I have noticed a drop in posts from the previous weeks Whats up? I know what it is..everyone is out living life for the first time LOL

Hello Lionsfan44,
I am still out here.On lesson #12.
This session is difficult for me
as was #3. I can see I need to go back over this course at some time soon. Im a little
stuck.How about you? I must say I understand myself a lot more than I did.I havnt had a panic attack for a while . Anxiety did hit me
this weekend. It passed ok.Hope all is well.

Hi- I'm an August person,too. I've been doing great on the program up until Session 7-8 when I just sort of drifted off. My anxiety returned this past week and I'm really bummed. I have no real excuse WHY I let the program take a back seat in my life. I'm in a full-fledged negative mode where I seem to be setting myself up for failure in school. I'm 54, in college, and all I think about is negative thoughts- "I'm not good enough...I'm going to fail so why am I even trying...I'm too old to be a success...". It really sucks! I talked to a counselor who says that I'm doing AVOIDANCE for some reason. Fear of failure? Fear of success? All I know for sure is that I need to get myself together. I've got one shot at a nursing degree. I KNOW I can do it, I just don't know WHY I seem to be making myself shoot for failure. GEEZ!!! ~Carol

Ginger,
These old habits take time to work on.
I am 50 yrs. old and I spent a long time being negative. I have been doing better but have more work to do. Good to hear you are keeping at it.It is a day to day learning experience.
Keep from beating yourself up.Going back to school at our age can bring on anxiety for sure.
We will all have anxiety in our life. Its how we deal with it that will make a difference.
Best of luck to all of us. Chin up!

I am an August starter. Lesson #9 is not going too easy for me so far.

I am an August person.... have completed the program!
Doing great

I'm an August person too. I've been taking my time getting through the program, so I'm a few weeks behind. But so far so good. I've managed to do ok without taking meds (hoping that I can stay off them). Trying to live everyday in the precious present moment. I retired in June 2008 and have been adjusting to my new lifestyle. It's getting better and better. Working from home part time as an Administrative Director and doing volunteer work at our Botanical Garden and at my church. Exercise also helping. I'm really enjoying incorporating Lucinda's program into my daily life. Just starting Session 10 and plan to repeat the whole program when I'm through.

My advice to all: Keep hope alive!

MatthewM

I started in August too. I haven't posted anything since about week 2, but I think I'm going to start posting again. I'm on day 3 of week 10. This is so far the most anxiety producing session for me, because my anxiety is scary thoughts. But I can say this program is making me take a good look at my life and teaching me ways to battle stress, anxiety and depression in ways I've been needing for many years. We can do it everyone. Live for the moment and be thankful we are alive.

I haven't posted anything in a while either. I have had lots of good days but more bad days recently. I just can't seem to shake this negativity. I have gone through all of the sessions, but I am going to have to start over again. I seem to have forgotten(?) everything. I will still have to take my meds because I suffer from major clinical depression, but I can tell that positive thinking has improved my outlook. Or up to now anyway. Right now I just feel like I am in slow motion. I have all of these "shoulds", and I am letting them get to me. I am just dragging myself through the day. Everytime that I tell myself that I have to exercise I feel sick and can't. The second I tell myself that I have to go on a diet, I eat something sweet. I am just sabotaging myself, but why? Do I want to fail because that's what I think I am used to feeling ike? Does anyone else feel the same way? And I feel angry about stuff, but I'm too "tired" to deal with it.

There are some days I can encourage, and then there are days that I need to be encouraged.

Thanks for listening.

VDV- you are not alone! I'm working with the program and have found it to be a great help in dealing with my depression. BUT, I gave up taking my bi-polar meds because I was feeling so good and doing so well with the program. Then BAM, I suffered a manic episode this past Thanksgiving weekend. I now can see that I MUST take my meds no matter how good I feel. I also looked back on what my behavior was like preceeding this manic episode...I hadn't been doing my usual hike every day, I was eating a ton of sugar, and I hadn't listened to any Attacking Anxiety CD's in weeks. Mix that with all the stress of family gatherings for the holiday and I went totally into a depression. So no, you aren't alone. We have our ups and downs, but through the AA&D program I'm able to see what I wasn't doing that I should have been doing. It helps to look back and evaluate what we haven't done that might be leading us into depression. Most of the time there are definate steps that could have helped. (Exp: taking my meds, going walking or hiking, eating right). That doesn't mean that I wouldn't have had a manic attack, but it opened my eyes to things that I could have done preceeding it. My awareness got brighter. Hope this helps! ~Carol

Thank you, Carol. That's what I needed to hear. It helps that someone can relate. When people hear bi-polar they automatically think "insane and dangerous"! I have to change my ways, and I think with support like yours I can.

Thanks again,

Vicky

I think all in all the program for me has been a good experience. I have experienced kind of a roller coaster ride with my anxiety through the process-anyone else? Also i really enjoyed the cds and dvds but found it hard to get threw thew workbooks. What was some of your experiences?