Therapy for anxiety - any experiences?

[Lostfraggle]

Any experiences of therapy for anxiety? How did you choose a therapist, what kind of therapy was it (what was the therapist qualified in), how long did it last, did it actually help?

I'm on sertraline which is really helping, but would really like to fix the root cause of the anxiety and ideally come off the drugs at some point otherwise I'm going to be on them for the rest of my life!

I tried self-guided online CBT (moodgym, recommended by the GP), but I already know the anxiety is irrational, and it's more a general feeling of anxiety and panic (linked to work), rather than feeling anxious about specific worries. So it didn't feel like the CBT helped at all.

I could do with knowing too. I am on propranolol for other reasons but I believe it can help with anxiety fight or flight responses, (fast heartbeat, etc.)

I’ve done CBT twice now and hated it both times. I don’t find it at all helpful and it’s mainly being told obvious strategies and to retrain thought processes that I already know I should do.

I didn't find CBT helpful at all but I had w years of talking therapy and that really helped.

I would recommend psychodynamic Psychotherapy. As you say, you want to get to the root cause of the anxiety and get in touch with the feelings underlying it. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy looks at how what you experienced in the past is impacting on who you are and how you feel today. Much more in-depth than CBT and generally longer term too

Google BACP - British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. You can find a therapist local to you who is properly qualified and registered

Remedial hypnosis produces excellent results for all types of anxiety. Why? Because anxiety is an emotion and emotions are triggered by your subconscious mind, not your conscious, logical mind.

Anxiety is the emotion that informs us when things are too important to be ignore - such as ensuring we've got our passport before leaving for the airport, or preparing for an exam or job interview - so you do need it in your life but at a level of 1 or 2 on a scale of 0-10 and it should recede once you've done the 'thing' it's drawing your attention to. If anxiety is inappropriately high or constant it can feel horribly unpleasant and can lead to physical problems such as digestion issues, trembling, blushing, etc because the mind has triggered the body's fight or flight response.

Finding the root cause of why your mind is working overtime is key. Often it's based in childhood or young adulthood when your Core Beliefs (the way you think about yourself, other people and the wider world were conceived and fixed in your mind as truths) developed. For example, if you were embarrassed at school when you messed up a presentation your mind will ramp up the anxiety when you want to give a work speech as an adult. This is not to harm you; on the contrary the subconscious will remember how bad you felt as a kid and will do it's best to stop you having to experience those feelings again.

By directly connecting with the subconscious you can update outdated, misunderstood or no longer appropriate thought patterns and learn how to recognise, listen to and work with your own mind. It takes normally no more than three sessions.

Thanks all. @Eyesopenwideawake what are the reasons someone would choose hypnosis over talking therapies?

Any other experiences welcome too.

Remedial hypnosis is a talking therapy - there's no trance involved so the person is awake and alert throughout. The difference is that the conversation is with the subconscious mind rather than the conscious mind. Anxiety isn't rational or logical; you can't decide to be anxious (or not).

Thanks 💐.

Anyone else had therapy for anxiety?

CBT is the current 'universal panacea'. Its not for everyone though. I'd try either hypnosis (if you want speedy results) or psychodynamic psychotherapy if you wish to dig deeper.

I've had a lot of Gestalt based therapy and found that really useful over time to reduce anxiety. My anxiety seemed irrational but was actually coming from traumatic childhood experiences at the root which I did not really realise before I had therapy.

I think CBT has a bit of a limit and while it can treat the symptoms it can't treat the root cause.

If you're interested, look into CPTSD symptoms and see if they ring any bells - there's a great book that hit home with me and helped to explain my anxiety:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complex-PTSD-Surviving-RECOVERING-CHILDHOOD-ebook/dp/B00HJBMDXK

Until I read about CPTSD I just thought I had regular old anxiety and something was wrong with me! But it was like a light switching on.

If you do think it could be something like the above, but are not sure why you would have trauma, bear in mind some trauma can be something from before you can even remember, trauma with a small "t" such as your mum having PND or something.

