New to talking about mental health, makes my hands shake. Almost spilt my coffee...

[AshCranberry]

Hi everyone, have struggles with various disorders, mostly related to ocd/anxiety. Started therapy a year ago after simply relying on my good friends pharmaceuticals for 16 years.

My psych & I are working on cognitive behavioral therapy, so I'm trying to do things that scare me. Since there are no toads around right now, I thought I'd try possibly exposing myself to trolls/criticism/judgement by posting a thread on a message board.

Trying to be hopeful that y'all are a kindly bunch who I look forward to learning from.

Thanks for reading.

[james1]

Hey AshCranberry

Welcome to the forums and I hope you can feel safe here. We will not judge, criticise or troll you in any way!

It sounds like you were very nervous about posting here in the first place.

Sorry, I don't know much about you so I'm not sure what to reply with. Did you want to share what's been bothering you recently?

It's great that you're seeing a psychologist already and starting CBT. I'm going through Schema Therapy at the moment and boy is it hard work!

Love to hear back from you when you feel comfortable.

James

[AshCranberry]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Don't have the moxie to get too personal just yet, takes me awhile to warm up to new people, but it's great that i finally found the courage to post and thank God the first reply was positive, really appreciate it. Seems like this forum could be the extra help i need. Maybe my kookiness won't be so kooky in this environment since we're all sort of in the same boat.

[Guest_322]

Hi,

Welcome! I'm glad you took a gamble on your first post, and moreover, for giving therapy a go.

From my personal experience, this is an extremely supportive community. If it helps, the posts are moderated so trolls' posts would generally not pass moderation.

I'm glad you found James' reply reassuring and whenever you like (& only if you want to), you can let us know how you're going

Dottie

[blondguy]

Hello Ash

Good on you for posting...it takes a lot of courage to do so. Ive had anxiety and depression since 1983 and it can be a real pain. I also spill coffee when my adrenal gland starts pumping too much.

If it wasnt for people posting for the first time this forum wouldnt exist so thanks. There are super kind people on the forums that can be here for you Ash.

my kind thoughts

Paul

[AshCranberry]

Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated.

[geoff]

hello AC, welcome to the site and thanks for posting your comment.
I also have anxiety and OCD only for about 56 years but there is another member who also has OCD she is at a much a younger age, oh to be young again.
I know that it takes a lot of courage to even think about posting your first comment and then to try and explain how you are feeling all within the first comment, that's understandable, but there is no pressure on you, and there may come a time when you are watching TV and then suddenly hop up and decide to comeback to us, take as much time as you need. Geoff.