Posted by Craig on March 30, 2001, at 3:56:59
In reply to Re: It's OK » Craig, posted by judy1 on March 29, 2001, at 14:07:08
If panic attacks are waking you up, does your pdoc see that as the first problem? Do you remember anything happening just before you awaken, such as a nightmare, or does the panic attack seem to come out of nowhere? Probably dumb questions on my part, but I'm thinking out loud to see how panic escalates to cutting. As you can see by the time I write, I stay up nights and sleep during the day (I'm on Eastern Time). You could explore reversing your sleep schedule to see if that makes any difference, but that probably isn't possible with a son to take care of. I'm not at all familiar with cutting, so I'm having trouble making the connection with that and dissociating. As you see it, what is the difference between your daytime and nighttime panic attacks? Are the nighttime ones worse and that's why you end up cutting?
I can't think of any meds I've taken that affected dissociation, other than ones that made me feel awful, such as the old antipsychotics like Thorazine, Haldol, Mellaril, Trilafon, etc. On the other hand, a brief sojourn into marijuana made me dissociate big time. My doctor said that dissociation is common in bipolars when they abuse substances. When you were using drugs, did you have the cutting problem? When did cutting come into the picture.
There are a lot of factors to consider when you try to decide if therapy is making you worse. What works for one person might not work for another. Maybe you might consider continuing to see your pdoc for meds, but pull back on seeing your therapist for awhile. I was told that therapy was going to take a long time, too. I was also told that I was going to get worse before I got better. Well, they were right about that. I got worse. But I certainly didn't get better. After 17 years of therapy, I finally gave up. It was the summer of 1988, which I had spent in the hospital (like the winter of 1988, which I'd also spent in the hospital), and I vowed if I could get discharged (which was no easy feat), I was never going to talk to another therapist again. Fast forward to 2001 and here I am. I have so much more to say, but there's no way I can fit it all in.
I have to stop for now, but will write more tomorrow.
poster:Craig
thread:5246
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010324/msgs/5371.html