Posted by sweetmarie on April 6, 2001, at 15:33:35
In reply to Re: treatment resistant depression » sweetmarie, posted by JahL on April 6, 2001, at 14:38:55
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> Hi Anna.
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> The above pretty much mirrors my own situation & explains my antipathy towards psychotherapists, expressed in various rants elsewhere on this board. I would not like to be the next therapist to tell me "I think a part of you doesn't want to get better" (as if)Yes - what on earth is all that about? I`ve had about 5 different counsellors/therapists over the years, and they have all asked me different versions of that question - basically asking me to ask myself whether I am gaining some benefit from remaining depressed. You what? It`s total rubbish (or as Bob puts it in `Don`t Look Back` - "lies and rubbish"*), and is an insult to my intelligence.
or "you have a lot of anger" (wouldn't they, if they had severe depression & consequently no life).Another one that I`m familiar with. I feel like saying "of course I`m f***ing angry, what do you think - that I choose to be depressed because I`m angry about some `issue` or other". I have often wondered whether these people actually know what severe depression (and, as you said, no life) is like. I`d say not. It was the classic Freud theory that depression was `anger turned inwards`, and I`m afraid that some therapists still adhere to this. Hopefully, this has been superceded by more modern and realistic thinking (after all, it was Freud who came up with `penis envy` - the biggest load of rubbish I`ve ever heard in my life).
Fortunately this situation will not arise since I will never see another psychologist as long as I live.
Wise choice. Unfortunately for me, my mother is a counsellor, and still asks things like `how is it for you when ... whatever`. I KNOW my `issues` till they are coming out of my ears - so what? What am I supposed to do with them? No therapist seems to have any suggestions about that. One of my Mother`s friends (a fellow counsellor), once dared to talk to me about medications `masking the real feelings`. I had a lot of trouble not kicking her in the teeth and saying `do you think that catatonia is a preferable state to be in?` I managed not to, though. Another of my Mother`s friends thought that she`d come up with the perfect solution for me - `tell Anna that she should fall in love - I`ve heard that cures depression`. I wouldn`t put myself within 100 miles of another relationship. Far too many of them have suffered through my illness, and I`m determined that it should not happen again.
My Dad`s friend suggested `reality therapy`. I would know what this was, if Dad hadn`t told this guy to shut up and that he really didn`t know what he was talking about. I was really pleased with Dad for that. `Reality therapy` - hello? I don`t like this reality, thank you very much if it`s all the same to you. >
psychotherapy is very useful for some; just not for individuals such as you & I. Like you I found it impeded my treatment, not only in terms of distracting me from getting real (in the context of *my* disorder) help, but in making me think that I was somehow to blame for my predicament. I've lost count of how many times psychotherapists have told me that my lack of response to their mis-prescribed treatment was down to a lack of effort on my part.
Well, knickers to them is all I can say. The only person to really KNOW what`s wrong, and what they know WON`T help, is the sufferer him/herself (even if we are a bit hazy about what will help). I`ve got `issues` all right - no life, no job, no meaningful relationships with my friends, no self-confidence and generally feel as though I should come with a Government Health Warning. But, you`re right - some people do get an awful lot out of psychotherapy (and I have to admit to being just a tiny bit jealous - it would be excellent to go and see a therapist, uncover a complete personal `road to Damascus` revelation, and feel great). Just not me - and you too, so it seems.
>
Sorry if this has been a bit of a rant - I feel quite strongly about psychotherapy. These people seem to pick up on the minutest of irrelevant things. I can remember telling one counsellor that I was anxious, and described it as `buzzing like a fridge` (a lyric from `Karma Police` by Radiohead). All it was was a description, but she went off on one about fridges and stuff. ???Anyway, the good thing is that the correct knowledge has been aquired, i.e. that this is an illness and not some kind of `safety hatch` as counsellors are wont to say. Time spent trying futiley to work out `why` all this happened is, in my opinion, time wasted. What`s needed now, is proper medical help, and to move on from this point, not go over bloody past relationships with family/bad relationships (with men - well, in my case)/any other damn thing they choose to rake up.
Phew.
Cheers,
Anna
*I know quite a few quotes from that film - quite a Bob Dylan saddo, really.
poster:sweetmarie
thread:55847
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010403/msgs/58951.html