Sufferer Chronic Anxiety From Ptsd

[Krsaid]

I am a 42 year old man who has everything one could dream of - a wonderful family, home and job. And yet I am paralysed by anxiety on a continual basis which stems from witnessing a traumatic experience when I was a child.

When I was six years old I witnessed my brother's death in a very violent and gruesome accident. Only my mother and I were present at the time and we have never spoken about it since. For many years I underplayed its significance until I was around 36 years old - already married and with kids - when I had a midlife crisis and I have suffered from anxiety ever since.

Most of my anxiety is directed to my and my family's health and wellbeing. It is extremely debilitating and has also affected my kids who are still young and don't understand why I keep checking them for things etc. I am seeing a therapist and have been for 6 years and he has been very helpful. But even he admits that I need to do more body work to get anywhere further.

There you have it. I am very grateful to have found this forum as I find it hard to discuss and share this with anyone outside the therapist office. People don't know how to handle the issue and either want to reassure you or just downplay it. It's not their fault. But only people who suffer from this stuff can empathise. My wife is very supportive but ibdont want to overburden her either.

 

[Bristol]

Welcome to the site, everyone is awesome here and you will no doubt find someone with similar experiences to you

 

[ladee]

Welcome!. Glad you found us.
Many of us suffer from anxiety. Have you also been diagnosed with PTSD?
Lots of information and experiences here about anxiety.
Take your time and look around...glad you are here.

 

[UnKnown-Self]

I am a 42 year old man who has everything one could dream of - a wonderful family, home and job. And yet...

Welcome :)

 

[ChandraD]

I am a 42 year old man who has everything one could dream of - a wonderful family, home and job. And yet...

I started today. Welcome.

 

[Krsaid]

Welcome!. Glad you found us.
Many of us suffer from anxiety. Have you also been diagnosed with PTSD?
Lots...

Yes I have been diagnosed with PTSD by my doctor and therapist and am working with a new Practicioner who specialises in treatments for sufferers.

 

[Knak]

Welcome. I hope you find the help you need to resolve your anxieties. There are many supportive people who can identify with your issue.

I share similar chronic anxiety that increased tremendously after a complete mental breakdown at age 22 that lasted 12 years before I began to heal. I will work on it the rest of my life since my trauma was continuous from birth.

I have used EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for 7 years. It is the only therapy that helped me. It focuses on healing the nerves in the brain that contains memories that are too painful for the brain to heal on its own.

EMDR changed how I perceive reality. It teaches the brain a healthier thinking process which continues to improve over time even outside of therapy.

It uses bilateral stimulation to switch the focus of your attention very rapidly between the right and left brain so you don't get stuck in a traumatic thought. My therapist uses buzzers to hold in each hand that alternate stimulation.

The painful memory is on one side of your brain and safety (present surroundings and therapist) on the other. You feel safe to process painful memories that have caused distorted thinking, plus any other thoughts that have attached to it if they remind you of it. The therapist teaches the process, guides your thoughts and gives necessary input.

She and I define the specific target issue. Then she tells me to think about it and starts the buzzers, and I let my thoughts proceed wherever they want to go.

Every few moments she asks what my last prominent thought was. She wants to know if I'm making progress, or if I'm stuck on something, or if my thought is distorted.

She helps me resolve misguided beliefs so I can I continue in a healthy direction from my last thought. When I finally reach pleasant thoughts or no thoughts it means the particular connected nerves in the brain from the incident is complete.

Then she directs me back to the original target to find other thoughts attached to it. I continue to process to completion every thought associated to the original target, until I finally have no more thoughts associated with it, and I no longer have anxiety about that particular memory.

It took a while to know I was doing it right so I kept asking her to repeat parts of the process or for more detail.

After completion of one, I got unstuck and saw more of my mistaken thinking. I understand other people's motives better, and many fears have disappeared.

I don't have children so haven't dealt with raising them. I know my pets and the ones I love cause the greatest pain and fear.

Finding a highly qualified EMDR therapist you are very comfortable with is essential. You can go to the EMDR website or look on Google, e.g. for EMDR therapist in your area.

 

[Krsaid]

Thank you very much for your open and comprehensive message. I am happy to let you know that is exactly the therapy I am starting in a few weeks. It is very comforting to know that you have used this therapy and it has worked well for you. I might come back to you after my first session with some questions if I may.

Thanks again.

 

[Knak]

Thank you very much for your open and comprehensive message. I am happy to let you know that is exactly...

I am happy to help you enable this treatment to greater effect if you have questions about the process or my experience. I am not online as much now so don't always see comments right away.

I read not to judge a therapist until after 3 sessions. I also read a study showing that combining medication with therapy is better than using only one or the other. Antidepressants don't work for me but I take klonopin for agoraphobia and baclofen for chronic tension migraines which also reduces my anxiety. I think that helps me recall and define painful past incidents.

Sometimes current things overwhelm me, like my nephew's suicide, or that my husband lies, cheats, and steals from me. I tell her and she will turn the tappers on while I talk. Lately I've never felt such intense pain, or desire to damage or leave home. When I talk I remember frustrations when I was powerless. It gets attached to present situations so my feelings are magnified after suppressing them so long. I can reason out what is more logical and diffuse some anger.

I know things intellectually but to do them can take a long time.