Posted by David on March 31, 1999, at 4:50:12
In reply to Re: Meds, therapy & ever-present depression , posted by Torrey on March 15, 1999, at 18:36:08
Hello everybody,
I am kind of "back," I feel I just need to talk a little and I hope you can stand reading it...
I am going to copy a part of my previous post here:
>> The psychiatrist gave me Zoloft 50mg, twice a day and
>> Lexaurin 1.5mg (Bromazepamum), a total dose of 3mg a
>> day. At the same time he said that my depression
>> has its roots in the structure of my personality, my
>> character. And he added that a psychotherapy for me
>> would be difficult and complicated.I thought: I don't see the point: it would be difficult and complicated, but so what?!!! I am well aware that it won't be a walk in a spring garden full of trees in blossom, I know that it's going to be a hard work for me, but my point is I want to improve! So isn't it worth to give it a try at least...?
But I didn't say anything... I kept it for myself deciding that maybe later during some of the next visits I will come up with just a small remark about it...What I want to stress is this: I got the general impression from his acting - here you've got the meds, take them, and that's it! There's nothing else that can be done for you, boy! I just felt extremely desperate to realize, that he left me to cope with this misery all on my own! As if he resigned beforehand: it's your fate and that's all.
(OK, forget now for a while that he is probably NOT the right therapist for me, and that I was to leave my home country to study temporarily in the Netherlands.)
I was extremely disappointed: having suffered from severe depression for 2 months - and he knew about it very well - was that all the support and comfort he had to offer? Aren't all these people out there to help us, desperate folks? I believe that his approach has something to do with biological psychiatry - paying too much emphasis on chemical imbalances in the human brain.
Please, I don't want to put any blame on anybody here, nor on him, I just need to talk a little bit (maybe vent my anger...?), so please don't take it personally.>>I had been skeptical about medicines for depression as
>>well as any kind of conventional psychotherapy before,
>>although never actually tried them (I had always
>>really doubted that they could be of any help to me...
>>maybe I had some kind of prejudice...? I don't know.)
>>and now the psychiatrist, although being honest,
>>even enhanced these worries in me!>>I have been on Zoloft and Lexaurin for 2 months now,
>>I can see a slight improvement (I have enough energy
>>to pretend again that everything's all right...)That's exactly how I'm feeling right now.
>>but
>>very often I slip into despair as to whether there
>>really is any kind of help for me? Any positive vision
>>of the future, I mean bright future? I don't know...>>I have a very intense feeling that these antidepressant
>>drugs just suppress the underlying causes of the
>>state of my mental health without really "removing"
>>them. Maybe the most severe symptoms disappear so I
>>can get through a day somehow...Read anything on transpersonal psychology and you'll understand what I mean...
Thank you for reading, and thank you Torrey.
David
> I'm glad to have a forum like this, where our frustrations with current treatment options (medication and/or therapy) can be discussed. The previous thread about psychedelics mentioned Stan Grof's books, and apart from the question of LSD, I think Dr. Grof has made some very good points about the limitations of conventional therapy. I studied psychology in college and grad school for seven years, Shelley, and have also tried very hard to "figure things out." It just doesn't help much. Nor did all the "insight" into my dysfunctional childhood.
>
> At the same time, I'm increasingly skeptical of the "bio-psychiatry" view that these disorders are "chemical imbalances" that need to be "corrected" with medication. Its somewhat disturbing to read the lengthy threads of patients trying out one med after another, and all kinds of "heroic" combinations, searching for the right one to "correct the imbalance." The evidence to support this "chemical imbalance" theory is no better than that for insight oriented therapy. And yet there are millions of us who are basically being told that we need to take these drugs for the rest of our lives.
>
> I'm grateful for the newer meds. Its fair to say that they've saved my life, more than once. But I still think we need to Question Authority, and keep searching for better answers.
>
> Torrey
>
> > I am sort-of responding to David's thread above, and to all of you who shared your experiences.
> > Anyway, I share the opinions of most of you re: therapy....
poster:David
thread:3482
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990301/msgs/4206.html