ideas for the long wait for psych appt

[relax16]

i have been suffering anxiety and depression quite badly for the past couple of months. mostly health anxiety issues. i am on medication which is slowly kicking in and have booked myself in for a psych appt...but i cant get in for over a month. since i dont have any emergency symptoms i have to wait as there are people who need help more urgently. i am looking forward to my appt as i need to get out of the constant loop of negative and scary thoughts which follow me all day. are there any free online programs or apps that anyone has found useful just to get them through the waiting period to actually seek professional help????? any advice would be great as i am barely functioning at work and at home with my kids...just spend my days distracting myself with tv and my phone.

[JessF]

Hello relax16, there is a very good book called The Happiness Trap which is based on Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), a very popular and effective form of therapy that psychologists use. It's all about helping you cope with difficult feelings and emotions. If you google ACT you will probably find some good pages that explain the basic principles of it, as well as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy).

You might also want to have a look through some of the threads here in the Anxiety forum, there are a lot of people here who have health anxiety and talking to them might make you feel less alone and give you some ideas for copiong too.

[relax16]

thank you for your reply! i actually have a copy of the happiness trap and tried reading it again but my poor brain isnt concentrating so well...i will give it another go though.prob just the medication making me restless and unable to focus

[Lost_Girl]

Hi relax16,

Google Palouse mindfulness. I was directed to this by my psychologist for the Bodyscan (towards the bottom of the left menu) as a way of relaxing myself through anxiety caused by antidepressants. I found it does help calm me. You might find it beneficial going through the weekly exercises on here if you have time. Another short version of the body scan can be found in a mobile app called Smiling Mind.

I hope this helps.