Posted by mattdds on September 7, 2003, at 0:02:12
In reply to Please help - life is a nightmare, posted by johnnysad on September 6, 2003, at 17:09:34
Hi,
I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. Please don't give into the delusion of hopelessness that always comes with the disease. I really believe that *all* can be helped, and that the prognosis for depression with adequate treatment is quite good.
CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) is a well studied treatment modality. It has success rates comparable to medications in major studies. It also has lower relapse rates after treatment.
I personally have had tremendous success with it, and some others here have had similar success.
If money is a problem at this time, you could purchase 2 books that are the two most highly recommended self-help books by mental health professionals. In my opinion, this is the most "bang for your buck". The books give an excellent synopsis of CBT, and provide exercises that most therapist would prescribe during CBT. You can do these helpful exercises on your own as a form of "self-help".
"Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy"
"The Feeling Good Handbook"Both are written by David Burns, MD.
These two books have been key in my recovery. I highly recommend them both. I profit nothing from the recommendation, other than the satisfaction of recommending something that helped me tremendously.
An interesting fact about these books. They were actually studied as a prescribed treatment, with a large sample of patients. Half of the depressed patients were given "bibliotherapy" with these books, and the other group was given nothing. The results were quite impressive, with around 70% of the people in the bibliotherapy group responding positively(comparable to antidepressant medications!). This may sound gimmicky, but the science really is there to back up this form of treatment, clinically. This is especially true when no other alternatives are available for psychotherapy (e.g. as in your case).
Best of luck!
Matt
P.s. DO THE EXERCISES IN THE BOOKS
P.s.s DO THE EXERCISES IN THE BOOKS
poster:mattdds
thread:257655
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030905/msgs/257739.html