Posted by pseudoname on March 4, 2006, at 11:25:43
In reply to Acceptance...at what point, posted by scatterbrained on March 2, 2006, at 20:30:48
> I don't want to spend my whole life going from one medication to another, having that false hope that it will work and then getting let down again and again and again
I once burst into tears in a pdoc’s office when she asked me why I hadn’t taken the med she prescribed. I sobbed, “I don’t want to go through all that again!” Try, hope, fail. Try, hope, fail.
That was 13 years ago and I did “go through all that again” with about 6 different docs and many more tears — AND I went many years without drugs, just living with the depression, not trying to get better or do things I couldn’t. But I finally have (for now?) found a med that actually does work. So, it can happen, even on Babble. ;-)
Acceptance can be very powerful but also kinda tricky. If you’re considering it, can I suggest looking at "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy"? There’s now a self-help book about it (which I haven’t read) called "Get Out of Your Mind and into Your Life". They say that acceptance doesn’t have to follow failures but frees you to design & achieve different types of success. This sounds like what I thought you were moving toward in your post. Their key is *mindful* acceptance, which separates “you” from the illness.
Also, acceptance of a refractory illness doesn’t necessarily preclude continuing to try medications (etc) to get rid of it. It can just free you from being overwhelmed by feelings of failure if the meds don’t work.
And props to you for considering such a creative approach! I’d really appreciate hearing about your neurocognitive rehab and how it goes. Best of luck with it.
Best wishes.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy thread on Psycho board: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060211/msgs/611694.html
poster:pseudoname
thread:615139
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060304/msgs/615835.html