On the therapy journey

[mocha delight]

I’m starting this thread to post about anything related to my treatment & therapy ect ect ect. Which I’ll start of saying I finally got a appointment with a psychologist on the 9th of September so over 3 weeks away. But not with the one me gp referred to as that psychologist unfortunately for me was not taking on new clients so I found one off the ‘find a professional’ from beyond blue of course and I did not no where else to go look. So already feel nervous & anxious about this appointment and I only made it today besides this psychologist is not one my gp recommended & referred me to. So now I would ever be grateful if anyone give me tips/hints ect ect ect of what to expect from my first ever psychologists appointment. What do I need to know? Now that most of you all have definitely gone through that first time psychologist appointment what kind of things should I ask/tell/mention? How many appointments average until I get a diagnosis? Do psychologists make the diagnosis’s? Does a gp? Or how do I get a diagnosis if a gp’s/psychologists don’t make the diagnosis? Ok yes I’m a complete newbie to trying to get a diagnosis but I just want to be completely prepared of how it works before my appointment. Did I mention I’m nervous and anxious?

[mocha delight]

Hi smallwolf sorry for the late reply as to the first question yes & no and as to the second question I’m feeling nervous

[mocha delight]

Hi ecomama sorry for the late reply and as for how I was feeling that day 😟

[mocha delight]

Well my appointment is now officially 6 days away now and I’m feeling more & more anxious and nervous about it plus losing sleep over it which is normal for me now despite being on medication to help me sleep at night. I’ve been all over the place right now to and my mind has been racing like crazy like I’ve drunk way to much coffee and eaten way to much sugar. I’ve also had so much energy lately like I’ve never had before and finding to hard to concentrate on barely anything for to long.

[smallwolf]

Whether or not this is your first time in seeing a psychologist, it is natural to feel a little nervous - after all, you are meeting someone new who you will be telling your thoughts to. Might also be worth remembering they are also meeting you for the first time as well so may want to make sure it goes well also. I was nervous the first time also.

The other thing to remember is that your sessions are confidential - I am guessing this would have already been explained to you. My daughter and I have 'car conversations' - what is said in the car stays in the car. So people in your family, friends etc won't know what happens etc. unless you tell them of course.

If you want to chat more about this or other stuff, I am here.

Tim

[ecomama]

Hi mocha

It's natural to be nervous but hopefully it's one of the most wonderful journeys you will take!

To help calm your nerves and get your thoughts OUT of your head so they stop spinning around in there... have you tried writing them all down??

Just rambling, scribbling, whatever! I've done this at so many really anxious times of my life and it can really help...

I end up maybe drawing scribbly pictures and many times I have found amazing quotes online to copy in to my note books word for word.... these sayings really help calm me with words of wisdom - like we can't really KNOW everything can we?

There's an awesome thread on here called "Helpful quotes" or something like that.... I LOVE that thread....

I think we post MOST what we need to learn.

Have a squiz and copy some out.

Keeping your mind focussed and your hand busy at the same time, this in itself can calm you for a moment or 2 and then you can build on this.

Hugs.

We are with you all the way.

Love EM

[ecomama]

Nope the thread is called "Quotes I like" started by CMF.....

beautiful.

EM

[mocha delight]

Hi smallwolf thanks for your reply and no that was not explained or not yet at least.

[mocha delight]

Hi ecomama it’s not just the racing thoughts in my mind it’s the very sudden crazy amount of energy I have right now like I’ve never ever in my life experienced this amount of energy. Which is it normal to have this extremely crazy amount of energy suddenly out of nowhere?

[ecomama]

mocha delight said:Hi ecomama it’s not just the racing thoughts in my mind it’s the very sudden crazy amount of energy I have right now like I’ve never ever in my life experienced this amount of energy. Which is it normal to have this extremely crazy amount of energy suddenly out of nowhere?

Dearest mocha

Yes indeed, I think it's completely normal to have this amount of energy!
Most especially when we feel anxious!
Have a think about where we came from.... the cave men and women.... when something was chasing them and they were scared, their fright / flight / freeze reaction was activated.

This is their and our amygdala or our reptilian brain flaring up, ready to take on ANYTHING that we sense as threatening us. A tremendous of amount of energy builds up immediately, ready to give us this burst of energy for protection.

This is a NORMAL reaction to life threatening events.
We need this to save us. Run, get away etc.

You've said you feel scared / anxious / worried about the psych appt coming up... your extreme energy levels make total sense to me.

You can reduce this by saying things like "I am safe" or a favourite of mine "Where are the gargoyles?" lol.... you can Google hundreds more "grounding exercises" and see which ones fit for you.

Acknowledging when this reaction begins, then what you thought before this feeling started and or who was around that preceded this reaction, helps alot 😉.
You can talk with your psych about this... helping you work it out.

I can sense it like a bubbling in my arms, but I USE that energy!
It's healthy to USE this energy by doing ANY high energy activities - my thinking is that my body is then pairing the activity with my racing heart. This helps rewire my brain and will help rewire yours with a different "feedback loop".

I garden, do hard work, saw down branches lol, sweep the garden path / driveway, walk the dog, power walk to the shop, whatever!

All good.
Love EM

[mocha delight]

Well from tomorrow and including it will be 2 days until my appointment and I had a light bulb realisation a couple of hours ago about something that I think I should mention to my psychologist during my first appointment. Nothing serious at the time years ago and certainly not right now but I think it could. As I said nothing to worry about as if I get on top of it now before it does with help from a psychologist then it won’t be a problem down the track.