Stress Center Peer Support

ok, so I am new to this whole thing. To give you an overview of myself.

I am 26 years old and pregnant with my first child. I have always had overwhelming fears. The ones that seem to stay a while are the ones about death.

I can remember worrying about HIV/AIDS thinking that I was going to die from it and I was not taking any risks, I was only 15 years old. I looked up the symptoms on the internet and I started to develope them one by one. I had test after test that was negative but I still worried that I had it.

The lastest obsession is I thought that I was going to loose my unborn baby, the doctors have pounded it in my head that the baby is not effected by my worrying and getting worked up, so now I have moved on to "what am I doing to myself" I can hardly sleep at night because the moment I lie down I start to get panic, and I have a headache alot of the time. I am at a loss and feel as though I am going crazy. Which in turn makes me think " what if I do go crazy, I will loose everything, my husband, baby, family, etc.

Anyone dealing with some of this stuff?? Please help. I will be receiving the video's on Friday.

Sorry this was so long, but had to explain my story.

If you look at the many threads under Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) you will find many exercises and solutions to what you are experiencing. You are not alone and certainly your situation is not unique. You simply have obsessive thinking and it is curable!

Nothing - and I repeat - NOTHING you hear in your head is true. They are all lies! You are being buffaloed by the biggest buffalo of all time - your ego thinking mind.

Of course, you can not stop the intial thought from coming in but you can certainly stop all following thoughts. Shout STOP! You've had enough! STOP!

Then focus on your calm breath. Inhale, hold to the count of 4 and then exhale through pursed lips slowly.

Then get your attention out of your head and focus on something outside of yourself. Count backwards from 100-1. Whistle. Sing, but get out of your head. You can do it!

Put your focus on decorating your baby's room. Buy toys.

A good book to read to help you with obsessive thinking is Freedom from Fear by Dr. Howard Liebgold. Get the book. Practice the exercises. Work this program and do the exercises.

With practice you can beat this. You want to become the observer of your thoughts. Allow them to come and go without your attachment to them. Stop reading about ailments. Use phrases like "SO What!" and "I can handle it!"

Practice. You will get very good at it and you will find the peace you are looking for.

I totally understand what you are saying. I have two daughters and when I was pregnant with my four year old I was having obsessive thoughts and panic attacks throughout the whole day. I was hyperventilating so much I had to see a doctor about medication at about three months into the pregnancy. Long story short I did NOT do well with Zoloft and became extremely depressed. The ONLY thing that helped me was walking with my mom. At first I could hardly walk the length of one block, but my mom helped me keep with it even when I thought I was going to die and in about two weeks of walking every day I felt better and the anxiety was more manageable to where I could function and the depression lessoned. I was worried about getting depression after the baby was born so I made sure I had some help and a therapist lined up that I trusted just in case. I had those same thoughts of thinking I was going crazy. I am better now and no longer think I'm going crazy, but I still do get crazy thoughts.

Thanks, I am actually on Zoloaf and it seems to be working for me. I am going to be starting the cd's to so I am happy that it is working so far.

Thanks,

Candi