There is really a lot of great advice here from everyone..The only thing I can add is that you may want to back up a little and read session 3 over again and take it slow when trying to work the program..You do not have to hurry through the program..
I think when we have anxiety or panic we want it to go away so bad that we sometimes try to do it to fast..I myself have found it very useful to read through the session several times..I would read it through once and then let my mind relax and then go back and read it again in the next day or two or what ever and with each read it began to make more sense to me...
There was a lot of information to read and comprehend in the program and the ideas and thoughts were all foreign to me. These were really all new concepts to me. Kind of like trying to learn a foreign language..The key for me was to take my time withit and let it sink in slowly..Cbt taught me how to change my whole way of thinking about how I see my self and the world around me..I have been coming here for over a year now and each time I read through the sessions I learn something new and I think the reason for this is as I have changed and learned my ability to learn more has increased..So my advice is to try not to worry or rush it..It will all come together in time.. Let yourself relax and get used to the new ideas and concepts you are learning....
Ah but if these behaviours are not things you normally do would they not become symptoms. Or if the behaviours become more intense during panic would they not become symptoms also. Can they not be both?
This gets complicated. But in the end I think it comes to locating negative thoughts or actions and changing them to positive or at least burying them with positive.
Hello all:
Let's pretend you are anxious about something and you are trembling inside, tight chest, choking feeling, legs feel weak, you got the shakes, sweating. Those are your symptoms (physical).
Let's pretend during this episode of anxiety you are pacing the floor, biting your nails, and constantly pulling out your hair, or yelling at someone. Those are the behaviours.
How I see it is like this. A behaviour is supposed to be there, a symptom is when it is there too long. Take sweating. You will start to sweat in a mild panic situation,so take off the sweater or jacket. During a panic attack you are going to sweat no matter what if this is one of your Symptoms. (some don't, they freeze.) So a normal reaction can be a symptom. The reason for deciding if it is a symptom to me would be to be able to keep track of frequency. The reason (to me) to decide if it is a symptom rather than a behaviour is to see if it is normal panic or if you are pushing it into an attack. Being able to separate the symptoms from the normal reduces the tendency to panic.
Evidence against anxious thought: Either this is a normal thought or a false thought. Alternate thought: Accept it or change it to something positive. Challenge statement: Is my alternate thought true, do I really believe it.
Can't help with access to the work sheet, It has been a while since I have been there.
Try not to get too caught up in making it perfect. If you think sweating is a physcial symptom write it in the physical symptom section. As long as you have record of it that is all that matters. Try your best at the last three questions and use the sample for guidance. If you would like some pointers perhaps put your answers here and we can give you some feedback.
How would you like this worksheet to help you? How would this worksheet be useful to you?
I guess the trouble is trying to dissect my thoughts, and if i can't do this then i'm in trouble here. I find the spreadsheet redundant......isn't sweating a physical sympton, but its also a behaviour...sometimes defining what is what confuses me..maybe i'm too much of a perfectionist I guess.
The last three rows......Evidence against anxious thoughts, Alternate thoughts and Challenge statement.....I feel I can write down the same thing for all of these?? Also after I finished Session 3, the system did not give me access to the Challenge Worksheet...is this the case for everyone else?
Hi Angie... I too have a very difficult time filling out the challenge sheets. I get very tangled up in the questions. One thing that has helped me is that I fill out the form 3 times.... first time is very sketchy... the bare minimum I can stand to acknowledge. I'll take a break and come back and fill it out two more times. This way it takes the pressure off to do it perfectly the first time. By the third time the answers are completely different but tend to be right on target. It sounds weird. I know....
I'm currently in Session 3 - Challenging Anxious thoughts....i'm having difficulty filling out the challenge worksheet form, it all seems so confusing......I really feel dumb! Does or has anyone found it difficult? Can someone provide some clarity...ways to go about it...anything please, i'm finding it difficult to express my thoughts to paper.
I have enjoyed myself working on my yard for the last few day..I played hooky for class this week and spent some time rewarding myself by working on my yard..It is going to look beautiful when spring comes. My reward will be that I can sit on my patio and enjoy it all this spring and summer. Now I am going to sit down and reward myself my with a big glass of ice tea. It really feels good to do something that I enjoy just for me...Rewards are great...
