I'm trying to get therapy for the first time...

[reslo]

i've been thinking for the past week straight everyday that i need to get help.
the place i just stared working at offers a company to call that will refer you to a counselor if your experiencing anxiety, so it's a place to start for me.. but im terrified to make the initail call.

any encouragement on getting a counselor for the first time? i feel trapped in this cycle of anxiety-

 

[planemo]

I'm sure you'll have butterflies in your stomach if you decide to make the call. I've had so many instances where I avoided making a call because I was so nervous. On the odd occasion I did I realised that the fear, is just in my head. Actually procrastinating builds up more anxiety. It sometimes just better to get it done. The complexity of the situation is far less than what we perceive it to be. Try to convince yourself that you are doing something mundane, rather than extraordinary. I bet you if you make the call and get the ball rolling in terms of getting therapy, you'll wonder what the fuss was all about in the first place.

 

[minnow]

I know how you feel. I had to get my grandmother to make my first appointment. I think that if you need help, any way you can manage to get it is good. Even if that means chickening out and asking someone else to call. I just went to that first appointment today and it went better than I expected, I was to nervous to talk much so I wrote a letter explaining my symptoms, how I felt, what I do etc. All I had to do was hand it to him and he was really nice and understanding!

 

[reslo]

thank you for the replies!
it took me 5 days from when i posted this to actually complete the call. (on the first 2 tries I hung up, but on the third try, after waiting over 90 minutes in my car, i was able to do it and actually speak with a person.) And the person was really nice, said she was a counselor, and i was able to tell her about the small panic attack i experienced at work and my symptoms of my heart racing and how i was shaking and i couldn't speak.
i just try to keep thinking about how every moment of sadness, lonlieness, of feeling like im on the outside looking in, every moment of uncomfortableness and anxiety i've experienced due to sa in total isn't worse than what it would be to make that phone call.... i can think of every reason in my head on why not to get help, but i know im not getting anywhere by myself.
now that i've called the helpline or whatever, i have to call the therapist, and schedule the consultation, and they said that if it doesn't click, i can always callback and they can refer me to someone else. so my goal for today is to call the therapist's office and hopefully get things going with them or to call the line back and find someone else if it doesn't seem like it would work....
that's definitely well said, emu noodles, i will try to keep that in mind! and you're absolutely right, minnow, that any way to find help is good, and kudos for making it to the first session- hopefully i'll get there!

 

[shyguy83]

I wish my work had something like this. I am miserable and don't know who to talk to about it. I don't ever go to a doctor if I get sick, just tough it out and eventually get better. I read a lot of forums and stuff and it says "talk to your doctor" but I don't know where to start with that...the same doctor who makes a sore throat go away? How would that help with anxiety? Plus I still live at home with my mom and am too embarassed to bring it up to her, yet if I somehow managed to find the right person to help me I don't even know how I'd hide it from her. I hate waking up in the morning.