I'm sending you postive thoughts. I hope you know we are right there with you while you are going through this. No matter what happens you should be proud of yourself for doing this. Stay strong! Be sure to tell us how it goes.
Hey Davit: Will be thinking of you with a prayer that your day goes smoothly. Good luck...you know what to do and sounds like you have a plan. Have faith in all that you have learned and yourself, you know yourself well and can take care of yourself. I used to use my car as a "safe" zone and be able to calm down before attempting something. Could you do that too? Before leaving home I would tell myself that my car is the safe zone and I could go there when I needed to just sit and relax, breathe, before trying.
It is very early in the morning of the eleventh. And today I do some major exposure work. I thought I was prepared for it but it seems I might not be. I'm not having a panic attack but I am awake. And I am shaking. In a few hours I have to get up and go to a different city for tests and will be gone all day. I also am meeting someone I have only talked to by chat on the internet if there is time. I think the load is more than I can handle and for this reason I will take medication before I go and with me because I just want this over with no bad effects because I have to do it again in a couple of weeks and then it will be more than just tests so I have to have a positive experience this time. I will let you all know how I do, crash or no crash.
The weather has been great as of late, I know that when the weather gets nicer even more people go out... but I take this opportunity to get outside and do yard work, work around the house....etc.
I am SO happy things went well for you. I've noticed that it gets easier and easier with time. I am out most days now without even thinking about it and I cannot even begin to say how big a challenge even leaving the house was for me two months ago! Keep planning and keeping enjoying your life! Congratulations!
It sounds like you really have a handle on this! You have some great goals and I love hearing about your progress! Please keep us updated about every little step you take. Reading what you are doing is inspiring. I am sure many others will be inspired to!
Out of everything you have done this far what are you most proud of in your exposure work?
Yes! But you know you are unique. From the beginning I could see that you wanted to win. And you really have to want it don't you. So few have what you had against you and you still won. Yes. I know you are not there yet but I can't see anything taking this from you now. It can only get better even if it has to be in steps. I hope you will stay with us, we need you. But if you fade into this happier life now I will know one more person made it.
Congratulations, keep at it and keep being an inspiration to all of us.
Congratulations! Big pat on the back for you. So glad you are getting out and about and you are looking ahead in very positive way and have even started to set goals for yourself. Way to go!
Ashley and everyone else: The first thing on my list is doing some exposure work to get my self ready for jury duty thats coming up on March 3. I am making a list of the steps that I need to go through to get there that day. Get up get dressed, leave the house early enough so I will not be late, drive to the court house, go through the metal detectors, go into the building, see the jury lounge etc. I plan on making a trial run to the court house before March 3 hoping that it will alleviate some of my anxiety about the whole thing. My partner has done jury duty before so we have talked about some of the questions I will be asked during the jury selection process. He will be driving me their and picking me up. He is also going to go with me on my trial run. This is not going to be a fun one but after it is all said and done I know I will be much stronger for it. I will differently be using the panic center programs 10 question list that day and I have already begun to challenge my negative and anxious thoughts. Before starting this program I would have been obsessing about the jury duty for the last to 2 weeks and would have not been able to enjoy or think about anything else. I have been able to focus on doing other exposure work like leaving the house to go swimming, I went on some walks and was able to go to a play for the first time in my life.
The next thing I have planned after this is maybe a trip in the late spring to the national parks in Utah and maybe go for a ride in a helicopter which is one of my triggers. In the mean time I need to work on getting dressed every day and trying to leave my house at least 3 days a week so that I can continue to move forward with my life. I want to let everyone that this program really works as long as you keep your eye on the ball and never give up. I am 55 have ptsd and been agoraphobic for many years now hardly leaving my house for weeks at a time and I am living proof that you can get better.
