Depression Support Group

Here is a trick I had to learn when I let go of my safe item and person. (water bottle -trigger heat!)(safe person-husband)

When you painc next time- no matter how hard it is DO NOT use your safe person

1. belly breath 30 times count them out in your head in/out counts as ONE.

2. think about the air going in as blue and the air going out as golden

3. Imagaine it filling up your belly with each in breath and the out breath longer.

4. DO NOT CALL,TALK,TEXT, nothing yoru safe person just go through you panic and do it.

The reason is because this PROVES to you that you

1. You dont really NEED the safe person all the time.

2. You can handle yourself without the help of others.

Also ask yourself when you feel something coming that you cant handle -

Why do I need this item/person?

What will really happen if they are not here?

They cant stop my panic!

I DO THAT no one EVER can stop a panic attack but the person having one.

In your mind with the panic you think-

I am dyin

This will never stop

I need help

I cant do this anymore

But that safe person CAN NOT answer those for you all they do is make you feel safe and you have to make yourself feel safe by trusting yourself.

By trusting that panic has ALWAYS ended and will ALWAYS end without your help, it is not your job to stop your panic it does that on its own. Your job is to make yourself comfy, and do what you need to do to relax.

Think possitive about your panic, it gives you time to practice your breathing and other meditations.

For every neg. thought do three good things

"I'm dying"

1. "No you are not you have been through this before it is always the same and you think the same thing evertime thats just silly start my breathing now."

2. "I am NOT dying, I have been to the doctor and they tell me everything is fine and they are not stupid thats why they go to school for YEARS and work at a hospital for YEARS before they are allowed to see there own clients, they have done alot of blood work, test and other things I am HEALTHY this is JUST PANIC - breath in slower breath out number 12."

3. " Life has not ALWAYS been this way and with me taking control on my thoughts it will NOT stay this way this is the road to recovery and I am on it baby!."

Oh whatever you want to say just three of them!

You have to take the steps to help yourself it is IMPOSSIBLE for someone else to make you feel better or to make you better

Your safe person walks into the room -

You relax

You calm some

Your thought slow

BUT THIS IS NOT THE SAFE PERSONS/ITEMS FIXING YOU!

Your THOUGHTS about your safe person makes you feel better.

Your THOUGHTS that you are safe make you calm down

Your THOUGHTS control what you feel in your body

So the lesson here learn your thoughts and STOP the neggitve ones.

I wear a watch part of CBT(Cognitive behavioral therapy).

For every neg. thought I think 5 possitve ones I started with 3.

I do five now to make it harder for me lol. But anyways this watch I push it when I have a negitve thought about ANYTHING

My foot hurts

My chest hurts

I am lazy

I dnot feel well

I cant do this without my husband ect..

Push the button it keeps track of each time.

At the end of the night I had a note book I write my thoughts about the day in before bed to help me relax and get everything off my mind to sleep better.

Well at the bottom of the page I write the number of negitve thoughts and then times that by three to get my possitve thoughts I made after them

My first number was 113 can you belive that 113 times I THOUGHT bad negitive things that do nothing but cause harm and being a cycle of self-defeating HATE BUT I had 3 possitve ones to follow. So in one day I had to think of 339 things that were possitve and man was that hard it got to I am happy God gave us tress lol thats the point to stop thinking so much about YOU and think outside of you.

My number last night (after 5 weeks) was 9!!!!! Negivtive thoughts HUGE diffrence !!! That was still 45 good things (cause I do five now)

It retrains your mind to think GOOD thoughts not BAD thoughts ALL the time !!!

Try is out even if you dont have the watch carry rubber bands, or a paper and pen make a mark or put a rubber band on your wrist whatever it the sight of it that helps to remind you to be possitve!

I am not saying this cause I read it online, or out of a book (though the IDEA came out of a book) I am saying it because I have used it and I went from house bound depression,panic,agrophobia- To living my life much fuller. Do I still use my safe person FROM TIME TO TIME yes I am still learning BUT I have given up my safe item TOTALLY!!! I teach this to the support group I run in my home town as well and have watched people with BAD depression and panic STOP bringing there safe people to meeting to seeing them out in stores ALONE!!! Its amazing and WORKS but you have to TRY it before it will work and you can think it will work in a week cause CBT does not work like that!!!

Best of Luck and Hugs

I also posted this in other places on MDjunction tp inform others!

That is great and I think that you are a big help to many people who have panic attacks. I had agoraphobia for 3 years and was virtually a prisoner in my own home. I wish this group was here and I knew of the steps that you talk about. I made it out, with meds and well, if you want to know, pm me, but I did it, little by little. I can see how the method you are talking about can work. The only problem that I can see and did see with meetings back then is getting people out to go to the meetings, that is a problem if you are terrified to leave your home. Been there...

Thank you for helping many to try and overcome this hateful, horrendous, no way to live disease. You are wonderful. Shyanne

Very good information Leandrat!!! Thanks for sharing that with everyone. Hugs, Rachele

ty shadow it is hard for them and me I feel faint alot of the times before the meet ups lol center of att. and all but its GREAT expousre therapy for me lol, and np at all peace

Lee

Thank you Leandrat. I have been doing deep breathing for panic and during meditation and it is amazing how much the 'breath of life' can calm you. I actually breath in golden and expel all the negative stuff (but whatever works, eh?) You have a very structured way of doing it and I think that will help me a lot. I have been replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, but its never been very methodical like your system, therefore it is easy to lose the pattern. Thank you - I think tracking them and requiring a certain number of positive thoughts is what I need.

Lee that is wonderful information. Panic is hard to get control of but as you say it can be done.

Wow, I really love what you had to say... It's a great post.

I especially loved the part of thinking outside yourself, absolutely brilliant.

Thank you so much,

~Romy

Aww no problem romy I cant take all the credit like I said some is my ideas others come from CBT training and therapy. I hope you can use some of it to help you along your way, it is hard but YOU CAN DO IT!!! We all can

Lee

I did overcome it and YOU can too. It takes work and you have to stick to it, but you can beat it!

My safe items when I take the bus are my hand sanitizer my MP3 player and my Klonopin. I get so anzious taking the bus to Pittsburgh and it's an hour trip so I need to be prepared for the anxiety when it hits. I usually take a Klonopin before I leave the house so the panic attacks don't hit then I pop the headphones in and ignore everyone on the bus, I use the hand sanitizer cause I have OCD and germa-phobe and the germs from the sneezing and coughing drive me nuts. I need gallons of the stuff......