I been working on my "obsessive" thought. My anxiety seems to be centered around just obsessing so I guess its ocd. My problem is, I cant keep the thought of Bipolar 2 out of my mind. This doctor when I first got anxiety and I thought I was going crazy said thats what was wrong. I knew he was wrong after being on the internet 3 days looking at bipolar stuff. Ive been seeing an anxiety therapist Ph.D. and a different psychiatrist who say I dont have any bipolar. Now, Logically I know this. But what if I do???? This is what gets me. I heard this leading psychiatrist who said on the radio, that most problems such as anxiety dont need medication that psychiatrists are over perscribing and labeling and doing no therapy as an alternative but He said problems such as Bipolar or Schitzofrainia..... needs medication. Then the what if's start. Par of my strategy is to say Bipolar 2 dosent mean anything it could be bad PMS to ADD or moody, but why did he say except for bipolar & schitzo. Mt therapist said he meant BP1 that bp2 is a new and way over used diagnosis.I have effectively thought stopped on this for 3-4 days at a time, then it comes back and seems so real again. Its like back & forth, when I'm out of it, it seems so permanent and ok, then I creep back in and it seems so real and like it will never end. Its better then always being there, so thats an improvement.(Please no Bipolar info)
If someone knows how to make the good days last.. any advice, much appreciated.
need some obsessing advice
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Hi Marylynn,
The first thing I would recommend is to start watching your thoughts instead of trying to get rid of them. Just intensely watch. You want to begin to end the compulsive involuntary thinking, so just be the watcher. Notice how repetitive the thoughts are, how they are in the past or the future, and how negative and scary the thoughts are. Just notice. You don't have to try to make them go away. Infact, trying to make them go away will only keep them going strong. Watch. Don't talk back to them. Use your breath to keep you focused on watching. Notice yourself breathing in and breathing out.
Another thing you can do is going directly into the feeling part of your body. Where are you feeling this fear? Do your best to stay out of your thinking mind. Touch the part of you that feels discomfort. Hold your attention on the affected area. Stay with it. It will begin to dissolve. Remember to stay out of your thinking mind. When a thought comes, leave it hanging in midair and bring your attention back to the feeling in your body. Stay with it. Just notice it.
Practice for awhile and see how much calmer you become. We can tell you not to worry but that doesn't seem to be enough. You won't accept it. Do the exercises and prove them to yourself. Persevere.
Blessings,
Bonnie
The first thing I would recommend is to start watching your thoughts instead of trying to get rid of them. Just intensely watch. You want to begin to end the compulsive involuntary thinking, so just be the watcher. Notice how repetitive the thoughts are, how they are in the past or the future, and how negative and scary the thoughts are. Just notice. You don't have to try to make them go away. Infact, trying to make them go away will only keep them going strong. Watch. Don't talk back to them. Use your breath to keep you focused on watching. Notice yourself breathing in and breathing out.
Another thing you can do is going directly into the feeling part of your body. Where are you feeling this fear? Do your best to stay out of your thinking mind. Touch the part of you that feels discomfort. Hold your attention on the affected area. Stay with it. It will begin to dissolve. Remember to stay out of your thinking mind. When a thought comes, leave it hanging in midair and bring your attention back to the feeling in your body. Stay with it. Just notice it.
Practice for awhile and see how much calmer you become. We can tell you not to worry but that doesn't seem to be enough. You won't accept it. Do the exercises and prove them to yourself. Persevere.
Blessings,
Bonnie
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Guest
You know it was easier in a way to do that, being off medication because I had something to feel. With medication I just get the thoughts without the feeling. Its the figuring out part, I logically know I dont have Bipolar but since 1 doctor said that it became an obsession. I need to face my fears, (not sleeping), and undo all the damage the psychiatrist did. The only way to do it is to experience the insomnia and accept whats happening and work with that. In order to do that I need to get off the ssri that helps me sleep so well. Its just scarey. Because I associate the not sleeping to depression & mania instead of anxiety, but I'm telling myself that "mania" is a way to avoid feelings just like obsessing is, so in a sense its similar - you just feel better with mania. In both cases you need to calm down and think positive in order not to get depressed. I also have to realize that I was called BP2 not manic/dep, its a "mood disorder". Its nothing! I'm just making it huge huge huge in order to distract myself from the real issue. Fear of loss of control in my life, the thing I value most.
