Hi All,

I got the program a couple days ago and I've been trying to breathe, but I have been in a heightened state for 2 weeks now. I won't say full panic, (well there was last Friday night) but definitely general anxiety. Actually, every day has been a building up of anxiety and I have to release it by exercising or meditating (doing the relaxation). This makes me feel better for about 2 hours then I build anxiety again and I notice it in my back. It tenses and I feel uncomfortable and start feeling like I'm dying. Is anyone else going through this as well? Have you found ways to cope? I'm up to 2 hours of exercise and 1 hour of meditation a day to maintain a peaceful state of mind. Not that that is bad, but I'd like to be able to have 1 day where I wasn't anxious and worrying.

Thanks in advance for any help or ideas!

READ THIS COMMENT TOO "AND" MY REPLY:
Originally posted by CG822:
How is it that you convince yourself of something? How can we possibly do that? Then become obsessed with the thought??

How does this happen>?> Its so amazing in a sick way! Is it from being scared of it that you think of it so much??

hmm...



Because somewhere along the line we have lost our coping skills and we tend to have low self-esteem so we obsess and worry about things in which we "think" could happen or in which we might do. We have lost control of our emotions and therefore lose control of our thoughts. This is essentially how we get to this "Y" in the road. Instead of thinking negative often w/ repetitive/obsessive thoughts and not coping well w/ stresses; we should be reminding ourselves that we can replce this negativity w/ a positive.
It's a matter of coping skills.
If we tell ourselves we are going to hurt our loved one's or we are scared of all strangers so don't go out, I'm not goodlooking enough, I'm stupid, I'm not worthy of others attention or love, I'm too fat or whatever(anything negative); then we have to tell ourselves immediately that this is plain silly and we are worthy of a good life, love and freedom.

Basically, we are fulling ourselves because our coping has gone awry (in which can be caused by stress, loss, trauma, low self esteem and constant worry).
Learning to replace your neg. thought(s) w/ a good one is "key". Learning to cope again is the "skill" we must gain again and practice. Hence, the cognitive and behavioral therapy offered by the Midwest Center via tapes/cd's and booklets/flashcards.
This is what the program can help teach you. Some of us have never had many coping skills so we basically ran from the problems in our lives w/ drugs, alcohol, excessive sugar, caffeine, irrational thinking, eating too much & other things not lised.
We end up telling ourselves bad things so often because we feel guilty for our "going overboard" and it becomes a "chronic/ongoing, inner negative self talk".
I hope this helps. I have learned a lot from this program and I am only on week 4 out of 15.
This is an ongoing work though. It doesn't just end after 15 weeks, not really. We have to keep practicing what we learn and USE THE TOOLS IT TEACHES US ON A DAILY {momemt to moment?} BASIS.

Read well, listen well, learn well and practice makes....living "well" {healthy coping and thinking}.

Sincerely,

Ancilee Kaye

Kyle Smidt

Hello, My name is Kyle I am new with this and have suffered from depression and stress and high anxiety levels for a couple years now , I just wanted to say i agree and relate to almost everything you have mentioned here the obsessive thoughts and thinking that just makes you absolutely crazy really makes someone unhappy and i just would like it all to go away. I would love to not worry as much to the point where it gives me headaches. I sometimes can just cry for no apparent reason and i just wanted to say it makes me feel better that im not alone with some of these issues

Sincerely,
Kyle