I had an appointment – my first in three weeks – with Dr Broadhead tonight.
During the intervening time I’ve returned to work full time, have weaned myself off the during-the-day lorazepam doses and pushed my social interactions to the point of integrating with large groups of people.
I’ve also successfully identified certain trigger situations for my anxiety: passive-aggressive behaviour, direct confrontation (expected – most people have this) and one other I don’t want to go into details on at this point in time.
The outcome: we’re going to work towards weaning me off the nighttime dose of lorazepam; I’ll work with the psychotherapist on coping strategies for anxiety attacks and on identifying the root cause of it becoming an issue last year; and lastly work with him on my fear of not being able to get to sleep (which, of course, is self-fulfilling).
So, a lot to be getting on with, and some good goals to work towards. My next appointment is in a month’s time. I’m feeling accomplished.