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  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | Eligiu | deficiT | paranoid android

natural anti-anxiety

A

AAP

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
4
Now i am no psychologist, but I believe that there may be a to naturally structure you mind to mirror the effects of what benzos do for your anxiety. now no need to flame because this is purely just an idea and i want some feedback/opinions from you guys in terms of whether the idea may work or not.

the idea is based purely around using Affirmations

you would take your preferred Benzo, and put yourself in a situation to which while normally while sober you would feel anxiety, you would bring a pad of paper and a pen around with you at all times and write out the way you felt through each experience and why the situation was non-threatening. after all of this you would force yourself into the same situation while completely sober, and then affirm these thoughts to yourself repeatedly, doing this as long as it takes to feel comfortable in that situation.

what do you guys think?
 
The sensation of anxiety relief couldn't be translated into words.

If this works for you, that's great.
 
This is, very basically, how cognitive behavioral therapy works.

This is also probably better suited for TDS so let's try it out over there...



--->TDS
 
it just reaffirms the fact that yu don't need drugs to make yerself feel better. lifes problems can be dealt with head on, with out the use of chemicals. you can force yer self into that situation with out the first part, and make yerself get used to undesirable situations, and therein accomplish getting over the anxiety of dealing with said things.
 
mymindisgoo said:
it just reaffirms the fact that yu don't need drugs to make yerself feel better. lifes problems can be dealt with head on, with out the use of chemicals. you can force yer self into that situation with out the first part, and make yerself get used to undesirable situations, and therein accomplish getting over the anxiety of dealing with said things.
Click to expand...

To a certain extent, yes you can. But when your anxiety is so debilitating that these situations inhibit rational thought or even put you into a panic attack, all you want to (and really, OUGHT to) do is avoid the situations (unless you have benzos on hand), because they put you into such discomfort that each experience actually is making matters worse in your mind, not better. But yes, for milder anxiety this works quite well and has helped me a fair bit though I haven't pushed myself far enough yet...at least I feel mostly comfortable in just about any situation whilst sober. Confident and out-going, well that's another thing entirely.
 
I have anxiety that causes me to vomit almost every morning upon waking, and have no appetite all day without smoking marijuana. I get a body high from my anxiety equivalent to ~15mg of 2ci, or 3 grams of shrooms. Imagine 15mg of 2ci without the psychedelia, and thats literally how I feel sober. Im not dependent on benzos. And while IM prescribed over 3mg a day, I average 4-6mg a month. I prefer to continue to deal with my panic attacks without drugs (usually ;) ), theres no cure in a bandage. I like this idea honestly, and Im going to give it a few trys! thanks for the suggestion my man OP
 
The problem with affirmations is that it usually is not 'instant relief' sometimes these type of techniques take awhile to develop them to know that they work. Once something like that works it becomes easier to know you could get relief from it. Than again people with bad panic disorders [I convinced myself I had one at one point and medicated like a bandit] it might not be ideal. I am reminded of that old SNL skit 'Stewart Smalley' I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S19d_bKbTtM&feature=related
[Chris Farley makes a appearance on this one, lol]

When I got off benzos I used affirmations and prayer into taking/praying myself out of the insanity I was in. It definitely helped.

peace.
seedless
 
Captain.Heroin said:
The sensation of anxiety relief couldn't be translated into words.

If this works for you, that's great.
Click to expand...

agreed ,when my anxiety attacks come they come hard as hell and just slowing the heart rate with the benzos helps,not to mention it helps that feeling that yer gonna die , bad anxiety attacks can only be stopped by benzos unless yer haveing say a mild one then i guess you can meditate,but it so much easier to take the meds before you get that full blown feeling.
When i even feel the slightest anxiety comin on i take my meds rite away ,its all that works for me ...
 
Cane2theLeft said:
This is, very basically, how cognitive behavioral therapy works.

This is also probably better suited for TDS so let's try it out over there...



--->TDS
Click to expand...

Beat me to it. CBT is supposed to be amazingly effective. Just as effective as medicines.
 
Yeah agreed. Anxiety about certain situations is fear of the unfamiliar. Make it familiar, the fear goes.
 
Yeah I've been doing a lot of this lately, often its the anticipation of the impending event that's the worst. Throwing oneself in head first and letting the anxiety take hold helps it diminish in the long run. Although this has to be done in a measured way, as others have said if its an extreme full blown panic attack type of thing then have to start very small and work your way up still with the aid of medication often. But for mild-moderate anxiety this CBT type thing works very well ime.
 
I'm dependent on Klonopin, I'm at the point now where I'm trying to taper. Basically I've realized that as long as I know I'm tapering at a rate that is medically safe I can deal with anxiety attacks much better than before. I'm not saying I've conquered anxiety and I don't know what it would be like if I weren't on benzos at all.

The more I've learned about panic attacks the less I fear them, I do however fear coming off of benzos too fast because I've had a seizure from this before. Nowadays as long as I know I'm tapering safely I'm able to overcome panic attacks mentally without taking any more meds.

However I'm on Suboxone and Ritalin along with the Kpins daily, all three of these have helped me to be level, if you took me off all of these at once I'd run straight for a chemical, but I believe that coming off the Kpins slowly is helping. I'm content to stay on the other two for as long as I need them. So since I'm not completely drug free my answer may not be what you're looking for since I'm still medicated.
 
i dealt w/ anxiety my whole life untill i got clean, it was truly debilatating. i self medicated to the point of black out when i didnt want the anxiety. i def should of had medication. in social situations in high school, i would have the craziest thoughts about what everyone thought about me, knew what i did every day just stupid shit. these overwhelming thoughts didnt let me really grow during high school.


so whenever there was a situation where i could"fix" my anxiety i got fucked up. which helped somewhat but not completely i was still pretty shy. i think i just felt less anxious.

anyways now that im clean its just incredible how much i've grown in this area. its not cured, in fact last night i was in a meeting and had like 3 coffees and a bunch of cigs and i saw this girl that i knew from the year before that i wasnt very nice too. anyways i thought she hated me and i got real nervous. in the meeting i was actually a wreck until they read the Just for Today which was about fear!! haha i was just laughing in my head and calmed down immediately. and i was actually able to talk to her after the meeting.

i dont know where im really going w/ this but i guess im saying that for me the answer wasnt drugs, it was just realizing that my thinking is jsut messed up.
 
yea a lot of us use/d to mask what ever mental and social problems we may (have) have(d), and only once we put down the drugs can we deal with these issues with out having to escape form them.
 
What you are doing is pretty much some CBT and slowly desensitizing yourself from stressors.

Other things to take into account is diet - are you eating healthy? Omega 3 oils from natural sources or from vitamin supplements can help with your mood. Exercise is important. Sleep is important.

Try meditation to clear your thoughts.
 
^Good post.

Besides this- Deep breathing, positive thinking and mindfulness has been helpful for me.
It is great that you are choosing to use the time on your medication to find better way, besides the medication to deal with your anxiety. That is ideal......using the benzo as a tool to gain better tools :)

Hope everything goes smoothly for you!
 
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