[Pughead]

I'll admit it. I'm a science nerd and prone to skepticism. I tried some online thing based in Australia. I felt like I was just whipping through a survy. I guess if I don't believe in it, it will never work. The only thing I've found useful is self-awareness and introspection, sometimes in my own sort of meditation. Are there any skeptic types out there that have gained benefit from CBT or DBT?

[Rapunzel]

DBT is based on mindfulness, which is basically choosing to be aware, so it might be right up your alley. What makes any treatment work really comes down to your willingness to practice it consistently and put it into action. DBT really emphasizes that too.

[cloister2]

Originally Posted by Pughead

I'll admit it. I'm a science nerd and prone to skepticism. I tried some online thing based in Australia. I felt like I was just whipping through a survy. I guess if I don't believe in it, it will never work. The only thing I've found useful is self-awareness and introspection, sometimes in my own sort of meditation. Are there any skeptic types out there that have gained benefit from CBT or DBT?

I am using both and feeling better all the time. It's just very slow going. I tried them before and didn't really commit to it. Now I do it whenever I can, when I have a free moment. The thing is I'm still pretty unhappy, but maybe less depressed.

[Fartraveler]

I've never formally done either, but I do have the Feeling Good book, and I have found a few things helpful.

I like his list of twisted thinking patterns, I have used those to figure out when my thinking is unrealistic, and that helps me look at things more clearly.

I've used his lists of side effects when I started/changed medications. This was very helpful. The first time, I tracked myself for two weeks before I started, to get a baseline. Then, I did it for a month after. This was reassuring and useful.

[zooropa]

I came to DBT about a year and a half ago knowing it was my last hope. I didn't think it would work, how could anything work when nothing ever had before? But I had to try it, for my kids. I told my T the first time I met her that the reason I was there was because I didn't want to kill my kids mom.

In the year before I started DBT I had spent more time in the hospital than out, overdosed more times than I can remember, been on a ventilator 4 times. I was close to death, I have no doubt that if I hadn't started DBT I would be dead now. Zero doubt about that.

Because even though when I started I had no hope that DBT, or anything, would work for me, it did. I had to do the work, still have to do so much hard work, but something about it worked for me. Something about it DOES work. DBT saved my life. Period.

My therapy is mainly cbt. I wasn't really a skeptic, just really didn't know anything about it. It has been really helpful for me.

[sunrise]

I think CBT can help many people, but not necessarily everyone. (Recently, my psych professor told me she thought it was a good fit for about 75% of people who have major depression.) For those people it doesn't help, they can try another type of therapy.

DBT was developed for those with BPD. Recently, I went to hear a talk by the creator of this therapy and it was really interesting to get her perspective on how this therapy developed, sometimes in ways she had not anticipated! I think it has helped a lot of people. Again, if it just doesn't help, there are other varieties of therapy to try.

Mindfulness is used in DBT and I think many, many people can find this component helpful, whether they face mental health challenges or not. I have been dabbling in mindfulness lately, and find a lot about it that I like.

[splitimage]

I've never experienced DBT so can't speak to it. But I've been exposed to CBT both when I was in rehab and when I was IP. I found it really helpfull and still use some of the tools and techniques that I was taught when my thinking gets really out of whack.

--splitimage

t uses mostly cbt and it is helpful for mostly distorted feelings or changing thought patterns... it lets you see how your mind can trick you into thinking one thing when reality is actually another... i am glad it works, but i do not necessarily like it

[Pughead]

So it sounds like I'm kinda doing the same thing right now, but I'm not following a formal guide. Perhaps it would be of benefit to read about it and try to comprehend the main points. Then I can try to be mindful of those points, precepts, or whatever you want to call them.

I just don't want to take the time to go through a workbook. I'd rather just read about it. I've learned a great deal just by reading about mindfulness books by Kabat-Zinn and others. In fact, once I started really getting into mindfulness, I ditched my T. I felt that I had the tools I needed, and we ended up just talking about football in the sessions, so it seemed pointless.

Sounds like CBT would be better suited to me. I'm BP type I.

Thanks for the replies!

My t loves a book called the Anxiety & Phobia Workbook. He didn't care if I read the whole thing, but there are chapters in the middle on mistaken beliefs and thinking skills that are very good. It's a good short course in cbt.

I have major depression and DBT has changed my life!!! You have to do the work. It's hard, but it's worth it! Before DBT I was in an out of the hospital constantly. I have only had one very short hospitalization since I started, and that was due to going off meds when it wasn't recommended.