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Coping self-talk


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I hope this list of coping self-talk will help lessen your anxiety. If you want to print it and keep it with you to refer to it.. maybe put it in your purse. This has helped me a great deal. I hope it helps some of you as well.

Coping Self-talk

 

 

The worst thing that can happen is that I’ll panic (and that hasn’t hurt me yet).

Stay with the feeling—don’t fight it.

 

Just float through it.

 

The worst thing that could happen is discomfort.

 

I’ve lived through this before and I’ll make it this time too.

 

It only feels threatening.

 

It will pass.

 

The best thing that can happen is when it’s over I won’t be as afraid of it next time.

 

I only feel out of control—I’m driving OK, I’m walking OK.

 

By letting go I am in control.

 

I may feel out of control, but I’m actually in control.

 

The way to get out of this is to go through it.

 

I am not going to die.

 

I have done this before and I’m going to do it again and nothing bad will happen.

 

The best thing that can happen is that I’ll be one step closer to recovery.

 

 

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I hope this list of coping self-talk will help lessen your anxiety. If you want to print it and keep it with you to refer to it.. maybe put it in your purse. This has helped me a great deal. I hope it helps some of you as well.

Coping Self-talk

 

 

The worst thing that can happen is that I’ll panic (and that hasn’t hurt me yet).

Stay with the feeling—don’t fight it.

 

Just float through it.

 

The worst thing that could happen is discomfort.

 

I’ve lived through this before and I’ll make it this time too.

 

It only feels threatening.

 

It will pass.

 

The best thing that can happen is when it’s over I won’t be as afraid of it next time.

 

I only feel out of control—I’m driving OK, I’m walking OK.

 

By letting go I am in control.

 

I may feel out of control, but I’m actually in control.

 

The way to get out of this is to go through it.

 

I am not going to die.

 

I have done this before and I’m going to do it again and nothing bad will happen.

 

The best thing that can happen is that I’ll be one step closer to recovery.

 

Thank you :)

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You may want to change the self talk of "I am not going to die" to "I will live through this, I am safe." The brain doesn't register the negative "not" so it "hears" "I am going to die."  Better to avoid the word all together, esp. when anxious.  Just a thought.
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I appreciate your input recoveringfrombenzoz. This list is one that I got from my therapist many years ago. She's a phd  and specializes in anxiety and depression and has done so for 25 years. I have to acquiesce  to her experience and education on this one.

 

I hope it's helpful to others. Not everything on it will ring true with everyone. Just take what works for you and disregard the rest.

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I actually do fear that I will die before I'm able to get off this crap. I'm not getting any younger ( as no one is also) but with the time that this will take, it's not unrealistic.

 

I expect I'll be titrating (if I can get to that point) for a very long time. Just has to be that way.

 

So, while I have and am experiencing some real sx, I dont think the sx will take me. But time may before I can ( if I can) be benzo free.

 

It's the simple truth.

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Wish I was more into Zen/Buddism stuff. Know many who are and others who are just religious overall. It does seem to help them.I do generally do some self-talk altho it's been unrelated to my current situation.

 

I'm just very resolution based, and used to doing concrete problem solving to obtain that resolution. This is a whole new problem for me, and my anxiety comes totally from not being able yet to get to where I believe resolution is: titration.

 

But I'm not meaning to take away from concepts that are helpful and give hope to anyone. I actually think being on this klonopin has contribute to a depressed attitude that I never had before. Not really liking this K overall. Would go back to Xanax in a flash if I thought I could actually get off it successfully.

 

I hear not only is it hard to do generally(get off Xanax), but even titration from it is just "real hard."

It's the idea of carrying around those bottles also that puts me off. Then to not succeed would be too " intense."

 

 

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Intend,

 

I'm sorry you are having a such a rough time.  This may or may not be helpful to you.  It's got a buddhist/Zen bend to it, but in a way that might lighten your load.  I think there is a lot offered in the practice of meditation and the philosophy in the practice of buddhism and Zen and I am probably the furthest person from religion as one can get. If any of this suits you, then good.  If it doesn't, then discard it. 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=14100.0

 

:)

 

WWWI

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The list I've posted here could sound very Zen but it's not. It's a list I've compiled from my therapy sessions of many years ago. My therapist wasn't the least bit into Zen practises. Although, many Zen practices and psychosocial tools are very similar.
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Well WWWI and Hope,

 

You are both right. And I did read that link and I can see that I already do practice many of those coping strategies.

 

That makes me feel better at this moment. Thank you both for trying to help anyone out there with these problems.

 

I am examining what has upset me today (and actually these past 2 months). I am overall wanting to be off this stuff first and foremost. Secondly, I want to be on the med that allows me to start a  titration taper. Thirdly and lastly, I want to get past these w/d sx that came on when I dropped that Xanax 12/11.

 

Anyway, I could go on with much discussion, but it is good to realize (through another venue i.e. that link) that i am using some of my well worn coping skills no matter how irritable and worried I get.

