Patience

[kel12347]

I need some advice/tips on how to be patient while doing my exposure therapy. I am finishing up step 2 and will be moving on to step 3 in the next week or two. But I get so frustrated that I can't go faster. I feel like it's going to take forever. I know that I've suffered a long time with this disorder, so it's going to take a while to get over it, but I'm so darn IMPATIENT!!!! I need tips/motivation/inspiration/whatever.


Thanks!

[tayda]

I take it one day at a time. I know it sounds stupid and cliche, but really it's all you can do. Slowly and surely you will get better! It's like a diet. If you go to fast and crash, you may lose the weight, but it will come right back. But if you make slow changes to your diet and xercise regime... the weight will slowly come off and will be more permanent.


Do you feel like the therapy is working thus far?

[kel12347]

Yeah, I know I just need to take it one day at a time, but I want to be cured NOW!! I just need to deal with the fact that therapy is going to take a long time. I've been doing exposure therapy for about 2 months now. I'm using Sage's hierarchy, but I've added a couple steps, anda couple sub-steps (like instead of just looking at the word vomit, I'm also looking at the other most common words for vomit, so I can get used to all of them). I do feel like it's working, even if it's just a little bit right now. I'm assuming that I will make more progress once I move up the steps.


The medication I'm on is also really helping me. It's improved my anxiety 100%. I've gone almost 2 months without a panic attack, whereas I used to get one at least once a week, and sometimes up to every other day.


I guess the one thing that's keeping me motivated (besides wanting to get rid of this crappy disorder) is that exposure therapy, if done correctly, ALWAYS works. So if I can just keep plugging away, there's a huge reward waiting at the end of the path.

[tayda]

It is definitely worth fighting for. Keep at it slow and steady, I think that your method is developed extremely well. 2 months isn't all that long if you think about it, it may seem that way when you think of the time left ahead of you... but keep at it! It's great that it is helping you, and you are beginning to feel a little better. Keep at it.. maybe create an exposure therapy diary.. so that in another 2 or 4 months, you can physically look at all the progress you've made!