Somebody help please

[Ryanh]

HI

Can somebody please help, I suffer from social phobia and evey time i leave the house people cough and yawn at me like when i walk down the road people will fake cough or yawn at me, I know people obvisoly do this but it hard to get someone to believe me. i have had this for 4 years of my life and dont know what to do , My doctor reconmened me to have Hypnosis which i did for 6months but did not have any effect on me, I just want to know what it all means. Also when im driving i notice every one doing like hand signal under the nose at me, I know this sounds abit stupid bit its just a nightmare for me.

It is total strangers that sniff,cough yawn and do these things to me, which makes it more Worrying for me, i just cant leave the house anymore and thinking of commiting suicide,i have seen a psychotherapist and he said it was Chronic anxiety but it just getting worst for me, I know 100% that people are doing these things to me but i just cant explain it.

It all started when i was about 23 i have a job in a warehouse packing lenses, i didnt mix with anyone, i could not have a Conversation with anyone i just felt the odd one out, people would just walk past me and cough loud it wasnt just one person doing this it was quite alot , ive had a few more jobs since then but the same happend again but worse, and i Could'nt cope with it anymore. I have stayed in for a 2 years now, every time i go to the shop or pop out people will stare at me and cough or sniff loud purpolsy as if to say there disgusted at me, and now ive notice people yawning when they see me as if to say youre boring or something may be its my personality but im a very shy person, i just dont know why.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

i have seen a psychotherapist and he said it was Chronic anxiety but it just getting worst for me

How long did you see this therapist and how long ago?

Are you or have you ever been given any medication for this?

 

[Ryanh]

i have seen a psychotherapist and he said it was Chronic anxiety but it just getting worst for me

How long did you see this therapist and how long ago?

Are you or have you ever been given any medication for this?

I have seen a few therapists and doctors in january this year, and was given some tablets for 6 months to help me relax but they did not work and i have also had hypnosis and they gave me a tape to listen eveyday but had not effect on me.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

What were the tablets and how long did you continue to take them?

Did you see any of your therapists regularly? If you stopped after a month, it is doubtful you could have significantly benefitted...

 

[Ryanh]

What were the tablets and how long did you continue to take them?

Did you see any of your therapists regularly? If you stopped after a month, it is doubtful you could have significantly benefitted...

The tablets was Diazepam or something similar to that name, yes i saw my therapist every two weeks and went to every session and then he Recommended hypnosis i had once a week but i decided to stop because it was not doing anything just llistening to tapes.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Okay... what I'm trying to get at here is that you seemed to have tried a lot of things in a short period of time but not really followed up on any of them.

I may be misinterpreting the little bit you've written here (more information is better when seeking advice) but:

1. How many times did you see your therapist and what were his/her qualifications? What did the sessions consist of? I confess that personally I have little or no faith in hypnotism as a treatment so I'm not terribly surprised this part didn't work.

2. How long were you taking the tranquilizer (diazepam or whatever it was)? do you recall the dose at all? did you try going back to your doctor to tell him/her you didn't think it was helping? if you don't give your doctor feedback, most doctors will take that to mean you're doing fine, but in this case as in most cases there are probably a lot of different alternatives you might have tried.

 

[Ryanh]

Okay... what I'm trying to get at here is that you seemed to have tried a lot of things in a short period of time but not really followed up on any of them.

I may be misinterpreting the little bit you've written here (more information is better when seeking advice) but:

1. How many times did you see your therapist and what were his/her qualifications? What did the sessions consist of? I confess that personally I have little or no faith in hypnotism as a treatment so I'm not terribly surprised this part didn't work.

2. How long were you taking the tranquilizer (diazepam or whatever it was)? do you recall the dose at all? did you try going back to your doctor to tell him/her you didn't think it was helping? if you don't give your doctor feedback, most doctors will take that to mean you're doing fine, but in this case as in most cases there are probably a lot of different alternatives you might have tried.

I seen my therapist Bill Newton about 12 times,im not to sure what qualifications he had i was told he was very good from my doctor, he would visit me evey two weeks and set me a task to do like go for a walk everyday for 1 hour, i was taking the tablets for 6months of 25g i think, and he asked me to have Cognitive behavior therapy but i did not want to do this, so now i have a appoitment next week with my doctor to see what else to suggest.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

What was your objection to cognitive behavior therapy? I suspect that could be quite helpful to you.

Another suggestion is to ask your doctor for a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist who specializes in differential diagnosis. The suggested diagnosis of some sort of anxiety disorder is probably correct but that doesn't mean that others shouldn't be considered.

 

[Ryanh]

What was your objection to cognitive behavior therapy? I suspect that could be quite helpful to you.

Another suggestion is to ask your doctor for a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist who specializes in differential diagnosis. The suggested diagnosis of some sort of anxiety disorder is probably correct but that doesn't mean that others shouldn't be considered.

Thank you for your support i will ask my doctor for a referral ,I did'nt want to go to therapy because i feel it will not stop people from doing these things to me, do you think that it is Possible that people do these things to me or there is a meaning for it?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I think you may be hypersensitive to / over-reacting to / over-personalizing things that people do every day all the time and that in the vast majority of cases aren't directed at you and don't have anything to do with you.

Various medications can help you limit the hypersensitivity and over-reaction... therapy, including CBT, can help you to reframe / restructure your interpretations of things so you don't personalize them so much (reality checks).

 

[Erika83]

RYANH,

This is what i suffer from. are you in london. there is a self-help group meeting every wednesday. if you are interested e-mail me: <admin note: click on the email button at the bottom of the post> and even if your not. you can still email me.

Love you darling. don't worry...

XXxxx

 

[ThatLady]

It's my bet you'll benefit greatly from cognitive therapy, not to mention getting a real diagnosis for what's going on with you, Ryanh. I do hope your doctor can recommend someone for you to see who can diagnose your problem and get you on the road to recovery. Please keep us updated as to what's happening with you. )