 

Intend

 

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Your reasons for being upset are absolutely valid, I know those same concerns, worries, plague most if not all of us.  But I'm really glad you are able to also see them objectively, which is a really good sign.  it also says a tremendous amount that you recognize that you have within you the ability to cope despite how difficult this is.  :)

WWWI

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I am well worn at coping for sure. It is part of a general survival strategy that we all have.

 

I see my biggest hurdle at the moment to get fully onto K and off X. Well actually it is to weather this storm of sx from the X drop. Then I can better make a decision about what to do next. I am in throes of the w/d and it is painful so each day I go back to restrategizing only to realize that I need to give myself more time to see where my sx's are as they do change from week to week. ( It will be 3 weeks since that drop on 1/11/12.)

 

I see myself being self-centered right here as I go on about my thought process. It is that link being played out:)

 

Intend

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I transitioned from 4 mg A to 40 V and I didn't do it well so I really empathize with your struggle.  Keep fighting the good fight, you'll get there :)

 

WWWI

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I do hear the short life benzos to long life benzos crossover can be tremendous struggle. I know it can be done and I will continue trying.

 

It's evening here right now and I feel better. Evening is often time when I either feel much better or much worse. Hard to tell the pattern if there is one. But I do know that in spite of big drop in X, K is doing something or I would have had a seizure when I made that drop as it was a 33% drop. Thought that with amount of K I was taking it would be ok. But anyway no seizure so K is working to some extent. That thought comforts me.

 

Thank you for all your counsel and kind words.

 

Intend

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  • 1 year later...

Intend - just a thought, but one of the great paradoxes of recovery is letting go of trying to "solve" anything. Problem solving and anxiety actually seem to be poor bed-fellows. The "let it come and don't fight it" attitude you probably read here is heavily influenced by Mindfulness "techniques." This doesn't mean giving in - absolutely not. It merely means staying alert to what is happening to you without being thrown into a tailspin by it. Once the problem-solving left-brain kicks in, one can easily feel defeated, as the drugs overwhelm most attempts at correcting the problem. The wise thing to do, it seems, is to "mindfully" ride it out. This means staying conscious of the withdrawal and all the feelings which come with it, including depression and anxiety. Don't try and change them; just don't give in to them. They WILL pass.

 

I have been through hell - just like most others here - and this technique has brought me back better than anything else. It took me a while to see it, but it really works. In fact, I think it works for depression and anxiety in general, so it's simply excellent practise.

 

I hope this helps, even if you've heard it all before...

 

Pax

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  • 3 weeks later...

Intend - just a thought, but one of the great paradoxes of recovery is letting go of trying to "solve" anything. Problem solving and anxiety actually seem to be poor bed-fellows. The "let it come and don't fight it" attitude you probably read here is heavily influenced by Mindfulness "techniques." This doesn't mean giving in - absolutely not. It merely means staying alert to what is happening to you without being thrown into a tailspin by it. Once the problem-solving left-brain kicks in, one can easily feel defeated, as the drugs overwhelm most attempts at correcting the problem. The wise thing to do, it seems, is to "mindfully" ride it out. This means staying conscious of the withdrawal and all the feelings which come with it, including depression and anxiety. Don't try and change them; just don't give in to them. They WILL pass.

 

I have been through hell - just like most others here - and this technique has brought me back better than anything else. It took me a while to see it, but it really works. In fact, I think it works for depression and anxiety in general, so it's simply excellent practise.

 

I hope this helps, even if you've heard it all before...

 

Pax

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  • 5 months later...
  • 6 months later...
The self talk helps - I repeat the items as I am doing my walk in my house every day. I also self-talk about the future - I am getting better, I have made progress, etc.
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The self talk helps - I repeat the items as I am doing my walk in my house every day. I also self-talk about the future - I am getting better, I have made progress, etc.

 

That's great news Allison. It really helped me too.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...
The problem with my anxiety is anger. When I "self-talk" I become the prime motivator for WWIII. I began taking xanax 27 years ago for a panic disorder. Before I developed the panic disorder, I never thought of myself as an angry person. I would get angry, yes, but it was "justified". This is "free-floating" anger with no focal point. I am not angry at anything specific, but I could turn Cinderella into a story of vengeance. I don't know where the anger is coming from, or what purpose it serves. It certainly isn't helping my withdrawal from xanax, not when I can turn Nirvana into a battleship.
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Ineasy2,

 

The problem with anger is that it can feel very satisfying sometimes so there is some payoff to feelings of anger.

 

Certainly during withdrawal anger is something that crops up. In fact, I know during my own withdrawal I would feel anger at nothing in particular. There were times I didn't recognize myself.

 

Have you considered therapy? There might be something in your past that is feeding this "free floating anger". It might be worth looking into. It must be difficult to live with anger 24/7. I'm sorry you're feeling this way.

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