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Marilyn,
I understand how you feel. I have been struggling with instrusive racing thoughts for a while now. I am really trying to lose the fear of these episodes now. I experienced the paralyzing fear of being bipolar or being schitzo for 2 years and now I just tell myself that my counselor assures me it is severe anxiety but, even if I was diagnosed otherwise, there is medicine on the market for it these days and it's not like it was 20 years ago and that seems to help me now. It has taken me a long time to lose that fear (which by the way is why it has taken me so long, because of the constant fear of it). Anxiety is a very hard, tormenting thing to deal with, especially for those who don't understand it. I don't know if anyone else has recommended Dr. Claire Weeks books but, they are wonderful help for anxiety sufferers. She has 3 books that I know of: "Peace For Nervous Suffering", Hope and Help For Your Nerves" and "More Help For Your Nerves". They have been a tremendous help for me as well as many others on this forum. She is very comforting in the way she writes. I hope I have helped somewhat.
I truly understand how frightening this is to live with. Be strong. God Bless.
Hope40
I understand how you feel. I have been struggling with instrusive racing thoughts for a while now. I am really trying to lose the fear of these episodes now. I experienced the paralyzing fear of being bipolar or being schitzo for 2 years and now I just tell myself that my counselor assures me it is severe anxiety but, even if I was diagnosed otherwise, there is medicine on the market for it these days and it's not like it was 20 years ago and that seems to help me now. It has taken me a long time to lose that fear (which by the way is why it has taken me so long, because of the constant fear of it). Anxiety is a very hard, tormenting thing to deal with, especially for those who don't understand it. I don't know if anyone else has recommended Dr. Claire Weeks books but, they are wonderful help for anxiety sufferers. She has 3 books that I know of: "Peace For Nervous Suffering", Hope and Help For Your Nerves" and "More Help For Your Nerves". They have been a tremendous help for me as well as many others on this forum. She is very comforting in the way she writes. I hope I have helped somewhat.
I truly understand how frightening this is to live with. Be strong. God Bless.
Hope40
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Hi -- a couple things: You don't need medication. Look at me, I've had these same scary thoughts and whupped 'em. And had my greatest gains without meds. (Note: Yeah, but I can't diss meds completely; they've worked wonders for some.) My advice: Find an OCD specialist. I can't emphasize that enough. I bounced from doctor to doctor, all of them saying they workeid with anxeity sufferers. But the truth: I knew more about OCD than they did. I found an OCD guru who guided me through the rigors of exposure therapy. IT WORKED! I ordered Lucinda's program. IT WAS AWESOME! Oh, and another thing: Nab all the books you can find on the condition. A good one: IMP OF THE MIND. And I agree, like the other person suggested, just observe your thoughts. Great advice. One more thing: You mentioned how the thoughts slip away for a couple days and then return. You know what? One day they'll slip away forever. God bless, baby!
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The author of Imp of the Mind is Lee Baer. And,yes, it's powerful.
Another good book to recommend is by Claire Weeks called Hope and Help for Your Nerves.
Again, practice being The Watcher of the Thinker every single day whether you feel good or bad. Practice daily. Looking at this is not going to make it worse. It will make it better. (You'll notice I said "looking" - not talking back or going into scenarios - just looking, watching, observing. Allow those thoughts to drop you. You go into second fear. Stay with the first initial sensations. No What Ifing. No Oh, no here comes those feelings or thoughts again. Describe the feelings that come with the thought. Relax your body in a comfortable chair. Sag into it. Float with the feelings - again, stay with the feelings. Allow time to pass. You can still function with those feelings. They are just feelings. Stay out of "second fear". They will pass very quickly.
Hope you are doing well.
Bon
Another good book to recommend is by Claire Weeks called Hope and Help for Your Nerves.
Again, practice being The Watcher of the Thinker every single day whether you feel good or bad. Practice daily. Looking at this is not going to make it worse. It will make it better. (You'll notice I said "looking" - not talking back or going into scenarios - just looking, watching, observing. Allow those thoughts to drop you. You go into second fear. Stay with the first initial sensations. No What Ifing. No Oh, no here comes those feelings or thoughts again. Describe the feelings that come with the thought. Relax your body in a comfortable chair. Sag into it. Float with the feelings - again, stay with the feelings. Allow time to pass. You can still function with those feelings. They are just feelings. Stay out of "second fear". They will pass very quickly.
Hope you are doing well.
Bon
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Guest
Marylynn,
Like one of the messages above said, you work your way out of the obssessive thought for several days, then you have it again. One day you will work your way out and it won't come back again. My opinion is that if you graphed recovery it would not be a straight line from left to right (or right to left if you are Japanese. Ha! Ha! Just joking) always going at a consistent angle upward. It looks like a stock market chart with peaks and valleys. But the long term trend will be upward. Long term in terms of months, not days.
