Answered questions(16)
Anxiety, Sleep, Thoughts...
I have bad GAD. I normally have a very hard time at night because whenever I stop moving is when my thoughts explode and intrude all over my brain. I am thinking about buying some night time self hypnosis cds. You’re supposed to let these play over night and after a month you’re supposed to feel better. It has something to do with penetrating the subconscious when we stop awareness thought just before we fall to sleep. It’s like a crack in the door at that moment and if you let in these messages at that time, for enough nights in a row, then you actually change the way you think. And they are also supposed to help you sleep better too. Do you agree that these subconscious hypnosis tapes are a good idea? Or is it a waste of time and money?
Read answer →Anxiety and Stress Come in All Guises
There is nothing physically wrong with me. I am 39 and I asked for a EKG on my last physical even though my doctor said it wasn't necessary and it came back totally fine. But I am worried all the time that there is something wrong with my heart. I feel like it sometimes skips a beat and sometimes it seems to slow down almost to a stop. Other times it is pounding so hard that I can see veins throbbing my neck. It has got to the point now that I am checking my pulse literally a hundred times a day and when ever it feels off my stomach does this lurch and I feel almost like I am going to throw up. My doctor didn't have any help for me. I can see that I am acting crazy but I don't know what to do.
Read answer →Marijuana an anxiety cure?
Will marijuana help with my anxiety. I have not smoked for a long time since high school but I am having bad anxiety now and now I can get a prescription for medical marijuana because of my anxiety. However, the few times I remember smoking pot back when I was a teenager I remember it made me feel quite paranoid and tense, not at all like I thought it would. Should I try it again now for anxiety? Will my actually having anxiety now (I didn’t in high school) change the way it affects me if I use it as medicine now?
Read answer →Overwhelming?
Hi, am an LCSW from New York having just registered on this site. I want to make sure that I am realistic about what I chose to erspond to (expert about). Is the response, the number of questions that people ask, overwhelming? Thanks.
Read answer →Group Therapy for OCD
I have OCD. Is group therapy an option that might work? I am a long time AA participant and I find that there is something I really like about the group meeting kind of format.
Read answer →Living in Fear
I am plagued by a lot of worries about getting diseases, mostly infectious diseases where I might legitimately be exposed to a virus but the likelihood is low. How can you decide that a small probability of incurable illness or death is too small to take any action against?. The thing that will happen is I will be in the park and somebodies dog will come over and sniff me and lick me and then I will be OK in the moment but then afterwards I will start thinking about the possibility of rabies and I will research it and then I will go and get rabies shots even though my doctor says I probably do not need them. He cannot give me a 100% guarantee. This happened to me a few months ago. Or, whenever I cut myself outside I get very scared about tetanus and other diseases, especially when my booster gets close to expiring. Hepatitis C is another thing I will worry about a lot when I get my hair cut or go to the dentist. Once I know there is a small chance I have been exposed and infected I can’t get the thought out of my mind and this causes me a lot of stress and worry.
Read answer →Social Anxiety and Hypnosis
Is hypnosis something that can help me with social anxiety? As soon as I get in a social situation outside of work I get terrified and I just feel so uncomfortable.
Read answer →Don't Let Panic Attacks Ruin Your Life
I have had 3 panic attacks since March. I am terrified I am going to have another one and I feel a lot of dread whenever I think about the fact that another one is probably going to come someday soon. What do I need to do to get better so I do not have to live with this constant worry anymore? Can you recommend what kind of therapy I need?
Read answer →Don't Let Anxiety Keep You Stuck
What is the best kind of therapy for depression and anxiety? I am very depressed and I also get panic attacks so I am almost house bound with anxiety. I am a mess and I do not want to live this want any more!
Read answer →Long term grief, anxiety and normalcy
I've been on medication for anxiety and depression since I lost my baby almost 6 years ago. I've seen my psychologist (who seemed to be more vocal about themselves than the concern with helping me). I've been to 2 different psychiatrist durning these years. My depression comes and goes, but the anxiety seems like a daily thing. I walked away from a great job, I do not go anywhere by mysef (in fear of anxiety attacks). Will I always have to continue the medication? Will I ever be myself again?
