Back on the forums for support

[almostAwarrior90]

So this post will probably be long so I apologise for that. I was on here in December when I was beginning my recovery and had no diagnoses. I went through outpatient treatment and two weeks of time in hospital to stabilise me. I finished all of that 15 March and I now have a support worker and psychotherapist. I have Bipolar disorder, generalised anxiety, and PTSD from childhood trauma.

I had been doing relatively well the first few weeks out of intensive treatment. However over the last two weeks I've begun hearing voices and it scares me so much. It's terrifying and I really don't know how to cope with it. They tell me to kill myself and they tell me how to do and I fight it so hard but it's becoming increasingly difficult to fight it. My care team hasn't really told me much on how to cope with the voices.

Anyone have any tips at all?

Also, anyone have any tips on how to manage severe generalised anxiety without taking PRN meds? And anyone have any success with Lamictal?

[Ballerina123]

For the voices have you tried listening to music through head phones? Or talking back to the voices saying "no I will not harm myself because I have x, y, and z to live for".


As for coping with anxiety have you tried mindfulness or guided relaxation. You can get apps on smart phone that do guided relaxation I use them all the time for my anxiety and it really helps if you do it regularly.

For both the voices and the anxiety exercise, especially cardio, can really help. I go out for a run when I'm feel really distressed or a brisk walk in the cold and it always helps clear my head.


Hope this helps and you feel better soon.

[almostAwarrior90]

I use music through headphones all the time. I also try and distract myself with schooling as much as I can.

Anxiety for me, walking/running really helps a lot. I did that this morning actually and it helped quite a bit.

I also got into an emergency appointment with my psychiatrist for Tuesday.

[Ballerina123]

I hope your appointment goes well.

Let us know if you need any more support x

[crazykat]

I found this (http://www.hearing-voices.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Hearing_Voices_Coping_Strategies_web.pdf) article on how to cope with hearing voices that you might find helpful. Good luck for your appointment

[almostAwarrior90]

Thank you. Right now I'm just trying to stay as distracted as possible. I had a bad day with the voices so I spent most of my day in bed with headphones in, trying hard not to listen to them. I will try my best to stay grounded in reality this weekend and I will check out that article.

[crazykat]

I hope you find it helpful :)

[almostAwarrior90]

Well my psychiatrist upped the dose of my Risperdal to see if that helps with the voices. I sure hope it does because I need relief.