Posted by violette on July 28, 2010, at 10:02:54
In reply to Re: sound familiar?, posted by morgan miller on July 28, 2010, at 9:32:59
"Therapy isn't easy and we have to be prepared to work hard and deal with some unpleasant emotions buried in our subconscious."
One problem I noticed is that women are retraumatized by the mental health system. This is especially true of sexual abuse survivors. I get a sense that Maya's fears could be related to being traumatized by mental health practioners, such as being accused of faking schitzophrenia, for one. That sounds very traumatic-and I know someone who had a similar experience-which added unnecessary trauma when she was having a breakdown.
Once someone makes a suicide attempt or threat, s/he is commonly branded Borderline by therapists and psychiatrists. I've spent alot of time at psychotherapy forums and have seen plenty of evidence that people with these circumstances have a hell of a time finding therapists. And for them, after being retraumatized through abadondment or intense countertransference reactions-it's difficult to trust a therapist. It's not that there's only evidence from these 'stories' of other patients-it's well recognized in the literature that patients given the B word are less likely to find a therapist willing to work with them.
I don't know if this is the case here, but it's important to recognize this. What it comes down to is that women are more likely to be sexually abused-about 25% of the female population experiences sexual abuse before age 18. This causes both similar and different effects than other types of abuse-it especially complicates trust issues. It's rare that men are deemed Borderline-it's women, many, but not all, who had been sexually abused by fathers, brothers, uncles....
And people with this symptomology-among those who need to most help-are more often rejected or abandoned by therapists and retraumatized by those experiences. Training is important, more emphasis on the effects of sexual abuse needs directed to therapists and practioners, well both research and training.
Women were once blamed for sexual abuse-for seducing the abuser. The stigma just goes around and round, now women get branded Borderline-code word for 'difficult patient'. Marsha Linehan has done work to improve this area, allowing patients with more complex issues to obtain effective treatment with her DBT method. She also did research that shows patients with BPD who are in more intense psychotherapy programs-save the health care system alot of money by staying out of hospitals. And it is true that insurance companies will often not pay for treatment of someone with an Axis II diagnosis such as Borderline. Which is totally ridiculous as some patients with BPD need the most help. Also-there is enough research that indicates a biological disposition occurs with people with BPD, as a temperment, like most all other mental disorders.
I don't think DBT is necessary for many patients with complex issues, however, and I agree with you that psychodynamic therapy has the capacity to heal more than other types of therapies.
I don't know if this is related to Maya's situation, but the fears she talked about, and her experience of being accused of "faking", reminded me of how many female patients who have attempted suicide and/or are given the BPD diagnosis are retraumatized by mental health professionals and therefore have a more difficult time trusting a therapist, which effects one's ability to work with a therapist.
poster:violette
thread:955138
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100720/msgs/956197.html