[anxiety247]

I am going through really bad panic attacks just about every day now. I am on meds and been doing therapy. Which doesn't seem to help.

My therapist has suggested a mood disorder program and I don't see how that can help in terms of the anxiety. I went in and talked to the people at the program and they wrote me off with depression. Anxiety isn't a criteria to get me in there so I don't see how it could be helpful for someone like myself with panic disorder, extremely bad social anxiety - the though of sitting in a group makes me anxious just thinking about it. To me it makes sense to address the social anxiety first so I can sit in these groups but my therapist is one of those just ride it out and hang in there type people and that doesnt work for me.

That program said I had GAD. LOL really? they gathered all that in one hour of seeing me and not LISTENING!!! I spent two yrs agoraphobic and have suffered panic attacks since 97.

As a result of this unresolved anxiety I have developed a eating disorder. I went into a treatment center and that was EXTREMLY hard for me due to the group interactions. I did not say what I wanted to or just kept quiet. Came home no support typing to piece my life back together did good with the e/d for a bit but the anxiety came back with a vengence.

I am so torn on this program - if I wasnt so damn social phobic it could maybe help then again I have specific phobia that need to be addressed some exposure therapy but that isnt in there program.

I dont know what to do i am barely functioning

[Marla500]

I'm sorry, I wish I could give you some good advice. I hope it gets better

[kaliope]

can you get in to see another therapist? or the same therapist to discuss the concerns you have here? its possible that the mood disorder group will teach you some techniques that you can use to address your anxiety. if you go to it just the exposure alone would be addressing your social anxiety in a safe setting. that may be the reason they put you in a group. still doesnt make sense for not giving you skills first to deal with the anxiety before plunging you into a group setting. i would definately try to get another individual appointment to address your concerns.

[Phoboxyl]

Hi there, here's my advice:

1. Treat your social phobia and gad yourself using CBT techniques. You may not be able to get rid of it all quickly (for instance I find it so hard to consistently do this work so I haven't gotten it all) but you can make HUGE progress in just a few months. This will get you through the door to start on your group work.

Also treat your specific phobia(s) with exposure therapy on your own. You don't need a psych to help you with that because you know what to do already. They can't talk you out of it anyway so there's no point. Most of my specific phobias I treated on my own successfully even though my psych did try to help me. These included fear of using a public restroom or at another person's house, fear of dancing in public, fear of speaking in front of others, and possibly others I can't remember. I also solved a lot of quasi-phobic GAD issues by exposure therapy such as checking my bank account, going to the store, and cooking.

2. Get a new psych, your current one sucks and isn't helping you. I wasted two years and seven thousand dollars on a guy who was well meaning but a bad fit. Don't do it.

3. Keep a log to track your progress and to give you encouragement. In the same book keep a list of your disordered thoughts and assign them to homework sessions to work on. You might want to try 30 minutes a day. This is my goal although I will admit I have NOT done it and I am paying for it by staying sick longer that I have to.

[Ygrec23]

Phoboxyl has some great ideas and has obviously been around the block before. I'll very much second Phoboxyl's suggestion to get a new T. I've wasted huge amounts of time sticking with T's who did nothing for me. Luckily, I've finally found one with whom I've really clicked. We've been making huge progress.

I'm not that crazy about the desensitization method of overcoming anxieties. That's the one where you simply force yourself into painful situations over and over in hopes that being there long enough will reduce the anxiety. Doesn't work for me. What DOES work for me is a combination of desensitization with psychoanalytic psychotherapy. I work with T to get some further insight into the anxiety (of whatever kind), then I try myself out in what would be an anxious situation to see if it's not as bad as before. Then I concentrate on more insight. Then back into the situation. And slowly, slowly this combination does chip away at that massive block of anxiety that's oppressing me.

Hope this helps!

Welcome to the Community, anxiety247. May you find support and understanding here.

[Phoboxyl]

(((((( Ygrec )))))) Thanks a lot for the kind words! Yes I have been around the block I'm sorry to say. I've been dealing with life crippling SA, GAD, OCD, Major Depression, DPD, and Panic, to various different degrees for 14 years. My biggest fear is not getting fixed before I get old. We can't waste any time on therapists that don't know what they are doing or simply aren't equipped for our needs. Most of those guys are only suited to be counselors imo but they try to treat people with serious psychiatric disorders that they DON'T UNDERSTAND! Like my last guy for instance didn't even know what social phobia was all about - I had to TEACH HIM.

Anyway, I'm surprised that exposure therapy didn't help you with your specific anxieties. I have found that psychoanalysis is a load of crap that won't help you with anything beyond feeling better temporarily. Have you actually tried e.t. on your phobias or did you use it to try and treat generalized social phobia because that won't work?

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by Phoboxyl

(((((( Ygrec )))))) Thanks a lot for the kind words! Yes I have been around the block I'm sorry to say. I've been dealing with life crippling SA, GAD, OCD, Major Depression, DPD, and Panic, to various different degrees for 14 years. My biggest fear is not getting fixed before I get old. We can't waste any time on therapists that don't know what they are doing or simply aren't equipped for our needs. Most of those guys are only suited to be counselors imo but they try to treat people with serious psychiatric disorders that they DON'T UNDERSTAND! Like my last guy for instance didn't even know what social phobia was all about - I had to TEACH HIM.

Anyway, I'm surprised that exposure therapy didn't help you with your specific anxieties. I have found that psychoanalysis is a load of crap that won't help you with anything beyond feeling better temporarily. Have you actually tried e.t. on your phobias or did you use it to try and treat generalized social phobia because that won't work?

Hey, Phoboxyl! You're damn right! Most of the therapists aren't up to the problems presented by their patients. On the other hand, I don't agree at all that psychoanalysis is "a load of crap." I've never been in fullscale psychoanalysis (five days a week for years), because I could never afford it. At the same time I'm not unhappy about that because I have the strong feeling that until within the past twenty years standard psychoanalytic doctrine would never have made room for such as me. I grew up with "Stalinist" Freudians (seriously, they had to quote Freud on every page of their articles) and believe me, no one needs them.

And no, I'm not at all in favor of exposure therapy for whoever may be in my situation. I've tried exposure therapy on my own and with therapists for over forty years. Without the insights provided by psychoanalytic psychotherapy it just doesn't work at all. For me. Perhaps for others it does work. More power to them! There are others like myself, though, for whom it's a complete waste of time.

Why? I don't know. Maybe some problems are more deepseated than others. Maybe if your very basic attachment issues, going back to when you were one or two years old, were serious enough, exposure therapy just doesn't work. Who am I to know? All I can tell you is that for me exposure therapy has been tried over and over again, with therapists and without, and for me it's been a complete waste of time. Won't do it again.

Which is not to say I won't test myself after every apparently successful bout of insight therapy. That's fine. But just submitting to the incredible suffering of exposure therapy! Forget it. Take care!

[leejoseph]

Ive had similiar problems.I seen one dr for about 2 yrs.She never helped me in anyway.She did prescribe me benzos that helped ease some of my anxiety.Her solution was if you know its just anxiety deal with it.If i knew it was just a broken foot i coulda dealed with it,but anxiety and social phobia is buried so deep into your subconsious you cant just deal with it.I never meet a dr yet that tried to help me.I had 1 counsler that i think really understood were i was coming from and he tried his best to help.But then he retired and i havent been back to anymore now for about 18 months.Every dr i see just kinda blows anxiety off like its no big deal.I had to give up custody of my kid because i couldnt even take her to the bus stop.So i understand you wish someone could understand us both. LeeJoseph