Meeting up my psychologist

[Elaja25]

Hi everyone do you experience this too? Yesterday is my first appoinment to my psychologist we had a chat  bout whats happening tome then thought me what to do the relaxation breathing technic then when i get home before went to bed i tried it even though i feel ok coz she told me to do it to practice it but when i do it i started tobe anxious again  that end ups of thinking of nothing again the result is i cant sleep so i need to take my  sleeping tablets  to control it,is that normal? Do you guys experience it too?

[Neil_1]

Hi there Elaja

Welcome to Beyond Blue and thank you for coming here and posting.

I think from what you’ve described, it seems that you’re at the very early stages of treatment and trying to get on the right path forward – which is a huge step and you do need to be congratulated in getting to where you are now.  Those are big steps you’ve taken, so well done.

You mentioned that you’ve only just had your first appointment and then you’ve gone home and tried to practice some things.  Just from my point of view, the experience for what you had is something that is common.  I say this because you’ve only just had your first session with your psych and so all this is relatively new for you and so to then go home and be able to master certain techniques straight away is very hard to do.  This is no slight on you whatsoever … it’s just that with these types of techniques, it does take time to get them right.  And I can understand that when you were trying and it wasn’t happening for you, that you would then begin to feel anxious and overwhelmed again.

I’m not sure what other mechanisms you’ve got in place for your anxiety – medications, other appointments with your gp, etc, but if you can just work on the breathing technique more over the coming days, I’m sure you’ll begin to get it before too much longer.  Then with doing that, that in turn should hopefully go a long way to helping you, especially at night time.

Would really love to hear back from you also.

Neil

[Starwolf]

Hi again Elaja,

Neil has given you great advice. What you're experiencing is normal. It has taken many years for anxiety patterns to take root in your mind. So these patterns are well established and cannot be changed instantly. With time, practice and persistence, you will get better at it.

Doing a little bit at a time is the way to go. There is no point continuing a session if you feel so frustrated that anxiety creeps back. It defies the purpose. Doing as much, as long as you feel comfortable with is a better option. Repeated 5 minutes short sessions throughout the day usually work better than a 20 minutes one once a day (for example).

Hang in there, Elaja. And well done for taking these difficult first steps.

I hope you will keep in touch and let us know how you go.

[JessF]

Hello Elaja, some great tips above. I will add to this by saying, I have had problems with breathing exercises too. Because I don't really think about my breathing much, when I am forced to concentrate on it, it can make me anxious. I start getting silly thoughts, like, if I stop concentrating on my breathing, will I stop breathing? Doesn't make sense, I know. 

I would talk with your psychologist about this. Mine told me that it can be quite common for people to find that breathing exercises make them more anxious if they are not used to them.

Another thing too, have you tried swimming? This can be a great way to get used to breathing in a rhythm, and the action of moving through the water pushes the outside world away and forces you to concentrate on one thing without distractions.

[Elaja25]

Hi neil! 

Such a wonderful response thank you so much you guys specially the people here at BB are all great.

[Elaja25]

Hi starwolf! 

Thanks again for replying yes you're  right i will do it again till i get it! Reading all your responses makes me feel better with all my heart a big thanks guys!

[Elaja25]

Hi jess! 

Yeah exactly whats happening to me exactly the same... It relieves me a lilbit probably   im gonna try do swimming  just like what you said...thank you so much for the reply.... 😊