"How they helped me with my existential worries"

I went to my local GP as I felt that I was no longer mentally strong.  I was scared I was on a path where I could go crazy and not able to control myself in many situations and even attempt suicide during a panic attack.  Every day I was continually thinking about the finality of death and consistently before I went to sleep.  I could not understand how people could continue their life while ignoring their own impending finality of death.  I also had anxiety about breathing in normal situations and had anxiety using public transport which I had to do on a daily basis to get to work.  I felt a lot of my anxiety was physical as I would feel faint just walking to get a cup of tea in the office and would go for days with butterflies/knotted up stomach.

The GP referred me to ‘Talk together Bromley’ and after a short telephone assessment and a long wait I was provided with weekly one hour one to one sessions with Parvaneh.

I expected these sessions to provide me with answers to my existential questions and or provide me with medication to stop the physical symptoms I was experiencing on a daily basis.

Instead Parvaneh helped me understand and accept my feelings and improve my mindfulness to give me the tools to better help myself.  Parvaneh has helped me come to terms with my anxieties so I do not need to metaworry or go through a process of rumination.  Instead I can now understand, and when needed challenge and my feelings with various more positive techniques.

I know feel that this experience was more of an alarm or wakeup call that my brain gave me to help me understand trying to control all aspects of my life is un-useful and instead I can now better plan and formulate my thoughts and future life goals.

Thank you to Talk together Bromley and Parvaneh for all your help.