Determined not to give up

[squiggle]

Hi
Just a wee up date on how i am doing.

Saw a psychiatrist yesterday, they are expensive!!!

I couldn't believe the price, anyway i saw this man and he was not that helpful i thought , he said i had anxiety resulting from my early childhood.
(i was taken into care and adopted aged 5, my mum was a drug and alcohol addicted and my dad used alcohol too)
Sorry if i am all over the place i am between meds and not having the clearest thinking.

He was trying to explain to me that basically i am anxious because of my early life experiences and my upbringing and that why i turned to drugs.
That because i have low self esteem , all i have to do is continue to stay off the drugs and get out there in life and learn to manage my anxiety and thinking!
It doesn't seem that simple to me, my anxiety is outta control at times , i am under a fair bit of stress back home with my dad and other family problems plus just being clean.

The psychiatrist made it seem so simple, he said i could learn to over come my anxiety in 4-6 weeks with a psychologist doing cognitive behaviour therapy.
That seems impossible to me .

Has any one done any CBT?
Is it useful?
I am going to give it a go , on top of seeeing my therapist.
I am due to start my new script of venlafaxine tomo although am tempted to not start,as i have not been anxoius past two days when i have been off citralopram.
I will start new prescription and see this psychologist.

Although i have not been anxoius and panicky i have been very moody.

iTS not always easy but i am still clean, have to believe it will get better.

[historyteach]

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be very effective.
It's a method of looking at our thinking and how it effects our behaviors. We can learn to correct negative thinking in an attempt to choose more beneficial behaviors to help us get what we want, and stay away from what we don't want.

It's also very helpful in learning to identify our triggers, though that takes time. It won't be *done* in 4-6 weeks! I'm *still* learning to identify my triggers, and I've been working at CBT for a long time. And new triggers can be added all the time too, as we continue on this journey called life.

But, CBT is still a very effective method of dealing with anxiety. Especially as it helps us reject negative self talk and replace it with more realistic views of the self and the world. And finally, we learn that, after the trigger, there are three specific places where we have an opportunity to stop and consider before we act out in any way. It gives us that opportunity to slow down and choose our behavior. Personally, that's why *I* think it's effective. Not perfect, but, effective.

And it's all about progress, not perfection, now, isn't it?

Shalom!

[pedagogue]

Maybe not 4-6 weeks, but hopefully you will see some improvement in that time frame. CBT is the most well supported intervention for treating most anxiety disorders. Meds can help for the short-term, but learning how to manage anxiety can be a much longer term solution.

Best of luck!

[kelsh]

Hi Squiggle,

The only kind of therapy I have had for my depression / anxiety has been this. It worked very well for my alcoholism as well as my depression. I got sober and back into counseling for my depression at the same time. I had to wait a few months to be dx with the depression although it was first dx when I was a teen. Since alcohol is a depressant they wanted to see how I did present with depression after being off of alcohol nine months....it was a very hard time.

Also I learned much from AA and the Serenity Prayer was a big help to me and still is to this day...I will have 20 years of Sobriety on July 10, 2008.

I still take an antidepressant at a maintenace level for my depression and always will. I am at a stable place now and finally do enjoy everyday living.

Take care and keep up the questions and good works,

kelsh

[Lucie]

CBT will be great for you if you have a good therapist, and luckily the majority of them are pretty good people. But yeah... 4-6 weeks? You need more time to heal.
I used to have crippling anxiety and cbt was better than any Xanax.

[squiggle]

I am sorry i have not replied sooner.

Thanks for advice about the CBT .I plan to start that fairly soon, i brought myself off my effexor and am waiting to see how i feel.

I had a very bad experience on effexor made me so uptight 24/7 so i stopped after a week at 75mgs daily.doc wanted me to double it.

Had some mild withdrawls from stopping effexor but i seem to be coping ok .

Well thats not entirely truthfull, i had a slip up last week, got back in touch with an ex boyfriend got drunk took valium.... feel like i have messed up all my good work.
Really at least it was not heroin , i dont believe my drinking and drugging has anything to do with me stopping my meds though more to do with lonlieness and bad company.

My doc recommended i re start my previous meds to effexor but i am going to see how it goes.

CBT is definately something i need to arrange,i have been dis organised since this last blow out.

good luck to everyone going through their own stuff.

Kate