• Replies 11 replies
  • Subscribers 79 subscribers
  • Views 2934 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Anxiety: must be a cure?

Hope

I have had anxiety for most of my life, but it did not become disabling until around the age of 14/15. The anxiety takes the form of OCD (checking oven/lights and other appliances to make sure they are off, washing hands, fears around getting ill, and losing control); hypochondria (over-preoccupation with the body, interpreting tiny aches as signs of serious disease, which then brings on panic, hyperventilation, tension, and a feeling of dread, hyper-vigilance and a need to escape. The anxiety and bodily tension always disappears when I reach my home; mild agorophobia, brought on by the aforementioned hypochondria and panic  -it is easier to stay at home and not to venture too far away from familiar places.

I also have specific phobias: thunderstorms, dogs, lifts, crowds etc.

I am fed up with the anxiety. It stops me sleeping and relaxing, living life to the full, venturing too far from home, and generally prevents me from enjoying life.

I have tried CBT - it has not worked. I see a support worker 15 hours a week, and she has been invaluable in helping me to become more flexible with what I eat (due to contamination fears), and helping me to shop and cope better with crowds. But the extreme inner anxiety is still there, and it is making me unhappy. I have had CBT two times, to no avail. Is there no hope? What do I do? I have tried a short course of physiotherapy, which helped a bit, but the effects did not last.

I do not smoke, and  I eat a very healthy/balanced diet.

Parents

  • You need to find out if there is a therapist in your area with autism training, or ideally one that specialises in treating those on the autistic spectrum, who will take NHS referals, even they normally do private consultations, and then go to your GP and insist that they refer you to them.

    The more information you can give your GP, not in terms of who you want to see, but why you wish to see them, the better.

    I believe there's something in the recent Autism legislation and/or the NICE guidelines that deals with this kind of thing and why people on the spectrum need to see therapists with specialist training.

    Unfortunately like so many things with the legislation, many local authorities are still playing catch up, and your GP is likely to need to apply for special funding in order to refer you to the right place.

    I suggest this is something you may want to ask your support worker to help you with. She should be able to help you find out if there is anyone in your area that specialises in treating those on the spectrum, help you put your case to your GP, and chase the GP up on it if necessary.

    I've managed to get to see a specialist counciller where I live, but only through my Mum and my Housing Support Officer putting pressure on my GP to apply for special funding for me, and then on the PCT to actual provide the service I need.

    Good luck, and don't give up - the legislation and NICE guidelines are all on your side, so it just requires the right amount of pressure to be applied in the right places (as well as for a suitable service to exist in your area (which it probably does (but privately (but then, by law, cost should be no barrier, and they should refer out to private providers when the NHS can't provide for the needs of the patient))))

Reply

  • You need to find out if there is a therapist in your area with autism training, or ideally one that specialises in treating those on the autistic spectrum, who will take NHS referals, even they normally do private consultations, and then go to your GP and insist that they refer you to them.

    The more information you can give your GP, not in terms of who you want to see, but why you wish to see them, the better.

    I believe there's something in the recent Autism legislation and/or the NICE guidelines that deals with this kind of thing and why people on the spectrum need to see therapists with specialist training.

    Unfortunately like so many things with the legislation, many local authorities are still playing catch up, and your GP is likely to need to apply for special funding in order to refer you to the right place.

    I suggest this is something you may want to ask your support worker to help you with. She should be able to help you find out if there is anyone in your area that specialises in treating those on the spectrum, help you put your case to your GP, and chase the GP up on it if necessary.

    I've managed to get to see a specialist counciller where I live, but only through my Mum and my Housing Support Officer putting pressure on my GP to apply for special funding for me, and then on the PCT to actual provide the service I need.

    Good luck, and don't give up - the legislation and NICE guidelines are all on your side, so it just requires the right amount of pressure to be applied in the right places (as well as for a suitable service to exist in your area (which it probably does (but privately (but then, by law, cost should be no barrier, and they should refer out to private providers when the NHS can't provide for the needs of the patient))))

Children
No Data