Hi all
A few years ago, I had OCD, really quite severely. I was in a very difficult place. Thankfully, five years on (and with a lot of support both from the NHS and a number of private providers I was fortunate and privileged enough to access) I no longer meet the criteria.
In "recovering (my life)", something that was very useful to me as part of my treatment was a form of cognitive behaviour therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It was not the only thing that helped (so did traditional CBT/ERP/meds/Mindfulness and Compassion Focused Therapy) but it was something that when I was at my very worst, and really not able to engage or gain much from some of these other approaches because I was in such hell, was accessible to me and helped me a lot.
I really feel very indebted to ACT so when this Ted Talk came out this week by one of the founders of ACT, I was keen to see it. His name is Steve Hayes and he experienced his own panic disorder. He walks through that experience in some detail in the talk, and it was very moving for me to see how vulnerable he was prepared to be about the very worst of anxiety and panic - I can't imagine it can have been easy.
The bit where he screams when realising that he isn't having a heart attack but this is just another manifestation really resonated with me. I know I have done those screams too. It really struck to the heart of it for me.
Hope it is of interest to someone:
www.youtube....h?v=o79_gmO5ppg
(Also posted in Chat for traffic)