Hello again

:sick:I am feeling very hopeless,as i am feeling that i am going to be in this prolonged withdrawl forever,i feel that it will never go away,even though i have windows,i still feel like i  am going to be this way forever,can some benzo wd sytmoms last permanantly?I read someones story and he mentioned that he went deaf becouse of the addiction and had some long lasting cns problems becouse of the high amounts of benzo's he was on,i think i read it in the sucess stories part.But i am afraid that can be me! Help! what if i never truly recover?

hello khowell, you are probably sick of me by now!  I hope not, though.  I think one of the most counter-productive things we can do to ourselves in this process is to entertain "worst case scenarios".  You are probably familiar with the concept of a "self-fulfilling prophecy", yes?

 

I think a lot of anxiety stems from those two concepts.  Imagine if we seriously considered all of the bad things that could happen to us and our loved ones every day?  Our kids could be abducted!  Our house could burn down!  We could lose our jobs!  Iran could invade us!  We would not be able to live a successful and productive life if we gave ourselves permission to think that all of these things could happen. Our lives would be about fear and catastrophe.

 

Could awful things happen?  Of course they could.  Are the odds in favor of those things happening today?  Of course they are not.  I think part of what happens with anxiety is that we scare ourselves by questions.  The "what if's" in life.  Our job is to reassure ourselves that all will be well.  Do we know that for absolute certainty, no.  Would we tell our kids "Good night darling.  I hope no one kidnaps you tonite.  Sleep well!"

 

Yet that is what we can do to ourselves.  "I sure hope these symptoms don't get worse and last forever.  Get better soon!"  We don't give ourselves the very best chance we can, the best atmosphere for healing.  Using that power for our benefit is a tremendous tool and few of us think it can make a difference.  But it can.  It truly can.  If you don't believe it, ask yourself how well-adjusted and self-confident your children would be if you scared them to sleep every night.  Think of your brain like your precious child and don't scare yourself well.  It won't work. 

 

Trust your body's knowledge of itself.  If you don't know what will happen as you recover, assume that all will go well and that you will handle what ever comes your way.  Imagine your way to a positive outcome.  Realize that worry and fear sends jolts of adrenaline surging through your already taxed system and decide that you will stop contributing to this process.  Learn other ways to cope with anxiety and fear and practice those skills with as much diligence and determination as you invest in worrying.  There is simply no way that you will make your situation worse if you choose to think that the best will happen. 

 

 

 

Thank you hawkeye,very true,but the wds are so intense,it's like day one all over again,i can bearly walk right.I feel like crawling out of my skin right now. :sick:

Hey khowell, how is your day going today?  Any signs of relief at all?  One day closer to healing and to you getting some structure back into your day.  I hope knowing that helps even a bit!  Take care!