal levels.

Its all about trust and practicing this untill we SO believe that its true, as we have done it and practiced it a thousand times. We have proved it works, That takes time, and most of all practice.

Also try and be kind to yourself, you have just had your 3rd child, and with the extra stress of it being unwell, I'm sure any person would feel worried and overprotective.

Try and get your partner, laid back as he is, to take some of the strain till you get your strength back. your both in it together, right.

As an example as the panicky thoughts start, dont be tempted to react to them (I know this is hard, but its easier than the panic itself)

FACE them with a gentleness, as if you were looking at one of your babies, no need to run or fight these feelings, (however horrible they are) now this is a very subtle thing, but it is so worth doing.

ACCEPT the feelings as ours, just thoughts

FLOAT ing by like clouds in a deep blue sky, relax into the feelings the thoughts, as much as possible without tensing to much, and

LET TIME PASS, as much time as it takes to get all the adrenaline out of our bodies.

All thats happening is we think something fearful might happen, adrenaline is released, which encourages further catastrophising thoughts, we want to run or fight this,

If we do, guess what we actually encourage further release of adrenaline. And we become experts at releasing adrenaline and that makes us panic.

So all we do is nothing, and thats all we can do, if we want to get better, it actually becomes fun practicing after the initial hell. And believe me I have been there for 30 years so I know it inside and out.

In that doing nothing, we learn to see how everything is ok, our breathing still breaths our hearts still pump, we are still alive, and so are our children. We learn to let things happen without trying to control everything, and we start to get better.

It does take time, and we all get bad days struggling untill we remember how we need to practice.

We, Stop, we look inside ourselves to the real us to the core of our existance, and start from there, even in the pits of hell, one part of us is constant, calm, aware, that is a good place to find and start on the path to recovery.

Saying all this, I have a 14 yr old boy, when he goes out, I'm always in a tizz, worrying he will get picked on or something bad will happen

But inside I know I cant hide him away inside with me all the time. I have to let him go and experience the world for himself, and so I have to trust his decision making, even if it is a bad decision. Its how we learn. Trust in yourself and others

wishing you well

B

xxxx