Posted by Viking on April 28, 2007, at 6:56:30
In reply to To Viking, posted by Deniseuk190466 on April 27, 2007, at 11:02:56
Hi Denise
> I just wondered what you meant by "sometimes it does not work until you feel the change". Surely if therapy is that effective you wouldn't need to feel any kind of a change from meds in order to feel some improvement.
Let me explain a little bit further by telling my own story. 15-20 years ago I had therapy for 2-3 years. At that time I had never had any psyciatric diagnosis or treatment. The reason for starting therapy was a constant feeling of being badly treated by other people without being able to do anything about it, a feeling of being powerless or without influence upon my own life. This feeling had existed as far back as I remember. I still believe that this feeling was justified at that time.
I spent 100+ sessions in therapy where the psycologist basically tried to tell me, that if I changed my behaviour other people would change their behaviour too. This may seem quite simple and logical but it did not work. I was not able to change enough to have any effect on other peoples behaviour. I mostly experienced that people just laughed at my attempts to stand up against them or were outright offended. By the time I ended therapy I was definitely very cynical about it.
Some years later I sought treatment for depression. I did not really belive that depression was my main problem, but I thought that I had to do something and calling it depression meant that I would at least be given some sort of treatment. After several attempts I was finally given a med that worked and it had a profound effects on my ability to function socially.
Once the med worked I experienced that I was suddenly able to respond quickly and instinctively to social situations instead of my former slow and hesitant way. I experienced that I was met with far more respect than before without anyone being offended. Suddenly everything the therapist had told me was obvious to me. Now I "felt" the change.
It is possible that another type of therapy or another therapist could have helped me more. I doubt it but I will never know for sure. Whether medication in itself would have given me the same insight is also very hard to say. But the two together worked. I have later read that this is a common experience.
Today I have realized that depressed mood was not my main problem. It was basically a social problem caused by a mental slowdown (try to imagine how you would behave if you have not sleept for several nights). I did seek help for fatigue several times long time before I started therapy but was never given any treatment.
I cannot say what the reason is for your depression. Sometimes explanations just cannot be found. In such cases it may be a solution just to accept medication.
The fact that you respond well to an SSRI suggests that your problems are very different from mine.
I hope this clarifies.
Viking
poster:Viking
thread:751523
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070426/msgs/754130.html