I'm new here & I need help I have suffered in silence for years from anexiety Even though I have a great husband & children, they never realized how bad I was & I covered it up as much as possible Now, starting 3 days ago I have a Fear of taking a shower I love showers I lov washing & fixing myself up for my husband & myself I lov the smell of being clean & refreshed
Any advice Please help me!!!
What does the shower make you feel like ? Has this just started
So years ago I took a hot shower and when I got out I had the worst panick attack ever.. since then I too have a fear of showers. I still take them of course but never hot ones and I think about it every time I take one. I know this is irrational thinking but still hard to stop.
Lvumor, I too have a fear of using the shower, the time before last water started coming through the kitchen ceiling and it cost me 300 pounds to get it fixed. It seems ok last time I used it but I'm still anxious.
The difference between my anxiety and yours is that mine is easy to understand whilst your's isn't. If you've suffered from an anxiety disorder for years as you say it really is time to sortvit out now so you can enjoy the rest of your life. If you haven't already spoken to your doctor about this then you should have no hesitation in visiting them now and speaking fully and frankly about your suffering. That's what doctors are for.
Next you need to understand how anxiety works. After a long period of stress our nervous system can become over sensitive, this makes all our worries and fears appear ten times worse and we can start to get all kinds of strange feelings and symptoms. These do not mean you are physically ill, thought it may feel like it, it's just the nervous impulses from your nervous system playing up. It's easy if this happens to startvimagining you have all sorts of things wrong with you, but you don't, it's not organic illness, it's not going to incapacitate you or permanently harm your body, it's the fake symptoms and feelings your over sensitised nervous system istricking you with.
The way to recover (and it doesn't matter how long you've had this problem) is to accept the strange feelings without fear knowing them to be just blips in your nervous system. If you can frame your mind to Accept the bad feelings temporarily without adding further fear to your sensitised nerves then in the fullness of time your nervous system will lose its sensitivity - and you will begin to feel normal again and recover your quiet mind. But Acceptance does take practice and persistance.
I wish you God's speed on your path to recovery.
Thank you I keep praying & believing God will get me through this I finally have an appointment with a psychologist next Thursday
Lvumor, it's good that you're seeing a psychologist. As the old saying goes 'these things are sent to try us' but God does not present us with any ordeals without giving us the strength and courage and knowledge to overcome though I know that sometimes it doesn't seem that way☺ May I just say that the Acceptance method of recovery from anxiety disorder that I briefly mentioned before was devised many years ago by Claire Weekes who explains her Acceptance method in her first book 'Self help with your nerves' in the u.k. and titled 'Hope and help with your nerves' in the u.s. She worked it out when as a young woman she was studying to be a doctor and herself fell prey to anxiety disorder. It's a short book that explains her method in everyday language and it has helped many, many thousands of people to recover including myself.
Perhaps the last thing you feel like doing right now is to read a book about recovering from anxiety, you just want someone to wave a magic wand (maybe the psychologist) and hey presto the bad feelings disappear in an instant. But alas that rarely if ever happens and I do believe that you will quickly recognise yourself in this book which explains exactly what is happening to us and how to recover. It brings immediate reassurance and an end to bewilderment and gives a concise course of action by which we can cure ourselves of our anxiety if we apply ourselves to practice it and are persistant. I don't think it will clash with anything your psychologist will come up with.
The book is easily obtainable from Amazon and there is even the option tobuy a used copy for justvone pence/cent plus a few pounds/dollars for postage. I thoroughly commend this book.
I went to the psychiatrist today She was nice & of course listened But I can't over come the feeling all she wants me to do is take medicine She prescribe Zoloft & wants to see me in 3 weeks I can't explain this to my husband He tries & is very loving about it but does not understand I am afraid of medicine I don't want to live my life depending on it I am not having anxiety attacks because of this but still concerned Any thoughts?? TY lvumor
Lvumore, I think meds have an important part to play in recovery as they can give a short holiday from bad feelings. Although one can still practice self recovery through acceptance one cannot properly say you have recovered until that recovery is achieved without medications. Claire Weekes has some interesting things to say on the subject in her book I mentioned to you.
If for example you have children to look after or a job you must hold down and the anxiety and depression are making this almost impossible then I say without question take the meds. Incidentally I have known people on a maintenance dose of meds for 20 years though thatvisn't ideal of course.
I won't keep going on about it but I think that you would benefit greatly from reading Claire Weekes' book that I mentioned 'Hope and help with your nerves', just check out the reader reviews on Amazon of which there are several hundred.
Worst fears confirmed 
Heart attack fears just worse!
Fears of hurting self
