{"id":372,"date":"2007-07-25T11:40:15","date_gmt":"2007-07-25T11:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondblue\/2007\/07\/ginny-and-claudia-signs-of-lif.html"},"modified":"2007-07-25T11:40:15","modified_gmt":"2007-07-25T11:40:15","slug":"ginny-and-claudia-signs-of-lif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2007\/07\/ginny-and-claudia-signs-of-lif.html","title":{"rendered":"Signs of Life for Ginny and Claudia"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was especially concerned about reader Ginny who wrote the following on the message board of my “When to Get Help<\/a>” post:<\/p>\n

How do you find a good doctor when you’re terrified of leaving the house? When the very thought of sitting in a waiting room makes you so anxious you become dizzy and ill? I had none of these problems until my doctor put me on a beta blocker that threw me into a major depression. I’ve weaned off the medication but the panic attacks and anxiety and agoraphobia are worsening. I know I need help, for my sake and for my 5-year-old, but how do you get help when you can’t get outside?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And for reader Claudia, who wrote this on the same post:<\/p>\n

Woke up nauseated, nervous, hands shaking. Took a shower and started crying and have been on and off since. I am once again on the verge of losing everything (again). It\u2019s the middle of summer in Florida and I have no job and my son got fired from his and I don’t know how much more I can take. I\u2019m 51 years old…when does it all end? I am so tired of living……….its so hard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\nI e-mailed both of them to say that I was praying for them, and that I would ask Beyond Blue readers for advice on how to move forward. They both wrote back with a progress report that delighted me because it reminded me of the pink hibiscuses buried in the camouflage that I described in my relapse post<\/a>.
\nGinny wrote this:<\/p>\n

I did make it out of the house today and even made a small shopping trip to the grocery store (sweating and shaking and on the verge of panic and\/or tears the entire time, but nonetheless, I did it. I’m exhausted but proud of myself, too.) I am setting small goals for myself every day this week. Tomorrow I want to take my very sweet, patient and empathetic son to his karate class, which he has not been able to attend for a month. I really feel I need to push myself a little bit instead of hiding in the house, but I still can’t fathom the idea of driving to a doctor’s office and sitting in the waiting room and everything else that entails. I feel shaky just thinking about it. I’m considering an online therapist to help get me past this (or at least how to deal with it more effectively) so I can seek the help I need locally.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then a day later, she reported even more progress:<\/p>\n

I found an excellent site last night that allows a potential client to review a personal and professional profile of the available therapists. I thought the cost was comparable to other forms of therapy. A 30-minute email session is $30 (I know I\u2019ve spent that amount on self-help books before). A telephone or chat session is $90 per hour. I have signed up with what appears to be an excellent therapist. My next step is to fill out a rather comprehensive history form and then schedule time with him.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Claudia was headed towards the pink hibiscuses, as well. She wrote this a few days after her first comment:<\/p>\n

I am feeling much better today. I take anti-depressants and an occasional Xanax (like yesterday). God bless my son and cats as they recognize when the life goes out of my face . . . the cats sit in my lap or near me and trill when I cry and my son, he had me get out of the house and take a walk to the local park (two blocks) where I started picking up trash and putting it in the garbage. A woman and a young boy saw us and they started doing the same thing. At that moment the fog lifted and I felt ok again, as in not suicidal, not crying (for no apparent reason although I have plenty) and able to finish the day out by fixing grilled cheese (fave comfort food) and doing the dishes.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was especially concerned about reader Ginny who wrote the following on the message board of my “When to Get Help” post: How do you find a good doctor when you’re terrified of leaving the house? When the very thought of sitting in a waiting room makes you so anxious you become dizzy and ill?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anxiety","category-mental-health"],"yoast_head":"\nSigns of Life for Ginny and Claudia - Beyond Blue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2007\/07\/ginny-and-claudia-signs-of-lif.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Signs of Life for Ginny and Claudia - Beyond Blue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was especially concerned about reader Ginny who wrote the following on the message board of my “When to Get Help” post: How do you find a good doctor when you’re terrified of leaving the house? 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