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Back to Groups Therapeutic Groups - A participant's account One service user who attended a Mind Coping with Anxiety group, had been ill for six years prior to the group: 'When I started the group I was suicidal, I had two or three panic attacks a day, and was self-harming regularly. Within the first week things had changed. When I left after my first session I was so joyful, I went straight home to do my homework! I transformed very quickly - I just felt so relieved. 'I hadn't had any CBT before, and it was a real shock to realize that there were these techniques I could use which helped so much. When we got to the thought records I just couldn't stop doing them. It was like finding gold, to be able to think your way through a panic attack. I lived on them for several years. It made a big difference to my life as I started to feel that I had some control over things. Group sessions were based on practical ideas - this is the situation, how could you deal with it? You had a plan - this wasn't something I'd had before. 'I was also surprised to discover that everything I thought wasn't necessarily wrong - the group showed me when my thinking was warped but also that it wasn't all bad. The other aspect of it was that people were kind - that was very powerful for me at that time. 'That was the beginning for me, when I realized that I didn't have to live like I was living. For someone with an obsessive disorder to be shown that there are other possibilities is a big step as you are so locked into that cycle. The group didn't just relieve anxiety, it helped break the mental loops. Before CBT I would have days when I would have to repeat the same action all day - apart from anything else that's very boring! 'I use the thought records technique now, as I still get into mental loops from time to time. Mind has played such an important part in my journey of self-discovery. Without the support and caring I've received I wouldn't have been able to make the progress I've made, or have had half the fun that I've had.'

Contacts   Main Office: 2 Kings Meadow Osney Mead Oxford OX2 0DP Tel: 01865 263730 Fax: 01865 263732   Email: info@oxfordshire -mind.org.uk   Mental Health Information Line: 9.30am-4.30pm Mondays-Fridays (not public holidays) Tel: 01865 247788

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