Worth considering.

Hm, there is no obvious trauma in my childhood (no abuse, neglect), although my parents divorced fairly acrimoniously (and there was an OW), I don't think they handled it well with me & siblings, although I was an older teen and not a small child.

I think there might still be roots in my childhood though, so I wonder about that kind of therapy, and whether that's why CBT (albeit self-guided) felt like it did nothing.

Also tried all the obvious MH things like meditation with an app, decent diet, very low alcohol intake, exercise etc etc, but no affect on my anxiety.

When I was younger, I would have said there was no abuse or neglect in my childhood. I was very wrong but I only knew what I knew iyswim and because it is your only experience of being parented, you think it is normal and what everyone experiences because some abuse is subtle emotional manipulation rather than direct physical abuse or neglect.

I’d never want to put someone off therapy in case it works for them, but it didn’t work for me.

CBT, breathing exercises, talk therapy, none of it worked for me. Medication is the only thing that stabilized me, but my anxiety is still very much present. It comes in waves, and I’ve just had to learn how to surf 😂

Right now, it’s quite bad. Since Sunday, I’ve had this overwhelming rush of anxiety on and off, almost makes me want to scream at times. Other times I just shut down, and I’m just sad and tired. It will pass, and I know this, but there’s nothing that can take it away so I just have to wait it out

Interesting ....

Oh dear, that sounds horrible. Have you just come to the conclusion you have to live with it, with the help of the medication? 💐

But what you talk about is traumatic. It could need quite a lot of unpacking. You may have experienced parentification, for instance, which is where one or other parent uses you as an emotional prop or punch bag instead of being the parent to you. Or it could just be the animosity you experienced during their divorce caused you anxiety that you quashed because there was no-one you could work through it with. Being a teenager is not an antidote to avoid distress, you are still very young and need support.

If your parents didn't help you with reassurance that both of them would still love you and your life wouldn't be torn apart, then you could well have felt unsafe, which is anxiety-provoking.

I agree with the PP that from the sound of it your anxiety is not just a simple issue of calming your emotions or changing your thought processes. It's about understanding what happened to you and how it might have made you feel. Learning that that sense of powerlessness is in the past and that you have resources and support networks now that you didn't have then. And feeling repaired through the relationship with an empathic and supportive therapist who can help you to heal.

I also recommend a psychodynamic or integrative therapist (combining different psychotherapeutic modalities). Look in the BACP website and speak to a few therapists on the phone and choose someone you can trust and feel comfortable with.

I’m a psychologist. Lots of therapies can help with anxiety, and it works very very well for lots of people. I would look for a psychologist rather than a CBT therapist if you are unsure (because they can use lots of therapy models compared to CBT Therapist who are usually experts in CBT but not other therapies). That’s not always the case re CBT but I’m generalising.

Go on to Psychology Today and look for someone who is HCPC registered, a Psychologist and who works with people with anxiety.

Treating anxiety is largely about reframing thoughts so I can see why CBT would be a first port of call. However, CBT Via self help or via unqualified people (often in IAPT services) is not the same as a qualified CBT therapist or psychologist doing it with you. So just be aware of that.

wishing you luck

Pretty much, yeah. I’ll probably be on medication for the rest of my life, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I view it the same as an amputee needing a prosthetic for the rest of their life, or someone who has diabetes needing to watch their levels for the rest of their life. It just is what it is.

My anxiety is caused by a mixture of genetic predisposition and trauma, both of which cannot be undone, so I have to adapt.

@Spywoman but it feels pretty rubbish to say that parents who divorced and didn't handle it with regards to the children is traumatic, given the truly dreadful things some people go through. But on the other hand I do generally function ok ish, just with this blimming anxiety ..

@Superstar22 - thanks, have been browsing BACP...

@Daisy523 - although the past can't be undone, I am hopeful it can be overcome, although I getbyoir analogies re the medication.