hi Imperfect moms!
so i finally worked up the courage to go to the doctor and develop a mental health plan and medication along with CBT for anxiety and panic attacks! it was hard! i was suffering with this problem for 4 years! so i am after people's experiences with CBT, did you eventually stop medication? did you lead a 'normal' life?
experiences with CBT
experiences with CBT
Posted in:
Mental Health, Anxiety & Depression
2 Replies
I loved CBT. Initially it took a bit of time up, because there is homework. Nothing difficult but you usually need to fill out some simple forms which help you to challenge and change your thought processes. I quickly moved to being able to do it in my head. If you don't do the homework it won't work because you won't learn to challenge your thoughts. You get out of it what you put in.
I underwent CBT 5 years ago and I absolutely use it today. I've needed one top up where I had one or two appointments to refresh skills with my psychologist. I booked that in as soon as I felt wobbly.
I was on meds for two years all up as the longer you have been depressed/anxious for before you start taking meds, the longer you need them. I learnt in previous attempts of taking meds, that stopping them too soon can leave you back to square one and worse. This time I was able to come off with no issues and haven't needed meds since (not everyone will have that outcome though). My goal was to be mentally well wether that involved permanent drugs or not. It's not a failing to need medication as this is a medical condition.
I dont require medication for that side of things...
CBT is not an instant fix....the benefits of CBT are seen at 5 10 and 15 years afterward.....
And thats just going to the program and learning some things not necessarily applying it to its full potential ok.
I've been actively practicing it for....27 years. Without even realising what it was....went and did a cbt program and realised OMG is that what they were teaching me.
I'm actually a careforce lifekeys facilitator now which is basically just walking groups through CBT peer support programs which are written within the context of christian beliefs with some biblical scripture thrown in backing up the principles of the method.
The key to getting the most out of it, is to practice it til it is habit impulse learned response....
And it DOES take years....practice it every day 3 times a day...make it as natural as breathing. oh once you have the hang of this grab a solid dose of mindfulness too...
It wont mean you will never have symptoms or that you are cured....
But hunny with these tools under your belt you can get through anything thrown at you.
Honestly i believe we should teach it as a basic skill in schools it would seriously undermine domestic violence in this country drug and alcohol abuse etc if people have the skills BEFORE they try all the wrong things to deal with shit........
We should be teaching people to swim before they jump in the lake rather than think of it only once they are drowning.
My situation is such that i was taught to swim before i jumped in the lake.