Hello TeeJay
The news about your diagnosis must be a little frightening itself, though it's good the medication has already kicked in.
Welcome to Beyond Blue (BB) forums. People here are friendly, caring, supportive and respect individual privacy.
I'm not a counsellor or psych, just someone who has ptsd, anxiety and depression. What I can do is relate to you about my experiences with these. I'm sure someone else that has BP will respond to your thread.
Anxiety feels like it is debilitating, however it can be managed and coped with on a ongoing basis as it arises. My biggest learning is to not fear it. It's the fear of fear that used to make me feel worse. Now I go into a routine of:
Slow my breathing, while focussing on my breathe as it goes in through my nose, throat, chest, lungs and diaphragm. Counting in for 5 and out for 5.
Identify why I was triggered and work on this. You say you were diagnosed yesterday. Was it by a GP or therapist? Are you seeing a therapist? This would be good to discuss with your a therapist.
Do some grounding, mindfulness and meditation. There is a range of threads in the Staying Well component of this forum that can help you learn about these techniques.
There is a range of resource material available on the BB home page under the facts tab. Have a look there.
Hope some of this helps. Just know that you are not alone and it does feel scary. Though have faith that it is manageable once you start learning.
Let us know how you get on TeeJay.
Kind regards
PamelaR