I don't know what doctor said the only disorders that need meds are bi-polar and schizophrenia (sp?) but he's wrong if that's what he said. Yes, psychiatrists (that is a really hard word to spell!) do over prescribe meds. That's one extreme. Then there are those who say that you don't need any med, that you should be able to work your way out of whatever you have. That's the other extreme.
The truth is that there are millions of people with simple clinical depression or major depression that would not get better without the help of medicine. I think that Lucinda Bassett would agree with that statement because she says the same in one or two of the tapes. Anxiety and depression are two different disorders. Meds for anxiety are xanax (alprazolam), Ativan, Valium (diazepam), and others which are all controlled, that is they all have an addictive substance in them with the exception of Buspar. Anti-depressant meds are prozac (ssri), paxil (ssri), zoloft (ssri?), effexor xr, and others like Desyrel, imipramine, luidomil, elavil (amitriptyline) and others. These meds for depression are not addictive and therefore are not controlled.
Drugs are controlled by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Drugs for depression are not controlled by the DEA, only anti-anxiety meds and other meds for pain with a controlled substance like vicodin which is a control III I think, and morphine is a control II.
These meds exist for a reason. Some people need them. People with moderate to severe depression might or might not ever get better without the use of an anti-depressant. Some would take their own lives without them. Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds help a person regain control over themselves. Some may not need them, others do.
Whether it's an anti-depressant or an anti-anxiety med, when the chemicals in your brain (norepenephrine, serotonin, dopamine) become balanced you won't need either one. Whether the imbalance is taken care of with medicine, cognitive therapy, or a combination of both, when your brain doesn't need them anymore you will know.
StressCenter's program has been better for me than medicine, but I couldn't have reached this point without being treated for depression with an anti-depressant first. I'm still on medicine and if I have to take it for the rest of my life, that's okay. I've worked off meds before and thanks to StressCenter's program AND medicine I hope I will be able to again.
My experience with psychiatrists is that there are some who only try to work with meds and there are others who start with meds if needed and recommend cognitive therapy (a psychologist) if needed. It's up to you to find the right doc.
Sounds to me you are in recovery. Just keep working the program. It never stops working. One day you will be completely recovered.
Like one of the messages above said, you work your way out of the obssessive thought for several days, then you have it again. One day you will work your way out and it won't come back again. My opinion is that if you graphed recovery it would not be a straight line from left to right (or right to left if you are Japanese. Ha! Ha! Just joking) always going at a consistent angle upward. It looks like a stock market chart with peaks and valleys. But the long term trend will be upward. Long term in terms of months, not days.
I don't know what doctor said the only disorders that need meds are bi-polar and schizophrenia (sp?) but he's wrong if that's what he said. Yes, psychiatrists (that is a really hard word to spell!) do over prescribe meds. That's one extreme. Then there are those who say that you don't need any med, that you should be able to work your way out of whatever you have. That's the other extreme.
The truth is that there are millions of people with simple clinical depression or major depression that would not get better without the help of medicine. I think that Lucinda Bassett would agree with that statement because she says the same in one or two of the tapes. Anxiety and depression are two different disorders. Meds for anxiety are xanax (alprazolam), Ativan, Valium (diazepam), and others which are all controlled, that is they all have an addictive substance in them with the exception of Buspar. Anti-depressant meds are prozac (ssri), paxil (ssri), zoloft (ssri?), effexor xr, and others like Desyrel, imipramine, luidomil, elavil (amitriptyline) and others. These meds for depression are not addictive and therefore are not controlled.
Drugs are controlled by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Drugs for depression are not controlled by the DEA, only anti-anxiety meds and other meds for pain with a controlled substance like vicodin which is a control III I think, and morphine is a control II.
These meds exist for a reason. Some people need them. People with moderate to severe depression might or might not ever get better without the use of an anti-depressant. Some would take their own lives without them. Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds help a person regain control over themselves. Some may not need them, others do.
Whether it's an anti-depressant or an anti-anxiety med, when the chemicals in your brain (norepenephrine, serotonin, dopamine) become balanced you won't need either one. Whether the imbalance is taken care of with medicine, cognitive therapy, or a combination of both, when your brain doesn't need them anymore you will know.
StressCenter's program has been better for me than medicine, but I couldn't have reached this point without being treated for depression with an anti-depressant first. I'm still on medicine and if I have to take it for the rest of my life, that's okay. I've worked off meds before and thanks to StressCenter's program AND medicine I hope I will be able to again.
My experience with psychiatrists is that there are some who only try to work with meds and there are others who start with meds if needed and recommend cognitive therapy (a psychologist) if needed. It's up to you to find the right doc.
Sounds to me you are in recovery. Just keep working the program. It never stops working. One day you will be completely recovered.
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