Posted by mair on July 19, 2002, at 16:07:49
In reply to Re: Constantly having panic attacks during therapy » Wilkie, posted by terra miller on July 19, 2002, at 12:23:36
That sounds pretty awful. I experience not panic attacks but periods of very high anxiety when my therapist ventures into areas that are particularly difficult for me. I don't run out, but I'd probably like to - I do sort of feel like a caged animal looking for a way out. Mostly I sort of seize up, have trouble focusing on any thoughts and the longer it goes on the worse that gets.
I know its hard to talk about what's causing the attack because if you could talk about that real easily, you'd probably not be having it to begin with. Sometimes its helpful for me to just talk about what I'm experiencing - process not substance. Maybe the substance starts seeming less threatening; maybe I never get past the process but at least I don't feel as catatonic if I've been talking about something. Sometimes, it's maybe like what Dinah describes -you're just moving maybe faster than you can.
Years ago, I had a psychiatrist who saw me struggling this way and hauled me out of his office for a pretty long walk. He made no attempt to talk about anything substantive, but we did talk alot about trees, bushes, buildings etc - all this stuff we were encountering on this walk. I don't know whether it paid dividends later or not, but at least I left his office far more relaxed than when I walked in.
Mair
poster:mair
thread:684
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20020702/msgs/687.html