I start DBT today

Wish me luck and prayers that this will help.

My moods have been more stable since going off wellbutrin a week ago, but also more flat. I think going back on prozac might be in my future. The wellbutrin contributed to my anger, but I think I need an AD. I have a bottle of prozac and my pdoc told me it is ok with her if I start it. I will wait a week or so to get over the withdrawal period from wellbutrin.

The struggle never ends.

Good luck with the DBT. I here it really is a good program. I've never been close to a place that taught it, so I don't know personally. I hope you get a lot out of the program.

I did some DBT whilst inpatient and it taught me how to find really good coping skills. Good luck with it.

Well, this first class was the stupidest waste of an hour. I cannot believe I just paid to listen for an hour about a discussion (distress tolerance) on ways to distract- lotion, music, hot tea etc. DUH

Is all of dbt this lame? After coming home and reading the manual it seems like a captain obvious class.

That's why I disliked DBT. I read the manual and basically the class would spend a whole week on one section repeating what it said in the book. I hated it. It was so boring. Now if you take the skills to heart and really practice them it is useful but I personally didn't think the actual class was necessary. I'll never do it again.

I had bought a book/manual a few years back and when I read it then I thought it was totally lame. Was hoping that the class would be better but I'm thinking it isn't.

I think DBT can be very useful for a lot of people, I have never gone to a class just for DBT, I live in a tiny town , I cant drive 50 miles away X times a week, So My T and I blend many many things into my Therapy plan.

The DBT process is learning ways to change how you react to stress or triggers. Redirect your thoughts.

Anyone can learn how to say " I'm not going to automatically react with anger or self loathing ( for instance) But it's actually being able to USE the skills when the shyt hits the fan right then right away.

That is when you can see if you are learning the skills and applying them on a daily basis.

I remember growing up and having to learn addition and vocabulary words.. I practiced over and over and over until I didn't have to " think" about how 2+2 =4 ..it just did..

DBT isn't for everyone, I have learned on my journey to pick and choose what helps and dismiss what doesnt.

I haven't personally had this form of therapy.

But I know those who have.

It gets a bit of a mixed response really; but what I've seen the responses tend to be more positive.

I'm sorry that the first session wasn't that great.

Meh the distraction lecture seems a bit blah with lotion; music; hot tea I guess but we could be ppl that use this already so it's probably just touching base on essentials. As much as I know these things it can be "easy" to "forget" when I'm depressed so I do need reminding.

Maybe give it a bit more time and see how it goes.

I've never done DBT but I've read through some DBT stuff and I completely agree on the "captain obvious" part, especially with the distraction stuff. Duh, of course I feel better when I take a hot bath, read a book, etc. but you can't just stop in the of a stressful incident to go do whatever. That's great for after, but what I needed was something that works IN THE MOMENT to help me stop freaking out when I'm at that place.

For that, I did find a couple of the concepts useful - like this for instance:

http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/STOPP5.pdf

But basically what DBT seems to boil down to is "take a step back, take a breath, consider why you're feeling what you're feeling, is it based on reality and what's actually happening or are you blowing it out of proportion, and what's the best way for you to act wisely," and then "go do something fun to chill out." It's a reality check and then a reminder to be nice to yourself.

I think that's why some people feel like DBT is a "duh" thing, as these are skills a lot of people already have and don't even think about as "skills" in terms of something you have to actively work to learn. BUT not everybody has learned how to use those skills for whatever reason, or could use the support of someone reinforcing them, and that's where DBT is most effective. That's why I think it's not for everybody.

I think they do teach distress tolerance first so if people get upset by anything that comes after in the classes, they'll be better able to deal with that upset, so maybe they'll move on to more useful things that will be of more value to you.