Have you had any success with CBT or other psychological treatments for anxiety?

[TJSydney]

Hi everyone,

I've had anxiety on and off for a few years now - I've always had claustrophobia but during the last few years I've started having anxiety attacks in enclosed spaces such as planes, trains and office spaces without open windows. I'm now finding that the anxiety has started to manifest itself when I have a prolonged illness or sickness such as a while back I had a pinched nerve and slipped disc and anxiety attacks from that and now I'm pregnant with twins and have pregnancy related issues which are bringing on nightly anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia. I've barely slept for 3 months.

I'd rather try a psychologist or psychiatrist for treatment first before heading down the meds route as I have tried a few meds which have only made me more panicky and I guess they're more of a short term fix. I want to get to the route of the issue and try to sort it out.

My question: have any of you with anxiety had any success visiting a psych for CBT or any kind of mind therapy? I tried seeing one a while back and after 5 sessions felt like my head was too resistant to it. My mind constantly races and I don't seem to get much out of things like meditation and yoga, although I really wish I could as I'm sure they help.

If you did have something that worked, would you be able to share your story with me? What did you find useful? Did you see a psychologist or psychiatrist? Have any of your overcome claustrophobia?

Hugs to you all, I hope someone has some positive stories they could share with me. I have 3 months to go of this pregnancy and I'm slowly going mad... the insomnia is the worst and sleep deprivation obviously makes the anxiety worse.

thanks x

[blondguy]

Hello TJSydney

Welcome to the forums and well done on your first post too!

I have had anxiety/claustrophobia for many years. Its awful. To answer your question....yes CBT does work very much so...

Claustrophobia/anxiety does dissipate with ongoing regular therapy. I had a community health care worker (psychiatric nurse) help me in the 1980's when my mind was racing like yours. He was a gem...he wanted to see me once a week for six months to 'retrain my my brain' (CBT) This guy gave me my life back....but it was regular....and needed me to commit/stick with the program.

The bulk of the anxiety went away and did well. The claustrophobia and anxiety dissipated big time. This was without meds too 🙂 The meditation and yoga are good...but regular CBT (counseling) will really help the most.

You have 3 months to go until your baby is born TJ. Its only my humble opinion but at this stage maybe a gentle counselor (or even a good GP that has an interest in mental health is a huge bonus) and some regular 'venting' will bring you some peace for you.

You are about to have a wonderful baby 🙂 If it makes sense...be kind to yourself right now and have some gentle counseling. CBT does take some time....months...maybe more...to learn how to retrain the brain.

You have a lot happening in your life right now I hope you can be 'gentle' with yourself. You are pro-active for having the 5 visits you have had. I would go back to your GP...and if she/he cant really help ask for a referral to a gentle soul that can help you in these last 3 months ...

I hope some of that made some sense TJ 🙂

My kind thoughts for you and your family

Paulx

[JessF]

Hello TJ, congratulations on the little one to come. Paul has summed things up really well. I too have been through CBT and some other forms of therapy too. The only thing I will add is that for phobias, the usual treatment is a technique called 'graduated exposure' where the therapist will help you to relax and then take you in your mind through different scenarios that trigger your anxiety, starting with something quite mild and working your way up.

For example, one of your greatest claustophobic fears might be being stuck in an elevator. So the therapist helps you imagine different scenarios involving the elevator that make you less anxious, like travelling in an elevator with a person, travelling in an elevator by yourself, travelling up just one floor, etc. You start with the smallest scenario and work your way up, and the therapist sits in the room with you as you imagine this and teaches you to sit with the anxious feelings, taking notice of your body and feelings, breathing exercises and so forth.

If you have a few phobias, or the phobias are quite strong, it can take a few sessions to learn these techniques and as Paul says you have to keep retraining your brain along the way too. I would suggest being as open as you can in communicating with your therapist during your treatment, so she or he knows exactly where you are at. It may be that you were moving ahead too many steps too quickly and you need to spend more time on the relaxation part of the therapy first.

How did you go in your 5 sessions, can you tell us what sort of things the therapist discussed with you?

[TJSydney]

Hi JessF and BlondeGuy,

Thanks so much for your responses. I didn't have much success with my 5 weeks of CBT - maybe the psychologist wasn't right for me. I just don't seem to respond to things like meditation, talking and yoga etc because my mind is racing so much that it cancels it all out. The last few weeks I've been trying to fall asleep by listening to a few sleep meditation apps on my iPhone but to no avail, I end up getting back up again because my mind is so full of the fact that I can't sleep. I might see if I can find someone else and try again, would love to know where to find the best experts though. thanks 🙂

[JessF]

Hello TJ, sometimes the harder we try to do something the harder it is to actually do it. If I say to you, "don't think of a white bear" what's the first thing that happens when you read that sentence? It's the same when we try and force ourselves to go to sleep.

I find it hard to sleep in silence, so I will listen to podcasts. The meditation ones don't work for me either because like you I start thinking about how I'm listening to it to try and sleep! And then I can't. Perhaps you could try listening to something else... there is an interesting one to try that I only found recently, called 'Sleep With Me'. It has a man with a soothing, sleepy voice that drones on and tells long-winded stories, they're just interesting enough to help you concentrate, but eventually your brain tires and you switch off.

Even if you don't try that, I think the key is not getting to bedtime and thinking, I now have to sleep. You are already putting pressure on yourself. Think of it more as your time to relax, lay down, listen to some music and perhaps even reflect on some of the good things that have happened during the day.