Reddit reviews 10 Steps to Positive Living

I just wanted to drop by and tell you about how similar my story is to /u/ordinarygymrat and I hope that by sharing I can help. I'd also like to say congratulations to /u/ordinarygymrat - well done for making it out!

I mean, my experience and advice is so similar it's uncanny. My agoraphobia and anxiety was so bad I couldn't even go down to the postboxes at the entrance to my apartment block. Social anxiety wasn't actually too bad, partly because I was too confused to feel it, but it was certainly there to an extent. I also wasn't really particularly depressed, other than being a bit blue about feeling my life slip away. I used to count the number of lampposts I could walk past, and i'd try to increase the number. Bridges were impossible, as were rivers, because I couldn't escape. Waiting in line at Greggs because I couldn't escape once I'd committed to waiting.

But that first sausage roll was beautiful.

10 years later and i'm doing really fucking well. I went back to uni, went to some great parties, completed my bachelors, completed my PhD, gave presentations in front of large crowds, won an award for best presentation, went to conferences and mingled, got a job in America through my mingling and newly developed social skills, sold all my property and emigrated on my own. I am insanely happy now and i've never been in a better place in my life. I feel confident and comfortable in my skin. I'm likable and make friends easily. I talk to collaborators and i'm known as being a warm, stimulating, and very clever person.

Now i'm not trying to be /r/iamverysmart or arrogant, but I really want to illustrate how incredibly sick I was 10 years ago - I was close to be hospitalised. And now I have all of those things I listed. That's not to say you should feel silly for not being quite so bad and not having made it quite so far yet. It really is a case of "different horses for different courses" we are all unique and we are all similar.

Keep going man.

One size doesn't fit all, but I would at least suggest what I tried and what /u/ordinarygymrat touched upon. I personally found being hard on myself worked the best. I considered getting better my 9-5 job, so I would spend all day working at it and not rest until it was time. Personally medication didn't work and actually made me worse, but it might work for some. I found CBT excellent, but you need to find the right person - try a few and push for free first session, don't commit to one until you've had a session with 3 or 4. If they don't do free session then don't bother, there are tens in the Bristol area who do. Counselling can be quite good as it can be good to get things out and feel supported, but it didn't do much for me. I read a few self-help books, but the only one that helped was 10 steps to positive living by Dr Windy Dryden. I would really push myself and considered this a battle, I would get angry if I didn't push myself a lot. I would instruct my friends to push me as hard as possible and put me in situations that I would later beg to be removed from - as long as it was safe. For me, it was about desensitising and realising that nothing bad will happen. It gets better over time if you keep pushing, and although sometimes you might feel yourself slipping backwards that is perfectly normal - its like a tide that moves forward and backwards in waves.

Good luck and feel free to literally contact me at any time for help, advice, and support.