Thank you for your response. My Pdoc says my depression is half situational and half chemical imbalance. It seems though that I'm actually stable considering medication wise. My T agrees. But my T says the reason I need DBT is not for the depression and anxiety (she says that's her job), but for the BPD traits.
I only suffer from 1,2,5, and 6 now. Will DBT help with those? My T keeps saying my triats get in the way of my progress of therapy with her. I know my main issue is 1. I just don't see how mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness will help with that. I'm not saying I don't think these skills will be useful. I just don't see how they will help with my fear of abandonment and rejection.
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1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
3. Identity disturbance
4. Impulsivity
5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior.
6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood
7. Chronic feelings of emptiness.
8. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger
9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.
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Yeah. I hate, hate, hate groups too. I've been in a ton. I was in groups when I was at a day treatment center, board and care, crisis house, and clubhouse. I went to a bipolar and depressive support group...it was actually a really depressive group. I went to some women's group...long story short, I really wasn't supposed to be in that one.
When I was in college, I really enjoyed most of my classes. I'm hoping if DBT is more like a class than a group, then I might actually enjoy it. And if self-disclosure is limited, then that will make things easier too. Plus, I will see my own T for individual, and I've already disclosed everything generally to her.
I'm glad it has helped you. I really hope it helps me. I'm just scared. I'm scared of new situations, new people, being around people, and of county itself. But my T and Pdoc have never given me bad advice and when both agree with something, it's my cue to get ready for the ride
I would ask you questions, but I wouldn't even know what to ask. According to my T and Pdoc, I'm not even supposed to know what the four modules are yet. They don't want me "being prepared". I even bought the workbook, and my T told me not to read it. I understand why: so I remain present and focused while learning and practicing. But it makesthe unknown even scarier.
To be honest though, I think a county Pdoc scares me more than group. I finally, after 14 years of trial and error, am stable on my meds. Majority of us know how difficult meds can be. I don't want them coming in and saying "I don't agree with this med". Or they want to switch me because they have a deal with a certain pharmaceutical company. Both have happened to me when I was at county last time. Most Pdocs don't like patients on benzos. I just hope the fact that my T and Pdoc (and insurance) are arranging this, that the county Pdoc will take a back seat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NowhereUSA
I think DBT is great and I hate, hate, hate groups. I give my current facilitators hell  But, I go because I get something out of it. This time around I get support in the sense of routine and a reminder with regards to the skills.
DBT can't cure me because my depression isn't situational/circumstantial, it's biological and until I get a medication that works, I have to cope. What it *does* do is keep from making things worse and, honestly, has taught me how to interact with what I'm experiencing in a way that is consistent with the person I want to be.
I've found that the group is more like a classroom, mostly skills learning and discussion. There's not a lot of self-disclosure except to talk about how we practiced our skills that week (mine is a weekly group). There are strict rules about discussing suicidal and self-harm (for us, we say "target behavior" when discussing our individual issues within the context of group). The heady stuff is handled in individual therapy.
I'm happy to answer questions about my experience. I went through it about six years ago for the first time and I was a mess in terms of coping skills and emotion regulation. I had a breakdown and was barely functioning and by the end I was functioning again, enough to go back to working a full time high stress job.
So has it helped? Really helped? Yes. I would say that it has. |