[possum220]

Recently my P'doc suggested that I take a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy course next year. While he mentioned that this course is normally for people who have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder he said that I may find it useful in helping with my anxiety levels and other control issues.

Wondering if anybody else here has any thoughts or experience with DBT and it's help with DID?

[Luce]

I was looking it up the other day to find out more about it and some of the strategies are things we use on our own or in t anyway. From what I read there were tons of grounding strategies and mindfulness exercises involved, and we find those really helpful. One webpage we found had a whole lot of grounding / mindfulness exercises to use on the site, which was cool.
EMDR strategies are good for us too.
I think mostly DBT therapy is used for BPD (borderline PD) but it seems like there are heaps of useful things in it. It might be worth a go.

ETA: its helpfulness with DID would simply be that the grounding and mindfulness strategies help with keeping the nervous system on an even keel, which can be helpful for any trauma response. It's just about moderating emotions and the nervous system (self calming when triggered etc)

[possum220]

Thanks for that Luce. I have very little understanding of grounding techniques so that aspect sounds helpful. My levels of anxiety this year have been sickening to a point where I have just been frozen, literally.

I am yet to meet the people who run the course and we are supposed to have an interview before the course starts. They may reject me as a participant and point me in another direction but will wait and see.

I appreciate your input. Maybe there is hope for me yet.

[eskielover]

Not DID, but after going through a 2 years of group sessions (2 times through each section with mindfulness between each section) I found that the skills taught are valuable just for life in general. Actually think it should at least be a year course taught before everyone graduates from high school. Most parents don't seem capable of teaching skills that truly help kids through the difficult things that hit them in life & most parents avoid dealing with anything that has to do with emotions.

Truly hope you you get into the DBT group. I'm sure you will find it worthwhile.

I went to a dbt group meeting and 99.9% of attendees were borderline. They asked what my deal was and for simpleness DID aka MPD. They just stared at me for a second then went back to their competing over who gots it worse. Since it was a group of people...we were switchy and DR for the whole hour.

What I got out of it was it was things that I do anyways....but the bpd people were having a tough time at it.

[finding_my_way]

it's usually used for people with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, but they have modified it to use also for those with an eating disorder and other things (though in my area don't put the two groups together).

i did a DBT skills group years ago since i had a diagnosis of borderline then, but the dissociation was so bad then that i couldn't complete things they wanted or even be fully engaged during the groups. it wasn't by the recommendation of my current therapist who knew the dissociation was too bad for much of anything to be useful at that point, but i did it anyway since my case worker wanted me to...they were on two totally different pages.

it also was hard because of how it was run. the leaders didn't really stop certain conversations (people talked about getting revenge and being angry)..and it kind of triggered me and caused me to fear them.

i would suggest if you can to get as much info about it as you can including the format of the group, how it's run, etc. the leaders of the group also didn't really engage with anyone during breaks, so it felt like they were standoffish or didn't want to really be there/associate with us and it was just a job or something.

over the years, i have naturally come to implement some things they teach, and the dissociation is less..but it's not 'because' of those skills per se, just is something that changed in my mind.

i personally feel like a mix of DBT (for mindfulness) and CBT (for helping change thought patterns, recognizing triggering things, etc. and reframing thoughts to things more positive/helpful) have helped me. i also liked a CBT group i did because it talked about boundaries and stuff, though i guess DBT might have some of that too, i forget.

i always liked to learn about other topics like boundary setting, effective communication, etc. that i could implement with those close to me.

i don't know how DBT is used specifically for those with DID unless it's adapted for that. it wouldn't be the first thing i would think of...though if you are going to, i'd suggest doing it one on one with a therapist and not in a group if possible.

One problem we had in the first couple meet was a different Other would go which totally made it make no sense. How can you go if you don't remember the last lesson?

[possum220]

Hiya Eskie... I didn't learn positive coping skills from my parents like many other people. Now life is a daily struggle to even get myself out of bed due to anxiety. So I would hope that during this course I might find the courage and skills to engage in life, maybe for the first time ever.

The input on the group dynamics finding_my_way reminded me of what things in a group like setting can be. I will be writing that down and asking how the facilitators manage the group dynamics when I have my interview. It also reminded me of how I can be triggered by other people. I know I can be an unwilling sponge when it comes to soaking in other peoples emotions.

