What Types of Therapy Have You Tried?

[Aleece13]

Depression is such a hard thing to live with... Sadly, most people who don't understand it and have never experienced it look at people who suffer from it as weak and ungrateful. It is so small-minded to cast away a disease/disorder because you don't understand it to the fullest. I have suffered with depression for years. Started when I was in my teens and instead of "growing out of it" or "maturing" my depression became something I continued to battle. I've tried therapy, medicine, exercise, yoga, breathing techniques, and looking at the bright side as they always say, but none of this ever helped. I can plainly see how much I have been blessed with in life, I am beyond grateful, and cherish everything to the fullest. I see the bright side of everything or at least try too. The problem is depression is not something so easily identified and fixed, I've honestly never heard of someone overcoming depression. The only technique I can say has done anything for me is to ignore it, but even that is exhausting and from time to time is useless. I can ignore for a great length of time, the feelings are still there I just push past them, but they always catch back up and I find myself tucked away in the dark of my bedroom trying to avoid everyone outside of my home.


What things have you tried? What is your main coping mechanism now?

 

[Dybbuk Jones]

Right now I am on regular talk therapy. I think I might have gone into the wrong place but it was local and I could get to it easily. Still, I was kind of hoping that she could have prescribed me drugs. It seems like many of the insights that my therapist is trying to get me to are insights that I have found myself - such as the fact that I am very prone to take offense and where it might come from. It really wish that there was more training in this therapy to get me away from these destructive patterns. As it stands, I feel like I have done a lot of the work that we are going over before I got there. I am going to therapy because I realize that had I been in therapy in my 20s I might have saved myself a lot of pain and stress and bad decisions. Yet, now I feel like I am just going over the same stuff.

 

[Aleece13]

Dybbuk Jones Talk therapy never really helped me either. It's nice to vent and share things, get them off my chest, but after all is said and done I've achieved nothing by way of overcoming something from my past. As you say, you have already discovered the things your therapist is telling you. If you have told them you already realize this and they aren't making much headway then it might be best to find somewhere else to go. Local is great and convenient, but not always best and helpful in the long run.


I hope it gets easier for you. Maybe keeping a journal log on your feelings and thoughts would be better then talking to someone. If you can see your own patterns, you may be your best therapist, for now. If your wary about a decision you can right it down and process it for a few days before acting. I have to do this technique a lot and it seems to help.


Thanks for sharing.

 

[listener1987]

Right now I am on regular talk therapy. I think I might have gone into the wrong place but it was local and I could get to it easily. Still, I was kind of hoping that she could have prescribed me drugs. It seems like many of the insights that my therapist is trying to get me to are insights that I have found myself - such as the fact that I am very prone to take offense and where it might come from. It really wish that there was more training in this therapy to get me away from these destructive patterns. As it stands, I feel like I have done a lot of the work that we are going over before I got there. I am going to therapy because I realize that had I been in therapy in my 20s I might have saved myself a lot of pain and stress and bad decisions. Yet, now I feel like I am just going over the same stuff.

A good therapist will realize at which point talking isn't doing anything, and refer you to a doctor to talk about medication. If you have a physical, chemical imbalance in your brain, you can talk till your lips fall off and nothing will change! That's how I was diagnosed; I had a good therapist who, after a few sessions, said she didn't think the problem was with resolving my past, and that I should see a doctor.


I see a psychiatrist now that manages my medications and diagnosis, and she also does talk therapy. I don't have full on "sessions" with her, but we do talk about life and stuff. She digs a little deeper than my previous psychiatrist who really just wanted to be a candy machine for medications.

 

[rz3300a]

Maybe keeping a journal log on your feelings and thoughts would be better then talking to someone. If you can see your own patterns, you may be your best therapist, for now. If your wary about a decision you can right it down and process it for a few days before acting. I have to do this technique a lot and it seems to help.

[/QUOTE]
This is a good point. I think that I came to similar realization with one of my old therapists, where it really was just like talking to a brick wall and I was getting nothing out of it. I had a similar little thing like a journal that I tried to keep up on as much as possible, and I would like to think that it really provided the same amount of comfort. It really all comes down to what you are looking for and what works best for you. Best of luck.

 

[kgord]

I find therapists helpful from the perspective that they can give you a new way of looking at a situtation or may come up with some things you may have never thought of. I also tried coaching which was OK. I don;t know..I think it takes the right fit, therapy can help you not to feel so alone in the world, but they are paid professionals. Having to pay someone to listen to you, is a bit discouraging in itself, but if you need it you do. I am pretty aware of my own patterns...and feelings...but I might try it again.

 

[MoniqueNicole]

I feel like I have tried so many different things. The first thing I tried was seeing a mental health counselor through my family doctor. It was the first time I really voiced a lot of my mental health issues out loud, in detail, to another person. So that alone felt kind of therapeutic for a while. But it go the point where I just felt like I was talking in circles and not really getting anywhere. Next I saw a psychiatrist, which I still see, but that is mostly to deal with medication. I have been in several cognitive behavioral therapy groups for depression, social anxiety, women's self esteem, and bipolar disorder. I found most of those groups helpful. I think it was also healthy for me to get out of the house once a week and be around like-minded people. The self-esteem group was a bit redundant and I felt like I was just going through the motions. But after getting my bipolar type 2 diagnosis I started seeing a psychologist. She helps me set realistic goals and tries to help me be much kinder to myself. We apply a lot of the same CBT strategies I learned from the groups. Recognizing that the bad thoughts I have about myself are often distorted and not reflective of actual reality has been very useful. I can talk myself into having more balanced thoughts now.