I'd
just like to share my experience with an online course I did for my
anxiety (GAD). I couldn't recommend this course highly enough so I
thought I'd post about it here!
About me:
I've had anxiety for as long as I can remember, and had a stint of OCD
when I was around 9ish years old. (I don't remember it much.) Last year,
I started to have panic attacks and my anxiety got very bad; I had to
drop out of uni, cancel a holiday and broke up with my boyfriend of 2
years. I was put on an antidepressant and I also visited a psychiatrist (who didn't help.)
Why I started the course:
My psychiatrist prescribed me medication and that was it. She had no
interest in finding out what caused me anxiety and how to deal with the
root cause. I was SO frustrated. Although the medication was helping a
lot), I felt like it was a bandaid
solution. I also hated the side effects. I wanted to treat the cause. Why was I so anxious?
The program: I didn't even have to get out of bed to do the
course, I could do it from home haha!
After a few months of procrastination, I finally got around to doing
the course. The course involved a weekly lesson and after each lesson you have homework to do for the
week, which gradually gets harder. The lessons basically teach you to recognise your thought processes that
induce anxiety and to retrain your brain to think realistically. (I
don't know how else to explain it.)
For example:
One lesson talks about 'thought distortions.' Things that people with
anxiety tend to think, which are totally unrealistic, but we convince
ourselves that they are true. 'Catastrophising' was one of these
distortions. I.e., you make a mistake at work. Instead of acknowledging
you made a mistake and moving on, you think things such as I'm such a
crap worker' and 'I'm totally going to get fired' etc etc. I'd never
realised I do this, and during the course I learnt how to recognise this
train of thought, stop it, and turn my thoughts into something more
realistic.
Anyway this is one of MANY MANY lessons I learnt during my course!
Me after the course: I tapered off the medication and have not had a panic attack in months. I've even put myself in situations which would have
induced panic attacks (plane rides, small spaces), but have managed to
calm myself down during techniques I learnt in the course. I'm still on a
journey to get better, I'm not quite there yet, but this course has
helped SO MUCH. I hope it may help some of you too 🙂