With this course each person will also have a personal appt the day after to check in one to one go through issues that are arising. It is also a requirement that people attend at least 80% of the sessions.

The course itself is for 4 and a half hours on a set day per week. I have been tested for my ability to retain written material in my mind. I did not do well with that. You are right AlwaysChanging2. How am I supposed understand anything when in an altered state?

Even as I write this it all seems too much. After decades at what point do we say to ourselves a individuals enough is enough and it's time to stop with all the searching for answers/help.

Maybe I just think too much. Maybe I need to take one day at a time and just see what happens.

[kecanoe]

I find DBT skills helpful. When things trigger me, I can sometimes use DBT style techniques to stay present and not switch. The grounding exercises have been helpful, imagining whatever intrusive thought as being one of many train cars zooming past, deciding to not act how I am feeling are all good for me. I have not done a DBT group and would want to be sure that it is going to be a safe place for me before attending. And I would not recommend DBT alone for DID. But sure, I think you may find some of the stuff helpful.

[possum220]

Today I went to see my T. He was encouraging about taking part in the DBT course. I wont see my T for the duration. So onwards and upwards.........

[Michael W. Harris]

I was in the SATT (substance abuse treatment team) at the VA clinic in Lake City, Florida on an off for ten years. They are teaching DBT for substance abuse and mental health problems like depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, etc. They also use it to help people with chronic pain who have pain killer addiction problems. It is good for life in general. When I am emotionally the most stable I am using the techniques unconsciously.

I agree with the poster who says that it needs to be taught in elementary, middle and high school! We need to help people have good quality of life and to do this we need the public school systems to teach these things.

In my case I was totally isolated in Lake City. The only way I got someone to talk to was to go to the bar. I stayed in treatment in the SATT program just to have human contact. The military and spy agencies use isolation to break down prisoners minds for interrogation purposes. Departments of Corrections use isolation to punish unruly prisoners. I ask the staff to help me get some type of volunteer work or a menial labor job (I have college degrees.) to keep me busy and I could have quit drinking easily. Things like this should be "bread and butter" for social workers! They had a work-therapy program but the guy who ran it was political and not a mental health professional. That program would have stabilized me and got me back to work. Social workers or mental health professionals should run the work therapy programs at the VA!

That VA could not do one simple thing to help a honorably discharged veteran with two college degrees.

Because by basic human needs were not being met DBT would not work long term for me.

[Michael W. Harris]

I was in the SATT program at the VA Clinic in Lake City, Florida on and off for ten years. They teach DBT for substance abuse, mental health problems, and chronic pain problems. The teachings help if you can stay focused enough to practice them.

If your basic needs, under Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs, are not being met, you will not be able to stay focused to practice the DBT principles even if you are not that mentally ill.

[possum220]

Thanks Michael. I looked at the Maslow's Hierachy of human needs. That seems like an impossible starting point.

I have never participated in a DBT course I do not know what to expect yet. This week T explained it simply as bypassing the past. He said it might help me to stop focusing on the emotions, when they are there, and help me to take more of an adult approach to life.

[Lost_in_the_woods]

Possum ur killing me with the long txt box! (LOL ) I have a tiny phone..not ur fault

Went to yrs of DBT. Some of it helped and some of it actually made somethings worse... This was yrs ago. At the time I wasn't dxd as DID. Borderline w/ possible dissociative split was the running theory then. So although learned some great life skills...also remember after feeling disassembled but more idenity confused then ever and very vulnerable. From what I am able to understand in hind sight is that 3 outward parts were the regular attendees. Myself, my main protector, and an Ultra Rational part. Well since I was unaware of the individual existence and agenda of our rational part.
....and bc the focus of my former T was to decrease "negative implusive behaviors" and find balance between the rational and emotional mind...the end results where weird to say the least. And besides sui...the "perceived negative behaviors" were in fact the protector's only known way of doing things. So, she ended up feeling defeated, betrayed, and ousted. She is definitely changed..but, I don't think necessarily for the better...sad reading what she writes now. A sad shell of someone I love. ♡ And, it didn't actually stop all neg. behaviors from continuing...cuz an abuser part ended up stepping into our protector's role... more traumatic damage than the protector had ever caused...I think?... please don't take this as a full truth... it's just my part's thoughts and theories on what info I have gathered...and a bit if assumption too ��