I went to the doctor yesterday, and he decided to try something to help me with my anxiety. EMDR– eye movement desensitization and reprocessing– is a process that helps with a number of conditions, including anxiety, phobias, and trauma.  It works by alternating stimulus between the two hemispheres of the brain to help the brain process certain images and feelings that have become ‘stuck’. It has a pretty high success rate and claims that it can permanently remove anxiety linked to specific areas.

So far it seems to have worked. I haven’t had any problems with anxiety since I had it done.

Even though it’s called “eye movement desensitization and reprocessing,” I was told that any kind of tactile stimulus works. So we used two alternately vibrating paddles (which at first looked suspiciously like something used for shock therapy) that I held in my hand. They vibrated for about 30-45 seconds at a time, while I was told to bring to mind certain anxiety-producing images. (These are case-specific– in this particular session, we focused on imagining going to work.) Over the course of the treatment, I became less and less anxious while envisioning the images. Finally, I was to keep the images in mind while repeating to myself certain positive phrases.

I guess only time can tell if this treatment will, in fact, be permanent. I hope that it will be, because it’s nice to not start panicking when it comes time to leave for work.