jennie Posted February 7, 2001 Share Posted February 7, 2001 i've been on the celexa now for almost a month going from 5 mgs to 20 mgs, still at 15 mgs. am taking it for obsessive thinking and anxiety and it also helps pms. o.k. here is my problem: it is helping with all the above but i'm so stuck in my thinking of old habits and patterns. example: my boyfriend and me are suppose to meet my sister in vegas next week, and dispite wanting to go and not feeing too much anxiety about it, i am still scared to death to go. it's like my body is relaxed about it but my mind is still stuck in my old ways and fears! i don't know how to deal with this or how to stop this i feel so bad about everything! it's not just about this vegas trip tho it's about everything that i've always been afraid of doing cause of anxiety. it has ruined so much of my life and kept me so limited and i thought this would help eliviate the problem and altho it helps with the anxiety the thinking is still a problem i gues i don't know how else to explain it. sorry this is so long! any suggestions or advice or a swift kick in the butt would be hopefully helpful! jennie Link to post Share on other sites
Tony T Posted February 7, 2001 Share Posted February 7, 2001 As I mentioned to you before, your agoraphobia needs to be treated with a combination of anti-depressants, other appropriate medication to be decide by your doctor (I suggested Klonopin and you can discuss this with your doctor) and cognitive behavior therapy. You need to work on these thoughts with a competent counsellor. Medication cannot change your old thinking patterns. Systematic desensitization is the method of choice, which is exposing you little by little to that which is feared. Once your confidence is built up, this confidence spreads to all other aspects of your life and you will be freed of these anxieties. In my opinion it will happen NO OTHER WAY. Use your favorite search engine and enter: "agoraphobia', "panic disorder", or "anxiety". You will find hundreds of sites with helpful information. However, these will never substitute for in-vivo (real life) exposure therapy and you must do that to get better. You have no choice. I truly understand what you are going through. While it would be really nice to get support from your boyfriend, he seems not to have the insight to understand your problem. Many people find it very hard to relate to something like this...they simply don't understand it. What you now suffer from regarding this Las Vegas trip is anticipatory anxiety. You are fearing in advance the anxiety you are anticipating having during this adventure. Cognitive therapy along with other medication will help this a long way. I know you don't trust new medication but you can begin in small doses and work you way up to the require dose to help you feel better. Just ask your doctor to work with you on this. Once you have done the desensitiation work, gradually you will stop this anticipatory anxiety thing, which is totally a creation of your mind. You trained your mind to do it...and now you must train it another way. You must get your brain to work for you on your behalf and not against you!!! Link to post Share on other sites
jennie Posted February 7, 2001 Share Posted February 7, 2001 thank you tony, i believe the desentizatation thing is the way to go. i will check some web sites for that as my clinic dont seem to have trained counselors that do that. thank you for the suggestion, i knew i could count on you........................jennie As I mentioned to you before, your agoraphobia needs to be treated with a combination of anti-depressants, other appropriate medication to be decide by your doctor (I suggested Klonopin and you can discuss this with your doctor) and cognitive behavior therapy. You need to work on these thoughts with a competent counsellor. Medication cannot change your old thinking patterns. Systematic desensitization is the method of choice, which is exposing you little by little to that which is feared. Once your confidence is built up, this confidence spreads to all other aspects of your life and you will be freed of these anxieties. In my opinion it will happen NO OTHER WAY. Use your favorite search engine and enter: "agoraphobia', "panic disorder", or "anxiety". You will find hundreds of sites with helpful information. However, these will never substitute for in-vivo (real life) exposure therapy and you must do that to get better. You have no choice. I truly understand what you are going through. While it would be really nice to get support from your boyfriend, he seems not to have the insight to understand your problem. Many people find it very hard to relate to something like this...they simply don't understand it. What you now suffer from regarding this Las Vegas trip is anticipatory anxiety. You are fearing in advance the anxiety you are anticipating having during this adventure. Cognitive therapy along with other medication will help this a long way. I know you don't trust new medication but you can begin in small doses and work you way up to the require dose to help you feel better. Just ask your doctor to work with you on this. Once you have done the desensitiation work, gradually you will stop this anticipatory anxiety thing, which is totally a creation of your mind. You trained your mind to do it...and now you must train it another way. You must get your brain to work for you on your behalf and not against you!!! Link to post Share on other sites
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