I am wondering if anyone else has had a problem with this positive thinking? I try & I try to think positive & I don't feel that I am lying to myself oe over eggagerating anything. I even write down the positive things I am thinking on paper & my symptoms still don't go away. I need to stop focusing on them so they can go away! Does anyone else have problems with this or am I OCD? Thanks in advance

r u kidding, lol, i thought I had the most trouble w/ trying to stop the negative thinking. ur totally not OCD! just keep workin on it , remember "Rome wasnt built in a day" ...i know that was really corny...ttyl...

Can you give an example of a positive thought that isn't working for you? It sounds like you are having negative thoughts about your positive thought!

Please remember that it takes a long time to change the negative ways we have been thinking and acting. You need to use all of the skills over and over again, and the anxiety will get better.

I hope you don't think I'm putting you down. I'm just trying to imagine myself (and I have been there) in your position and say what I wish someone had said to me.

Hi Julie, thank you so much for your response. NO, I am not offended by what you said, I am glad that someone took the time to answer me. I actually do go to a group & I find that I get more of a response from people here than I get in my group! Funny how that works out. Anyways, let me see, this afternoon I was having problems with my respiration. I guess I was paying way too much attention to the way I was breathing & I felt almost like I was forcing myself to breath & that if I didn't I felt like I was going to stop. So thinking positive, I said to myself: STOP, then I said you have been to the dr., you have had all kinds of tests done, you are a healthy girl & this is only the anxiety that is making you feel this way. So then I would try to divert my attention elsewhere but it was very hard. I don't think I lied to myself, I can honestly say I KNOW this is anxiety but for some reason maybe I don't beleive it? Does that make sence? Can you help give me some examples of positive thinking maybe I did it wrong? Thanks in advance.

Unhappyteenagegirl: thanks for your advice too! NO, it wasn't corny! How are you feeling anyway? What is your name? Mine is Jeannie. Hope to hear from you soon.

Part of the problem is that you are trying to PUSH your negative feelings away. Don't do this!! ACCEPT, FLOAT are some of the first skills you are supposed to use! If you are not using these skills first then positive self-talk will only get you so far. ACCEPT yourself AS IS !! That means ACCEPT it when you don't feel better right away. It takes time and acceptance to finally feel relief. Stop rushing yourself and putting a time limit on feeling better, this is part of your problem.