Badbuz

The city!
Never actually been to Galway city... apart from the bus station of course!

Shuddup you - Limericks amaaaaazin!! ooh you're from Galway. I know a few from loughrea!!

Hey how are ya?! where ya from??

Volunteer work would be great if you could find the right thing that interests you. Places that need volunteers always need more people - they don't care what your motives are unless they are malicious. It is likely that you would start out trying to help yourself and once you relax a bit about it, end up doing it to help others. I have actually been having a pretty rough spell recently... I don't know what is up. I have been having a lot of trouble with food addiction stuff. I have also been obsessing over things and driving my boyfriend up the wall. He is good and tries to understand, but I know I can be frustrating, haha. I have one more year after this one left of school. This year is going by so fast though... almost halfway done! How have you been lately? Did you end up doing the anxiety group sessions? How is the therapy?

Yeah, I think reading some things on this site has made me think about my condition more too! Mostly because I usually think of OCD as handwashing/checking things/counting things, but I heard a lot of people talking about intrusive thoughts, which I think I suffer from a lot. That is good that you are seeing a therapist. The anxiety group sessions might be just what you need! For sure it is worth a try. Let me know how it goes. I actually put a post out on craigslist to see about meeting some new people. I figure I might as well throw myself into some social situations one way or another. The health care here is pretty good in general and the right plans with extended coverage take care of a lot of mental health expenses as well. I am still covered through my mom's health care plan and with it I get most of my prescriptions paid for and I can get counseling for free from a certain counseling group.

Strange that u say that cus iv been thinkin that to but im not sure cus dnt know much bout ocd and i think hearing bout it on this forum mite be jst puttin the thought in my head,wierd eh ha.iv started seein a occupational therapist since lastweek wer only goin meetin once a week he says he startin a another anxiety management group nxt month,i was against that idea wen i used to see him before but now i think i should i try it mite help.i dnt take medication anymore it nva worked for me kinda get sick of switchn tablets doin trial and error so wana try more therapy.how is ur health system at hme for mental health,i dnt think they do enough over here for people with problems

Hehe, I found a calendar for 2010 entirely of sheep! I don't really care about tourist attractions. I would be more into going there and just learning about the culture and day to day life in Ireland than going to a touristy place, packed with people being herded around like sheep with cameras around their necks, haha. I am doing fairly well with my social anxiety, but I am having some other strange behaviors come up that don't seem to be due to SA. I am wondering about OCD... I need to find a counselor, but I keep dragging my feet on it. School is going fairly well so far. How about you? I'm not sure what sort of job I will end up with. Most likely another lab job... I like research....

Victoria is good because you are never very far from any kind of attraction. You want to be in the city? There are urban areas and a solid downtown core. You want to be in the forest, hiking mountain trails? You can drive like 20-30 mins out of town and you are there. We have lots of nice beaches too. There are many people with Irish heritage in Canada, but I don't know many who were born in Ireland. I think there are more Irish people on the east coast than the west, where I am. I have heard that the Irish are very pleasant when you go there. How are things going with you by the way?

Awesome. I would love to go to New Zealand too! Another place with lots of sheep (I really like sheep, haha). Yeah, Palestine would be neat. Victoria is very nice. There are lots of things to do as a tourist. The main attraction though is that our weather is better (more mild) than pretty much anywhere else in Canada. We are on an island, so we have a maritime-ish climate. It rarely ever gets too hot or too cold. Most winters we don't have any snow. And, we don't get as much rain as other parts.

That is good. Yeah, I have a bad procrastination problem. I get anxious about doing work, so I put it off, but the longer I put it off, the more anxious I get! Oye. I did end up going out for dinner and it went really well. I was proud of myself. I have been finding success in telling myself that it doesn't matter if I eat slowly and am the last one to finish eating. Canada is keeping well. Although the weather here has taken quite the turn. It seems to have skipped from summer right to winter! I shouldn't complain though... We have it very good where I live compared to the rest of Canada. That would be cool if you could come to Canada. It is really a beautiful place with a lot to see and do. I would love to go to Ireland some day - being of proud Irish heritage and a lover of rolling hillsides and sheep and all... I plan on doing some traveling after I graduate. Where all do you want to go?

i'm from a place near loughrea. are you in the uni? what course are you doin?

I'm not sure how long that took him to build... Many months I'm sure. Yeah, I haven't been around much either. Last week, school was insanely busy. I haven't seen the new episode of south park. I will have to watch it online. Was it good? Anxiety is having its ups and downs. My bf is going out for dinner with his grandma tonight and I'm trying to decide if I feel up to going..... How about your anxiety? How is school going?

sorry for the late reply haven't being on here for ages. what part of galway are you from? i was in college but not at the moment failed a subject so i hav to wait till nxt year to repeat them. sa did make college difficult but i like it lots mainly cuase i like the course. how bad is sa affecting you?

Haha, it isn't just Canadians who are into LEGO. There are people from all over the world. Check this out:
Nottingbley Castle: un álbum de Flickr
That was one of his best things he built. It is good that you are okay with living with people you don't know. I know that would make me feel kind of anxious at first, but you are right; it is more worrysome to be anxious around people you know really well. You can watch any South Park you want on the Comedy Network website! A co-op work term goes for four months usually. Both of mine so far have been 37.5 hour weeks. They are typically full time positions. But I am back at school now.

wats up with ya fella, were bouts ya from in eire?

Hehehe, I watch 3 south parks online last night. I think Bush is from Texas, haha. I guess politics suck no matter where you are... I try to avoid it at all costs! The conference isn't for his job, but he does have a good job. He works as the head designer at a high tech machine shop. The conference is actually for LEGO. He is super into LEGO and builds really amazing stuff out of it and sometime has events with other LEGO fans, haha. I end up doing a lot of stuff with my parents when he isn't in town, but I wouldn't want to stay at either of their houses if I had a choice... I am more comfortable in my own home and I want to try to stay independent enough to still want to be away from home when I am alone. What is your living situation like?

You asked about CBT - cognitive behaviour therapy.
This therapy is based on challenging and minimising automatic negative thoughts that runs through our minds constantly.
It works and I have found it effective - but you need to be the architect of your own success - you need to apply yourself for 30 mins daily to the techniques.
I would recommend Dr Richards SAI book and discs.
Use and apply for 2-4-6 months and you will notice a big improvement.

I believe the team I was talking about was from Texas, so yeah, haha. My boyfriend is in Seattle (in the US right across the border) for a conference. We have lived together for about a year now. He is pretty much the only person who I talk to about my SA, and so I tend to get more anxious when he isn't around. He makes me feel more comfortable in general. Yeah, I can't wait for the new season of south park to start. There have been some particularly funny episodes in the last couple seasons. What was the result of the referendum this time?