Personal Stories

I attended the Anxiety Programme in St Patrick's Hospital in 2008.  I attended group sessions in conjunction with one-to-one consultations with a psychologist in the hospital.  I benefited a great deal from these and my life has improved a great deal since that time.I have suffered from social anxiety for as long as I can remember. It affected all aspects of my life.  It made me very unhappy at work and isolated among friends.  I felt inadequate and unable to lead a normal life. As a consequence I was avoiding more and more social situations. By the time

I joined the Anxiety Programme, I was 32 years old, I felt completely disillusioned with my life and had very little hope for the future.When I joined the Anxiety Programme I was encouraged to set realistic goals that would help me make small steps towards rebuilding my life.  I learnt about the dangers of avoidance.  I was given tasks, which looking back seem simple, but at the time were major steps.  I learnt how to recognise the physical symptoms of anxiety, which made them seem less frightening when they occurred.  I began to realise that anxiety is very common, and that countless other people encountered the same challenges as me every day.  I

I met some very interesting people who were going through similar experiences as me and I have remained friends with some of them.The first steps were the hardest but by the time I finished the Programme, I had built up enough confidence to return to work with a positive attitude.  I had made some new friends and my horizons were beginning to expand a little. 

By avoiding less situations and challenging my anxiety everyday, my life was becoming more interesting and I had regained a lot of self-esteem.The three years since I left the programme have been a revelation to me.  I have rebuilt my life to a level that I could not have imagined.  I now enjoy my work and feel confident that I am doing a good job.  I have become more assertive and confident in my work life and social life.  I have met more new friends in this time than I had in the previous ten years. I have developed new hobbies and my life has become more varied.  I have taken on new responsibilities, including becoming the manager of my football team, which would have seemed impossible to me in the past.

I still feel the affects of anxiety on a regular basis, but the physical signs don't frighten me as much as before.  I have learnt to accept that I can't be perfect at everything I do, but that I'm a reasonably competent person, and that that is perfectly acceptable.I would recommend the Anxiety Programme to anyone who feels that anxiety has become large and negative feature of their life.   I would encourage anybody to take on the Programme with a positive attitude.  The first steps are the hardest, but once you make a little progress, and gain some momentum, you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

Des, Service User