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Old Sep 05, 2019, 02:14 PM
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SlumberKitty SlumberKitty is offline
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Member Since: Jul 2018
Location: CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by susannahsays View Post
I'm not really sure how helpful therapists are most of the time for chronic severe depression. I'm not saying there might not have been something more helpful she could have offered, but it's hard to think of what. I do think therapy could perhaps be helpful in resolving chronic depression in some cases, but the issue is that addressing the underlying cause will almost certainly make clients feel even worse for a while. And if you're already feeling extremely depressed and struggling with suicidal thoughts, it's not really safe to do all that. Plus, I'm personally skeptical that the average therapist has any idea of how to deal with everything once they've opened Pandora's Box.

So really, they'll probably always come back to suggesting hobbies and activities as coping skills and as ways to pull yourself up. I would probably look more to your psychiatrist for help to get your head above water. I think I read somewhere recently where you said your psychiatrist spends less than 5 minutes with you. That's crazy to me. You are on a lot of meds and you have severe symptoms. Seeing you for 2-3 minutes (I think that's what you said) every few months is completely negligent. The psychiatrists I've seen spend more time than that even when things are going well, let alone when they aren't.
Yes, you're right. My pdoc spends about 2 or 3 minutes with me every 3 months. I need to be very explicit in my descriptions of my depression and sui feelings next time I see him (Nov) so that way he understands things aren't going well. I'm tempted to go off of all my meds to see if I feel any worse without them, but the rational side of me says wait, if you feel this bad on your meds, how much worse will you feel off your meds? I know there probably wasn't much practically that T could do for the depression, but I think if she would have sat there with me and explored it with me, like former T would have done, I would at least have felt heard and maybe understood. It might have bolstered my hope feelings for a while. I might bring that up to T next time that sitting with me through it might be more helpful than bringing up baking as a possible creative activity for me to try.
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