Posted by Kristi on May 20, 2001, at 14:48:14
In reply to Re: Anyone? » Kristi, posted by shelliR on May 19, 2001, at 20:37:26
> Kristi, I wanted to write two things to you in response to what you are telling us .
> First, about chronic fatigue syndrome: it is not just tiredness and lack of motivation. It almost always includes swollen glands and a sore throat, and other symptoms of infection. So I doubt that is what you have, unless you have those symptoms.
You are right! I don't have any of those symtoms. Thanks... can probably rule that out!
> Second, about dealing with repressed memories. You may decide now that you don't want to go searching after past memories, but my experience personally, and in knowing a lot of sexual and physical abuse survivors, is that eventually the memories come after you. Sometimes it seems out of nowhere and sometimes it is precipitated by something specific, e.g., having a daughter the same age as you were when you were abused.
Would you say you benifit by "un" repressing your memories?
> I would say for sure that you need to talk to someone about what you are feeling right now. A psychologist might be a good choice because they would not be pushing meds directly on you (although they might want you to go to a psychiatrist for a consultation.)
I really do have a good therapist. I need to search for a psychologist tho I think, to go a step or two deeper. And your right... no med pushing.. altho I have been to some pdoc's and did try what they suggested, but to no avail. What I did try... prozac, effexor, and celexa. All just seemed to make everything worse. As I was saying tho, I really like my therapist.. and she has helped with my mother's suicide.. and we have been recently talking about my childhood and she TRIES to get things about of me, but they just aren't there to give. That's why I think I may need to switch to a psychologist. Probably more training and possible better to "get things out of me" or spark memories?! Just thinking that may have a few more tricks for this.> I would not try to force memories to come up. They became repressed to protect you, and now even though you don't need that protection in the same way, you don't want to flood yourself with more than you can handle. Memories sort of have a life of their own. But when they come up, I would not push them back down either. I would anticipate for you that memories may come up eventually, and I would hope that you were working with someone who specializes that that field. Many specialists in trauma are now working with EMDR (you can find it on the web) rather than hypnosis, to process memories.
Wow.... I had no idea about the specialists in trauma that can help process memories. I will without a doubt look into that one.
If I did decide to go the hypnosis route... I would definately do some major research on a doctor. Still don't know what to do.. and you do have a good point... maybe forcing them out isn't the right thing to do... who knows, I go back and forth everyday. I wish they would just surface on their own.. make my decision easier. :-) boy how we are always looking for the easy way out.
> You might want to read some articles or books by Judith Herman-MD from Harvard. She has a rather simple and elegant way of describing what happens when repressed memories emerge, and what type of treatment is needed. She deals not only with victims of childhood abuse, but also political prisoners and war veterans. I believe she thinks it is important for everyone with a trauma background to both know their story and share their story (with a group or therapist, not with everyone you meet.) If you do a search, you'll come up with some stuff of hers on the web.
Thanks. I will definatly look into Judith. I am quite interested in hearing about how people have dealth with repressed "blockings" surfacing. I'll do the search... and again... thank you for your response and help. By the way... in your OPINION... after hearing a little about my story, do you think I should look into med's more? Or do you think this could all be resolved through therapy? Just your opinion.. I read many of your posts and you seem quite knowledgable and intelligent. Thanks again!Take care, Kristi
poster:Kristi
thread:63506
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010515/msgs/63714.html