Posted by zeugma on January 6, 2004, at 18:25:48
In reply to Re: Long Term Klonopin Usage, posted by rutt on January 6, 2004, at 15:45:49
Hi rutt,
I intuitively felt that the strategy of using a benzo in conjunction with CBT would work well, but I could not get either my pdoc or my CBT therapist to see it that way. My anxiety skyrocketed during the therapy, to the point where I actually made a plan to hospitalize myself if my fears became so intense that i'd be tempted to kill myself just to be rid of them. And my pdoc was dismissive of my anxiety and told me the issues were merely 'psychological.' It still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I discontinued the CBT because it was not causing my anxiety to go down and I had to find another way to get on with my life. My pdoc relented and wrote me a script for Klonopin after my neuropsychologist called him advising a change of course.
It's still a little bitter for me. I got a letter from my CBT therapist a few days ago, where she expressed the opinion that i terminated therapy too soon. Not quite- i terminated therapy before i had the chance to see my life collapse from excess anxiety. She knew that I was taking Klonopin because I told her in our last conversation. It's obvious that i have serious social anxiety issues (she agreed with my diagnosis by the way) and a small amount of Klonopin (.25 mg/day) isn't going to make them all go away. What infuriated me was that the treatment wasn't coordinated properly, and I attribute this to misconceptions about the nature of anxiety on the part of both CBT therapists (at least certain ones) and psychiatrists (at least my psychiatrist, and many others too I suspect).
So now I'm feeling a lot better than when I was struggling through CBT therapy, but trying to muddle through on my own. Anxiety is my case has been pretty unremitting through my entire life (I'm in my middle thirties), more unremitting than depression in fact, because I can recall being anxious as a child, before I became depressed. Recent research suggests that this is typical of the most chronic depressions.
i don't know, after this experience, if I will ever go back to CBT. I have been in therapy of one form or another for virtually all my life, and on balance it has done FAR more harm than good. And that is a generous estimate.
z
poster:zeugma
thread:295342
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040105/msgs/297328.html