Posted by violette on July 13, 2010, at 13:25:38
In reply to Is there life after psychoanalysis? (trigger), posted by ralphrost2 on July 12, 2010, at 19:18:43
Oh, Ralph, just wanted to clarify...I had said earlier I was 'broken' before I got to therapy..broken meaning, most of my defense mechanisms were already gone by the time I got to psychodyamic therapy-which included the self esteem I was previously able to sustain for various reasons (major repression for one).
You said you had ongoing depression and anxiety before analysis, and I did too. But since you mentioned having 'no self-esteem' after analysis, I thought about it more and wondered if your analyst had sort of tore down your defense mechanisms as part of your therapy, but you haven't yet worked on building up yet? Maybe it is happening too quickly, leaving you less resources and time with which to adapt.
Could you consider taking an AD again to help cope? I might have at the start of therapy if I found one that I liked, but it turns out I no longer need an AD with therapy going well. I'm not completely relapsed from depression issues, but its mostly gone. I do take benzos for anxiety though, but not every day.
Since I mentioned feeling the benefits after just a year, I didn't want you to feel there was something wrong if you were not feeling that after 2+ years. It's just that I had hardly any defense mechanisms left at the time I found this T, while you may have still had some intact. Of course, defenses are useful and never completely go away, although some are much healthier than others as you know.
Really, it might be best to continue to work through this stuff now-as painful as it is-my T told me after his 35 some years of experiences, patients' mental health tends to get worse as they get older.
:)
poster:violette
thread:954254
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20100706/msgs/954330.html