Trauma – PTSD

Question:

Yes Frank, there’s a lot of hope that you can beat what you’re dealing with, or at least learn to live with it so that it doesn’t affect you much at all.

I want to thank you all for responding and for the website information. I will get started on these and come back with any questions I may encounter. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one dealing with this stuff (although most of the time I feel that way) and I look forward to getting to know you all!! Thanks again, Frank

Response:

Hi.  I hope that finding this group will offer help to you.  Most of the people here are nice and really very supportive.  Many of them are very educated and can offer lots of practical help and support. Given computers maybe you are not seeing the weekly mini FAQ.  There is a mini FAQ which is posted on Tuesdays.  I copied and posted some of the info to help you find it here (I hope doing this is ok): "Archive-name: support/anxiety-panic/Weekly-miniFAQ Posting-Frequency: Weekly Last-modified: 2001/09/04 URL: http://www.drrhodes.org/index.html Here’s the Weekly Mini-FAQ.  I am posting it on Tuesdays per tradition and will make no changes to the general content without a vote to the group.  I am keeping a copy of the latest at  www.drrhodes.org   . Welcome to the world of the elephant  (that is what I equate my nervousness and panic attacks to – an elephant that gets so big sometimes that it fills and consumes all of my attention).  Again I think you will find this to be a good place to help controll the elephant. Richard "Now here, you see,  it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place.  If you want to get somewhere else you must run at least twice as fast as that."  Through the Looking Glass:  Lewis Carroll – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text —— Original Message —– Newsgroups: alt.support.anxiety-panic Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 12:18 PM Hi All, I just found this group and read through a few of the posts. You all seem like a friendly and supportive bunch!  I’ve been suffering with varying degrees of anxiety for the past several years and recently it has begun to affect my every day life. I can’t fly, take a train/bus–short or long distances. I don’t like to be away from home although work is ok (I have some anxiety and an ocassional panic attack there) and stores, as long as they’re not crowded, are fine. I’ve been working with a psychotherapist for the past year or so and I really can’t say I’ve seen alot of concrete progress. There have been times that are better than others but family life etc have become a real burden lately and that has allowed the anxiety to get the better of me. My therapist has suggested that I see a psychiatrist so that I might get on some medication (he specifically mentioned "burspa" or something along those lines). I have some .25mg xanax that help me when I really need it but I tend to avoid taking it except for in extreme cases. What have some of you used/been through in this regard. Is one thing better than another? Are there some that are addictive? Do you have a FAQ that I could look through to get rolling? Is there any hope that I’ll be able to beat this thing or at least beat it down to the point where I can do things in a relatively normal fashion? Thanks in advance for all of your help… Frank

Response:

Hi All,

Hi Frank, welcome to ASAP, I just found this group and read through a few of the posts. You all seem like a friendly and supportive bunch!  I’ve been suffering with varying degrees of anxiety for the past several years and recently it has begun to affect my every day life. I can’t fly, take a train/bus–short or long distances. I don’t like to be away from home although work is ok (I have some anxiety and an ocassional panic attack there) and stores, as long as they’re not crowded, are fine. I’ve been working with a psychotherapist for the past year or so and I really can’t say I’ve seen alot of concrete progress.

Not all psychotherapies are equal, Frank. The only one with a good track record is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, or its cousin Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy  (REBT).  You can find out more about these at www.cognitivetherapy.com (for CBT) and www.rebt.com They are claimed to be effective in about 70-80% of cases, which is similar to medications. But they do require you to work at them, this is not a matter of lying on a shrinks couch and discussing your childhood. There have been times that are better than others but family life etc have become a real burden lately and that has allowed the anxiety to get the better of me. My therapist has suggested that I see a psychiatrist so that I might get on some medication (he specifically mentioned "burspa" or something along those lines).

If you have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, then Buspar may be effective, but its rarely so for the other anxiety disorders. If you have Panic Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, OCD, Social phobia or Agoraphobia (and you difficulty with trains and buses suggests you do) then you’re best meds bet is antidepressants or benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium etc). No med is necessarily any better than another, but one may be for you. Unfortunately, there are no tests that will show which is right for you, its a matter of trial and error and you may need to try a few before you find one that works with the minimum amount of side effects. I have some .25mg xanax that help me when I really need it but I tend to avoid taking it except for in extreme cases. What have some of you used/been through in this regard. Is one thing better than another? Are there some that are addictive?

Nope, but some  may cause dependency. That is if you want to stop taking them you will need to wean off them slowly. People do get hung up on this, but probably half the meds on  pharmacy shelves will produce dependency to some degree. For example, vitamins can produce rebound effects after you’ve been taking them for a while. So can antibiotics. Even therapy, though the shrinks prefer to call it Idealized Positive Transference not dependency. So the bottom line is, like most things in life, there are risks and possibly inconveniences involved, but most find the benefits far outweigh them. And going without treatment also carries some risk. Do you have a FAQ that I could look through to get rolling? Is there any hope that I’ll be able to beat this thing or at least beat it down to the point where I can do things in a relatively normal fashion?

Yes, a very high probability. But it won’t happen tomorrow. There are no quick fixes, just a hard slog. Nor can I promise this will all go away eventually. Perhaps 30-50% of those diagnosed with an anxiety disorder do achieve what amounts to a cure, but if you’ve had a disorder for any length of time the chances are you will battle it on and off for most of your life. But you can expect extended remissions,  and treatments, both therapy and meds, can allow you to lead a "normal" life. Perhaps not exactly the same as what you had before, but still very fulfilling. Thanks in advance for all of your help… Frank

Best wishes Ian

Response:

Hi All, I just found this group and read through a few of the posts. You all seem like a friendly and supportive bunch!  I’ve been suffering with varying degrees of anxiety for the past several years and recently it has begun to affect my every day life. I can’t fly, take a train/bus–short or long distances. I don’t like to be away from home although work is ok (I have some anxiety and an ocassional panic attack there) and stores, as long as they’re not crowded, are fine. I’ve been working with a psychotherapist for the past year or so and I really can’t say I’ve seen alot of concrete progress. There have been times that are better than others but family life etc have become a real burden lately and that has allowed the anxiety to get the better of me. My therapist has suggested that I see a psychiatrist so that I might get on some medication (he specifically mentioned "burspa" or something along those lines). I have some .25mg xanax that help me when I really need it but I tend to avoid taking it except for in extreme cases. What have some of you used/been through in this regard. Is one thing better than another? Are there some that are addictive? Do you have a FAQ that I could look through to get rolling? Is there any hope that I’ll be able to beat this thing or at least beat it down to the point where I can do things in a relatively normal fashion? Thanks in advance for all of your help… Frank

Response:

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