danielle53

Hey! First of all, it sounds like you pretty clearly don't gel with your therapist. I've tried CBT and other talk therapy for months and years on-again/off-again. Because my family relocates a lot and for insurance reasons, I've also seen quite a variety of therapists and psychiatrists for therapy, counseling, or medication. Therapy is supposed to help with your anxiety, right, Not make it worse! I would stop seeing your CBT therapist immediately and either find another CBT therapist or choose another form of treatment. I know this has been a bad experience, but don't give up yet! I would do a Google search for therapists in your area that take your insurance. Read over their profiles and narrow it down to a few that you like, and then see if you can have a free phone consultation (or another kind of consultation if phone calls freak you out). I would definitely recommend some kind of consultation though before you commit all that time, energy, effort, and money into another treatment regime. I would explain to a new potential therapist exactly what's been going on and why you didn't like or didn't think your current CBT therapist isn't working out. That' way you can be more confident on this try. Best of luck! P.s. I also get really scared of phone calls. I'll avoid talking to even those I love to talk to on the phone if I'm feeling really anxious. It's also really hard for me to get up the nerve to listen to voicemails which, as a natural consequence of avoiding phone convos, I tend to rack up a lot of. Try emailing whenever you can do that instead. That's what I try to do

Welcome! I also just joined, like 15 minutes ago, but might as well hop on the band wagon, right A therapist I was seeing actually recommended this site to me just for the reason you mentioned. I'm so blessed to have a great support system of friends and family, but even professionals in the mental health industry can't really "get it" if they've never experienced it themselves. No one in my support group can personally relate, although they are still supportive and as helpful as they know how to be. I'm also hoping to find value in talking to other people on AC who are going through similar anxiety struggles. Best of luck!

Hi! I'm new here too, but this website was recommended to me by a therapist I saw during the school year. I realized that even though I'm blessed to have a huge support system, all of those people--my parents, my sister, my boyfriend, and even professional help--they couldn't empathize or really understand what I was going through. Even though they listened to me and help me in many ways, they could never really get it because they've never experienced it. Panic attacks are one-of-a-kind you know I still haven't found a solid, healthy, go-to coping mechanism for me. I do practice some yoga and try meditating. From all the therapy I've had, I kind of feel like a I have a bag of tricks for coping where each thing kind of works. So what I end up doing when I am panicky is doing a little bit of everything. I'll call someone to talk to. I'll take a walk outside or take a shower. I also do some yoga, but I've forgotten a lot of it so I can only do about ten minutes of any practice. However, I think that meditating, visualizing, and diaphragmatic breathing are easy ways to kind of calm yourself anywhere and anytime. I also recommend journaling and sleeping, haha. I agree that keeping your mind focused is key to staying calm when you start to feel yourself spiraling!

Hello! My name is Danielle and in the past year I've been diagnosed with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and Panic Disorder, although I've had anxiety and have been self-harming on and off since I was 15 years old. I also have OCD tendencies, though I don't think I have full-blown OCD. I've done a lot of therapy, read a lot of books and articles, and am currently seeing a psychiatrist and taking prozac and xanax. I also practice yoga and (try to!) do cardio exercise, write in my journal, visualize and breathe and all that other stuff. Anyway, so those are all of my mental health identities. As for my other identities: I live in Atlanta where I am studying psychology and anthropology undergrad right now. I have a great support system of my mom, dad, sister, and long term boyfriend. I love children and hope to work with children for a career someday. For the summer, I'm working at a child psych lab part time and as a nanny part time. It was a real struggle for me to finish my last semester at college, and by several measures it would seem I did just fine. I feel "crazy" often though, and I have frequent panic attacks that keep me from doing many things that I'd like to or need to do. It's a real problem that impacts my life on a practical level, but it also makes me feel terrible, scared, and sad a lot. This summer is supposed to be my time to bounce back from last semester and hopefully to get a handle on my anxiety for the coming fall semester. I'm constantly worried about succeeding and failing in school, in my various jobs and responsibilities, and in life in general.