How do you combat thoughts that stop you doing things

[Haribogirl]

Just that really
Mind chatter most of the day, it can literally talk me out of doing things
I can have a positive thought and think yes I’ll do that/ go there, then within minutes it’s changed and I’m in anxiety hell.
Just normal everyday things
Shops, housework
Things that are even harder are
Hairdressers, dentist even going to see family
I hate the thought of a panic thought coming on and being stuck in a room unable to leave
It’s getting worse recently, I know it’s only a thought but the impact is making me become agoraphobic on really bad days
I’m 60 now and Have had GAD anxiety/ depression on and off since the age of 25. So lots of experience
But it still bloody freaks me out how debilitating this illness is.

Do you have thoughts that impact on your day to day life????
If so how do you get round them?
Deal with them?
Conquer them?

Any help appreciated

Bump for later people

So nobody with anxiety or depression get these thoughts only me?

Hi! I have had exactly this. I live with a running commentary as I think of it. I found two things helpful, though I know they don't work for everyone and you might need to try a few different things to help. For me a good, practical CBT therapist who worked with me to find tools to break the thought cycles was a life changer. I went private, but you can self refer to your local IAPT service or I have read that even online CBT GTS good results in testing, but haven't tried it myself. My therapist, got me doing writing exercises and journalling which as I love to write worked really well for me.

The other thing was meditation and mindfulness, which just helped me to learn to sort of acknowledge a new gentle swoosh the thoughts away.

GTS = gets.

Yes I have this and I am agoraphobic.
Mine improved dramatically with medication and specialised CBT. I tried to conquer it on my own but it got worse and worse until I was stuck in the house so in the end I got proper treatment.

Thanks ladies
I’m sure there are more of us though

I tried cbt last time I went through a blip about 5/6 years ago
It wasn’t for me, each time I went to fill the form in I’d forgotten what the thought was and couldn’t think of things to write in the other columns

I’ve been writing in a journal since January, when I wake up
About what my sleep was like and my thoughts/physical symptoms on waking
Later at night what I’ve been like through the day and what I’ve achieved
I’ve recently stopped this as I was thinking I was waking up and waiting for them to happen

I’m doing hypnotherapy privately
She’s a hypnotist/psychotherapist
Only had 2, she also works with cancer patients nhs
She said last time she knew It wasn’t happening for me
I need to relax and let it happen, I can listen to tapes till the cows come home but unless I relax enough it won’t happen
I even do it at home at bedtime sometimes I’ve fell asleep

I don’t even now if it’s talking about it that’s making me worse
That sounds daft

I’m on venlafaxine

What was the specialised Cbt called?

It sounds like you have already tried a lot! I think sometimes you do have to keep at it until you find the one that works for you. I know it took me a good few different things and rather a number of therapists.

I think with CBT (or any therapy) you need to have a therapist who really listens to you and gives the tools that are going to work for you rather then handing out generic forms. It sounds like you are already in the journalling zone so you could try doing something a bit different with that, this is what helped me. As I say, might not work for you, but I'll put it out here if you want to try it.

In the morning instead of writing about what your sleep was like and how you are currently feeling you could try thinking about your day and what is coming up that might cause you anxiety. I would write a list of what I had to do that was going to send me into a spiral (eg. Go to the shops, phone the gas company) and then what I am worried might happen (this would be anything from forgetting my purse to zombie attack), and the what I would do to mitigate those things (so make sure my purse was in my bag before I left, have a list, generally avoid any obvious undead).

I found doing it in advance really helped as then I had already thought through the anxious thoughts before I had them, if that makes sense. When I started getting anxious I could think about what I had written (sometimes I even took my notes with me to look at).

I'm not going to say it solved all my problems by magic, but it did give me a small sense of control over things.