Been There Done That Do This.....

Hi hotasfrick,

I am trying to get some good cbt materials too. Seems like cbt is a good solution for gad, but I dont want to spend too much on a therapist. It will add to my anxiety =)

anyone can help?

I'm sorry you didn't like the book as much as I do, but think it still can be your "cure" you just have to work at the tools for a reasonable amount of time. Using the tea form daily has eliminated all my panic and a majority of my anxiety. I think if you practice the tea form everyday for three or four months you will see why I love the book and cbt so much and you will probably experience a surprisingly large amount of relief from your anxiety, but it does take dedication and some time, it is not magic. The key to cbt is doing the exercises like the tea form everyday. I don't think anyone is really sold on the tools when they just read about them, I know I wasn't until I started using them everyday and I got more relief than ever and started telling everyone about them.

No, my point is that I don't think negatively! The only way that those tools would help anyone (well,really only tool because that is the only thing the book was about) would be if they did think negatively on a constant basis and I don't.
Sure, I am going to give it a try, but I really don't see how thinking positively will help my anxietyl. But, I will try it. I am just really let down because everyone on here spoke so highly of it and it is very short and only tells you one thing to do, "think positively" I could have saved myself a lot of money that is all.

Hot,

maybe part of the problem is that you did expect so much of the book - you know how when you go see a movie that you've been really looking forward to etc & it doesn't live up to expectations whereas when you just see amovie that you don't know much about sometimes you enjoy it ore because you don't have any expectations??!!

Another thing too is that both haley & qt3 used the book in tandem with a course - so they had other people to help them & to throw ideas off of - which perhaps would help you more than just reading the book??

True, true, everyone just talked so highly about it that I was excited. Then I bought it, read it and wanted to cry! Ah well. Yeah, it probably would help with a group as long as the group taught me more "tools" then just the one in the orbit's book. But I cannot find a group anywhere near here so
it is definately worth a shot and probably does help some people. I don't mean to be so negative I was just sooooooo very let down.

Yeah, I know what you mean (not about the book as I have yet to get 10 minutes to myself when i'm not suffering from the flu to even open it) but when we hear about something that we hope will help us it is exciting - hell - we all want sooooo much to feel "normal" & happy etc that it leaves us really open to being let down.

Your experience is something we should all learn from both presonally & in terms of suggesting things/solutions to others because just because it works for us doesn't mean it will for others or it may but only in the right circumstances.

Try "bugging the heck" out of your local colleges & hospitals etc to try & get a cbt group running!!

Hi hotas-
your posts here are good and very illustrative. It sounds like you are really hurting and and sometimes it is hard to see the forrest for the treees when we are feeling so rotten. Cbt is nothing like positive thinking though they seem similar on the surface. Cbt is based on finding the thinking "errors" you are making and countering them with "objective" thoughts. You said your thoughts are not the problem but I see several of the thinking errors that cbt is based on being made in your notes. Jumping to conclusions, blowing things out of proportion and extreme thinking seem to be your main offenders based on these posts.
You jumped to the conclusion that simply reading the obitz book would cure you and then blew things out of proportion when it didn't. Even obitz said he thought cbt was a joke and wouldn't work for him when he was introduced to cbt, so you sound just like him and he is presumably better now. I am a big fan of cbt groups and think purple is right that getting involved with one may help jumpstart you into the process. Don't expect to learn many more exercises than the ones outlined in the obitz book though as all cbt exercises are variations of the tea form and the putting things back into perspective exercises that are outlined in the obitz book. Cbt appears to be too simplisitic to work, but in my experience it does and I have seen it work for too many others now not to be sold on it. Like my group leader told us and I always say.... The more effort you put into cbt the more you get out of it. It's basically up to you to how much you get out of it which can really build your confidence and self-esteem. I hope you give it a try because I do think you can be helped a great deal by it if you work at it. It's hard as hell at first but it gets easier the more you practice using the tools.
You also said that there is nothing in the book on getting over your past. Why would there be since that is exactly what cbt is about learning skills to go forward. Our group leader would cut-off anyone who started trying to talk about their past and say "i don't care what caused your problems we can't change what's already happened. I'm here to teach you how to fix the thinking patterns that were caused by your past so you can live anxiety free in the future."
sorry this ran on so long I like purple and haley's advice and I hope you give the tools a whirl. I think you'll be glad you did :d

good luck!

Q

Deleted by me

Hot

it's 1.30am here & now i'm left with my curiosity unsatisfied (definitely not good for a gemini) as to what you deleted.

Still I do hope you keep trying to get a group going & to heal yourself.

I deleted it because I don't want to argue with people who think they need to "shrink" me.
When you are told not to think negatively, that leaves thinking positevely and that cannot be argued!
Also, you have to work through your past in order to move forward and many, many additional psychological problems are achieved by ignoring them! So, I am not going to do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But, I am done with this post because it is really really pissin me off!

But thanks for satisfying my curiosity its one of the only good things to happen to me lately - yep that's how bad things are at the moment - so I really do appreciate you getting some satisfaction (curiosity may have killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back!!)