Posted by mair on January 24, 2003, at 11:58:34
In reply to Re: Does anxiety do this to anyone else? » coral, posted by mikhail99 on January 24, 2003, at 11:29:08
I can absolutely relate to this. The other day in a therapy session we were talking about something and I had a thought that I didn't want to verbalize. Instead we went on to talk about things in a different way and about 10 minutes later, my therapist tried to get me to talk about whatever it was I was avoiding. In that 10 minutes, I totally forgot what that "thought" was and I couldn't conjure it up then or later.
I also regularly have the experience Noa related as well. When I become anxious I have an impossible time putting 2 coherent thoughts together. I've decided it's a defense mechanism, designed to help me avoid discussing topics that are more difficult for me. It's horribly frustrating to spend most of a therapy session not being able to talk because I can't hold on to any single thought for long enough to verbalize it.
I've at least gotten to the stage where I can talk about the anxiety itself even if I can't talk about its underlying cause. That's actually a big improvement and when I can redirect the discussion I don't end up feeling quite as mentally paralyzed as I might otherwise.
Mair
poster:mair
thread:2276
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021230/msgs/2288.html