Posted by chess on August 27, 2005, at 22:01:19
In reply to Re: therapy for OCD GAD (help please, i'm confused) » chess, posted by JenStar on August 27, 2005, at 19:03:37
jenstar
panic and ocd run in my family
and everyone in my family has some sort of reassuring item (rabbit's foot, picture of mother mary, picture of jesus, bottle of water, etc)
i don't use anything, although i always have some of my meds (lexapro and xanax) in my wallet, but mostly for just in case i need them if i stay over at a friend's house for the night, otherwise i 'd really prefer not to take meds
actually i've been taking less and less xanax, i feel terrible, but the worst part is not knowing if i feel terrible because the anxiety is breaking through because of less xanax or if i'm going through withdrawal from less xanax, i'm guessing it's withdrawal-rebound from the xanax but i don't know for sure, if i knew that the xanax was working for a biochemical problem i have in my brain then i would take it thankfully, but my docs can't tell me whether xanax has made my anxiety worse (because long use lowers a person's threshold to handle anxiety) or if my anxiety has always been bad and xanax is the med that works for it and when i don't take enough i feel bad, if we lived in the time of star trek they could tell me but the brain science is just not there yet unfortunately
thanks and i hope all is well with you
> hi Chess,
> I agree with you about the best reassurance coming from within. It's interesting though, but some people seem to really derive a calming influence from an item or talisman of some kind - for example, a picture of their T, or a special rock, or a stuffed doll/animal. My guess is that they're starting to internalize the comfort that came first from another, and the object acts as a "bridge" to help them make the transition.
>
> But I think that if one tries to rely on that "bridge" item forever, it will eventually lose the power unless the person is able to internalize the comfort.
>
> What do you think? Do you ever use a rabbit's foot or other thing like that?
>
> J
poster:chess
thread:546505
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050824/msgs/547424.html