I am very curious about this. A question

How many years in total have members in this forum been in therapy?

Feel free to answer if Depression is not your only dx (I have CPTSD and other dxs ... not any ''pd'' ... not that I have anything against those who do) (eta I was told I am ''avoidant'' but I am sure that is really CPTSD)

I haven't been in therapy the whole time but I've been in treatment for 33 years. Geez I'm old lol

My treatment, in the past, probably spans only a few months.

6 years with a total of 4 different therapists.

Wow...saying that makes me wonder what I am looking for in a T. I shouldn't really count the 4th one... she was a teletherapy experiment in June not in my location that I stopped after 2 sessions. I decided to go back to T number 3.

45 years.....i am a sicko

Wow. How can I put this. In this part of the forest they expect us to be ''cured'' in a year or we are ''too sick for therapy'' ... That is so wrong. I'm sure there are exceptions. I don't think there are many though... even when we pay them ££££££££

I might talk to a T IRL and tell them about people I know seeing T's for 40 plus years (I already knew some do..) I wonder what ''helpful'' statement they would tell me re that

I guess I am a sicko too

9 years in total for me (not a ''good fit''.. especially T1 and his NPD)

6 years, in my opinion, isn't that long a time, certainly not ''too long''.... I hope you don't listen to any inner (or outer) critics who might tell you that you aren't ''worth it'' or aren't ''working hard enough'' or any of the myriad of things various snakes might spout.

Thanks for sharing. I sometimes wonder if I would have ''done better'' if I had limited therapy to that length of time. And taken a long break. Anyway I obviously can't change the length of time I was in therapy (or how .. naive.. I was )

Hugs

(I wonder why in some forests that is almost unheard of, no matter what the dx. It's very odd to me..)

Our forest has very little therapy available.

I have a few few courses of CBT but little else from our system.

I have paid for therapy but the help never lasts.

I am trying again.... It will not be a long term solution

10 years, but it hasn't been all therapy. Antidepressants never really worked, and I could never get along with any psychiatrist. Still need some solution that works, even partly.

wow, um, 14 years on and off, I think

possibly a bit longer

problem is I've switched so many therapists so many times I don't always keep track

Good post ... our forest has very little therapy available.

(I won't comment further on that)

I have paid for therapy too...

I wonder if your current T is sub optimal. I've seen 4 T's and 2 shrinks who were sub optimal (most were very expensive) and one shrink (for one session) who seemed to be more helpful. And very expensive...

You are right dear Fuzzybear. The first session they appear helpful.

Are they grooming us for our funds?

I would say a total of 3 years or so. I've had several therapists in the past, only two of which I've really connected with. For me, it's been hard to stay consistent in therapy because I am also a mental health professional and I feel like sometimes I "know" what to do and just need to do it on my own. I've also gone on and off medications in the past for the same reason, and also doubting my diagnoses. I would say that therapy has been greatly helpful and I've learned a lot through it.

Thank you for your post quietlylost. I have a couple of good friends who are also mental health professionals, who I respect and admire. Two of them are long term friends I actually met here on pc. Unfortunately they do not live in this forest (UK ) I have found that it’s likely that the mental health professionals are often (?) trained differently in this forest. They tend to be quick to diagnose, even in more complex cases (so the dx/dxs) is or are more likely to not be accurate. When they then prematurely discharge the client/patient who has done nothing wrong, having also been very judgmental...(I could give many examples ) it can and does compound trauma. I have learnt something from each professional however. One thing I have learnt is what I need and deserve from a mental health professional, and what I do not need or deserve (harsh judgments when the professional had said I could “say anything” to him/her. I’m sorry about the long post. For me, talking does help.

I have been allergic to all of the (many) meds I have tried . My anxiety is severe and My depression is also severe at times. I have certain triggers... I have CPTSD from trauma. (Emotional neglect and abuse in childhood. Parents have Narcissistic PD with other “features”... I believe I am the only person in the FOO (family of origin) who is able to love, respect and care about others. A close
friend who has passed away (a couple of years ago )who knew me well and who had also been a Mental health professional (not in our forest ) said I was the least Narcissistic person she knew.

She did find me frustrating after a few years. She said I did not open up to her. She said I did not trust her. Trust has been an issue for me, having had many abusive individuals in my life (some of them “groomed” me...some were cruel from the start

I too have wondered this. I wonder if our inner “snake” being guarded and at times untrusting somehow “turns them off”... that T IRL said I turn “people” off but gave no examples or ideas how to change whatever he thought was “wrong” with me That same therapist had talked about me “sitting on his lap” and much more....

I received my first formal mental health diagnosis about 23-24 years ago, and so that would mark the beginning of treatment. During that span, I've had two formal courses of CBT-based therapy with a smattering of informal talk therapy, some of which was provided by a psychiatrist (!).

In my case, neither talk therapy nor medications have been...of significant help.

I have found some people on here, including you dear Rohag, to be of much more.... significant help... to me than the ''treatment'' I had which also included meds (which I became allergic to after another trauma...I already had severe allergies to multiple other substances....which started suddenly after an earlier trauma ) and, a smattering of ? CBT.

I am finding a book by Burns of much more help than the ... CBT.. I had.

Might this be the author David D. Burns?

It is, yes