Read answer →Drinking, Anxiety, mental Illness
I am scared that I am going crazy. Here is why. Hangovers used to be tolerable. Now I wake up in mental agony. The physical side is no worse than before. However now I wake up with a really horrible feeling an anxiety that either something terrible is going to happen or I did something terrible the night before even when I know it was just a normal night out. I will go over and over again what I did the night before trying to understand what is causing my feelings. My heart pumps fast and I worry that I am about to have a mental break down. On the bus I feel everyone staring at me and I feel like everyone knows that I am about to lose it. Yesterday I had to get off the bus early because I could not take it anymore and walk the last 6 blocks. I don’t have a drinking problem but I like to go out with friends 2 or 3 times a week. I can take it or leave it though. What I am really worried about is my mental health. Does this sound like I have a mental illness?
Read answer →OCD & Alcohol
My wife has OCD. She done CBT and is on antidepressants. She had always told me that she didn’t like to drink alcohol because it made her OCD symptoms much worse. She had been going through an OCD remission period for the last while and she started to enjoy wine with dinner. I was happy that she could enjoy such a normal thing for the first time. Now she is starting to drink at least a couple and often a few glasses of wine each evening and she says it really helps her with her OCD which has returned more strongly. From what I can see, this is not the case and in the morning after drinking her ordering and hand washing is much more severe and if she has had a lot of wine the night before then things seem even worse. I am not sure what to believe. I am worried she is developing an alcohol problem but if she says it helps her then who am I to take away what she needs to make it through the day, especially considering how much she has suffered and struggled with this disease for years. Is it ever a case that alcohol is a useful tool for those with OCD?
Read answer →Perfectionism vs. Self-Esteem
I have come to understand that my perfectionism is related to a lot of the anxiety I feel on a daily basis. I am tired of feeling worried and anxious and like nothing is ever good enough. I have always been a perfectionist. Is it possible for me to change this part of me?
Read answer →Herbal Anxiety Cures
I have been diagnosed with GAD and I have actually been living with this sort of anxiety for a long time. I have had bad experiences in the past with drug addiction and medications though and now I prefer to avoid taking anything chemical into my body, as much as is possible in this chemical society we are all living in now. I think that it is probably because e of all the chemicals I took in my younger life that I am so anxious now. What type of herbal or alternative medicines can your recommend that I use to help reduce my feelings of anxiety. Do you recommend kava? I have heard that it works well but that it can be dangerous if you need to use it for a long time. Are there other herbs that work as well as Kava. I am starting to learn yoga now and I find that it is helpful, but only during the time I am actually doing the yoga. Is there anything else I can do on my own to feel better?
Read answer →Life with Anxiety, Stress, Meds, Sleep Problems,
I have a complicated problem. I have a history of anxiety and panic, sleep apnea and daytime hypersomnia. I have a CPAP but my compliance is not very good because I just can’t sleep comfortably with that machine. My doctor wants to put me on provogil but I have a history of anxiety disorders and so I am pretty worried about this. I expressed my concern but she asked me if I was currently feeling excessively anxious and when I told her I was in remission she said the provogil was worth a try. I am currently unmedicated after a lot of CBT and exposure therapies. I avoid caffeine because it gets me feeling jittery in a way that I really don’t like. She says if I don’t like I can stop. I am worried. Should I risk stimulant treatment for my hypersomnia? What I am scared of is that it will get me back to having uncontrolled panic attacks again and then even if I stop the stimulants it will be too late again.
Read answer →Use of biofeedback
I get panic attacks sometimes but my doctor says I do not have panic disorder. He recommended that I try biofeedback to learn to control my body at the onset of an attack and that by learning to relax my body as anxiety builds I’d be able to stop panic attacks before they really get started. Is biofeedback an effective treatment for panic? It sounds a little bit crazy, actually, but I will try anything that might work.
Read answer →