Try this for Anxiety

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

Hey everyone!

So I just wanted to say that I used to have such bad anxiety that I couldn't leave my house a lot of the time or when I got to school I would have to go home because it was so bad. I was living in hell with my anxiety until my therapist at the time had me go out and get The Anxiety and Phobia workbook. This book changed my life!!!! I was able to stop taking meds for my anxiety (which I thought made it worse) and I was able to get my life back. I have not had a anxiety attack in years and I am not even sure what it is like to feel that way anymore and its a great feeling to no be worried about every fucking thing in life. Sure I still worry about a few things but they are normal things to worry about. Anyways if you don't have a therapist or can't afford to get help for your Anxiety problems you really should look into this book!!!!

[LadyFace]

Hey lady. :)

I remember you suggesting this to me, and I'm still looking for it but I think it'd be a great addition to the books that I already have.
Thanks for posting again!!

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

Hey!

Yeah I have told a lot of people about this book so I thought I would just make a thread for it because I don't want to sound like a broken record. If you can't find it at a book store they sell it on-line. I also just saw that they came out with a new one!!! I have the one from 2000 but they just came out with a new one in 2011!!! So I am not sure how the new one is but I am sure that it has to be even better than the one I used.

[InternalDialogue]

Damn it. I wish I had checked this thread out a few days ago. I was in the bookstore and I was debating whether or not to buy that very book. I ended up leaving it in exchange for two other books that I wanted. Next time, I guess.

It seems like it helped you a lot. May I ask if there was anything in specific about it that helped? Was it a suggested schedule of meditations and things to do or something? (Kind of like the Bulimia book from Gurze if you've ever read that?)

My anxiety tends to swing from lows to highs often and it's been driving me up the wall lately. I don't expect anything to help me get rid of it, but to lessen the intensity of it is something I'd be thankful for. I'll keep this book in mind next time I go out.

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

So this book is set up that it is simple, concise, step-by-step directions for mastery of: Relaxation, Exercise, Coping with panic, real life desensitization, overcoming negative self-talk, changing mistaken beliefs, visualization, expressing feelings, assertiveness, self esteem, nutrition, medication.

There are a lot of exercises/workbook pages that you do for everything. So if you can't see a point in doing one thing there are many other things to try. I didn't agree with a lot of things at first but I kept going at it and I tired to do what I could and with the help of my therapist I worked through everything. The also have an appendix in the back of the book(3) that had additional hierarchies in it which are questions to ask your self when you are in a supermarket, riding in a car, being around people, crowds, groups, restaurants, heights, elevators, bridges, buses, dentists, doctors, airports, and flying. They have these questions to ask yourself and how your going to deal with things.

For me really it was working through the book and letting myself not be able to do a few things right and to go back and do them later. The whole book was helpful in me getting rid of the anxiety.... it wasn't just one thing. There is a part in the book at the front that talks about how you could have a medical problem that is causing your Anxiety also and you may not even know it. For me that was a part of it but not all of it. Once I fixed a few things the Anxiety lessened but I still had to do a lot with this book.

[InternalDialogue]

Thank you for responding.

Hmm, there are a couple of things you mentioned that sound very interesting. I'll be sure to pick this book up at the store next time I see it. I was diagnosed with GAD a few years ago and I've never found anything that has helped much aside from medications, which is fine except for the fact that they turn me into a stupid zombie.

[Girlinterruptedallthetime]

Yeah I know how you feel..... I was on 13 different meds at one point for my anxiety and depression. Now I am on NONE!! I do take Adderall though but thats for my ADD. I always thought that everything had to be fixed with meds and that I couldn't live without them. But it is very possible!!! You have to be willing to work hard and do the work though to live without them. DBT helped a lot also.