A few months ago my therapist retired and moved to warmer environs in the south. He said I was managing my OCD well and that I didn’t need therapy until the autumn.
Mood music:
http://youtu.be/Ils9GXqU03c
That last appointment was in the spring, with the season’s increasingly long periods of daylight, the environment I function best in.
Now it’s late October, with shorter days, and the seasonal issues are starting to kick in. Sunday I started getting chest pains and Monday I was breaking out in a sweat for no good reason. I’m familiar with these symptoms. It usually starts as heartburn and then my OCD runs wild with thoughts that I might be having a heart attack. When that worry increases, the sweat appears.
It’s a classic anxiety attack.
I used to get them all the time, but in recent years they’re few and far between. When I get one, it usually means I’m experiencing some big stress in my life.
I thought about what might be causing it. All in all, life is good. My wife and children are healthy. I love my job. Most things are status quo, except that we’re still helping the kids adjust to life in a new school. But that’s been an ongoing processes and hasn’t kept me up at night. So what’s the deal?
Of course, that’s what therapists are for: helping you yank out the underlying issues you can’t see on the surface.
I’ve been shopping for a new therapist for a couple months now. It hasn’t been easy. I’ve called several that I researched online. Most haven’t called back. The rest weren’t the right fit.
Fortunately, I have great friends looking out for me. One friend, herself a mental health specialist, is working her contacts and getting me names. From that list, I may have found the therapist I’m looking for.
Wish me luck.
It took me years to find the right therapist. I always look for mine to be open-minded yet blunt about what it really happening. I would send you a reference if you were in Pennsylvania. Good Luck in your search , there are a lot of therapists out there who have no business in the business, or your business for that matter.
I’ve been with the same therapist for seven years, and I’m thinking about graduating into life without couch time. Transitions are scary.