Anxiety

[bubbasmom]

What is ERP?

 

I tell him that we all have fearful thoughts and that they are just thoughts and that we can control our reaction to them. We don't have to sit and cry about them, we can tell ourselves that it's just a thought, it's not true, and that you can push past the thought and think of something positive. He listens(through tears) and then says that, "He can't b/c the thought just won't leave him alone." It's like he just doesn't have the capacity to filter his thoughts. So, I made an appointment with the old therapist we used last year and we'll be going back next week for a 'tune up'.

 

B

 

There is a type of OCD called "bad thoughts" OCD. It is treated with ERP therapy. If you have an old therapist that is used to anxiety, be sure to ask if they are specifically trained on ERP. Regular talk therapy does not work for OCD.

[LMama]

Hi. I am sorry to hear about your son's worries. Our son is 6 and has worries at night. This is what works for us:

 

We do a round of deep breathing while I lie next to him and guide him. The we do a simple muscle relaxation technique where I ask him to tighten small groups of muscles (start at toes, and then slowly move to face and head)and hold, the take a deep breath, and release. I ask him to picture the worries flowing out of his toes every time he breathes out, and to imagine the light of the Holy Spirit flowing into him from the tip of his head. Once we have done that, I keep talking him through the relaxation.

 

Sometimes, then I will ask him to imagine his body being so relaxed it just melts into the bed. The I ask him to imagine lifting his arm, only his arm off the bed, but to really not move it. But to try to imagine so strongly that he actually can almost feel it physciallt being lifted off the bed (even though it really never moved, It's all in his imagination.) Then I ask him to do the same with his pther arm. Eventually I ask him to imagine being lifted off the bed and floating through the room. I assure him I am with him, and then we might travel to a special location, like the beach or zoo. I guide him as I describe everything we see. Eventually he falls asleep.

 

We do it almost every night, and now he has goteent so good at it that sometimes he falls asleep after the muscle relaxation.

 

Another thing we do when he is awake and having anxiety is we do an exercise called "5 Things" or even sometimes "10 Things" if necessary. I start out asking him to tell me 10 things he sees, then 10 things he hears (his breathing, my voice, the wind, ect.), then 10 things he feels (the shoes on his feet, the air blowing on him, his feet standing on the floor.) I make it a game by acting really impressed by some of the things he comes up with. By the time he gets through them, he has often forgotten a bit about what he was "stuck" on. He likes this one so much that he recently recommended it to one of his friends.

 

Some of this might help some of you. If so, I hope so. It has helped me. It took some practice to get him to really do the exercises right, so don;t give up if at first it doesn't work. Once they get how it works, it becomes second nature to them. The great thing is that it can give them a way to handle their anxiety on their own (deep breathing, 10 things, ect. can all be done by themselves once they ar good at it.)

 

I really hope something fomr this list of things helps. Good luck.