Going through an Anxiety relapse and having a psyche appointment in 2 days.

[Flop]

Hi all,

It's been awhile since I've used this forum. Many months. Last I posted was about a driving instructor appointment and summoning the willpower to both book one and go to it. (I was suffering with panic attacks at the time)

I still worry about panic attacks, but much less so then the last time I posted here. So for anyone else struggling, you can beat it, it's a slow burn that I'm not even completely through, but we'll beat it in the end.

On to the topic at hand, I did actually go to my driving instructor appointment, but she was very controlling and it made me lose a lot of confidence in my driving and that has led me to pretty much stop driving all together (I think I went once a month ago) and consume all my motivation, since then I haven't really done much of anything. I know the instructor was just doing her job but a lot of situations she intervened in I could handle. Obviously given it's our first appointment, she couldn't have known that.

Because I've not had the motivation to do anything, I've been feeling really bad about myself in a multitude of ways, which has made me pretty depressed and anxiety hasn't been awful since I haven't focused on anything, but when I think of life... I get very anxious. It's probably the best time to go to a psychologist given how I'm feeling, but our first appointment (which was 3 months ago, haven't had one since(they're very hard to get into)) was more just like a chat? Talked about ex partners, parents and similar things to that. I did bring up my actual issues but they didn't net any real emphasis from her.

Because of ALL of this, I'm feeling like I won't gain much from going and it's also gonna be really hard to go in general. Last time I went, it was helpful because I didn't think I could bear even sitting in and talking with someone.

Any advice is welcomed, your journey with a psychologist, if you can relate with the slump I'm in, or anything else you can think of, and of course kind words are always appreciated. 

Thank you for reading. ❤️ I hope everyone is well.

[Bob_22]

Hi flop,

Thanks for your post and welcome back to the forums. It sounds like you had a tough experience with the driving instructor and I hope you will soon find the motivation to return and/or find a different instructor. 

Regarding a psychologist, it's a different experience for everyone and it also really depends on the psychologist. I personally only see my psychologist once every two or three months which is enough for me. I don't get a lot unfortunately out of talking through my issues with a professional. I more use it as a back up just in case something is really troubling me. But I know for some people its a huge protective factor. It really depends on the person, their personality and their mental health literacy. But I suggest if you found your last session helpful that you should return because having a good first session is a great sign. Generally from there you can start to relationship build and start tackling strategies. 

Having low motivation is a huge part of depression and was something that very much affected me. It's a daily battle but there are certainly strategies to tackle this. It includes a number of things (which you can learn with your psychologist) such as exercising, activity scheduling, mindfulness, sleep/diet changes and social strategies. I would suggest this be the focus for your next session since it sounds like your biggest issue atm. 

Here are some more tips and advice re motivation: https://headspace.org.au/online-and-phone-support/interactive-tools/activities/motivation/ 

Please keep us updated and I hope this helps a bit.

Bob

[Whatsinaname]

It's funny when it comes to psychs as it depends massively on your personality. I saw about 3 psychs that I just didn't click with and 1 I know is booked out for months in advance. I ended up seeing a "free" one, using a mental health plan, and he was great for me.

For the most part we do kinda just talk, can't explain why but for me that calms me down I guess haha.

Long story short, maybe worth "shopping around"