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Anna Laura -Intelligence and therapy resistant

Posted by JennyR on June 18, 2001, at 17:13:03

In reply to Re: Can one think their way out of major depressio, posted by Anna Laura on June 11, 2001, at 2:41:17

I responded to part of your answer to Glenn, but somehow, it disappeared or never really "took." So here it is again.
Anyway, the part about being intelligent making it hard for "talk therapy" to work because you can see through the theories- I don't agree with that and would like to tell you why.
I thought that at one time, but it has not been the case at all.
I, too, am not trying to brag, only make a point. As a kid they skipped me from 3rd to 5th grade because of an 11th grade reading level and a 9th grade math level. Most endeavors have come easily to me. I have a graduate degree, was always an A student, etc. So I think statistically, I'd be considered a rather intelligent person. And particularly with degrees in the field, I certainly know the theories. Here's my point - it's the relationship that matters in therapy. I have a wonderful warm therapist who I've been able to make a strong connection with, and that's what makes it work. When you feel heard like never before, understood like never before, empathized with out of real warmth, that's what makes for a really successful therapy experience. It's not about intelligence or lack of it, it's about emotional connection. I think intelligence has helped because it allows one to reach insights, by putting different fragments together, seeing connections between things, that someone not too swift would have a harder time doing. I don't see intelligence or knowledge of theories as a hindrance at all. I think you either really click with a particular therapist, or you don't. Maybe you haven't found the right one.
I think medications can be important, it is for me, and what you say about your own creativity and building the right foundation too, but I also think therapy is the best gift I ever gave myself.
>
>
> Hi Glenn, Hi All,
>
> This is my first post on Social Babble (i've been posting on Psycho Babble only).
> First, my usual premise: english it's not my language, i'm posting from Europe, so pardon me if i make mistakes.
>
> Glenn,
>
>
> I'm really sorry you've been suffering so much .I feel lucky compared to you: at least i tasted life until i was 21 years old (i'm 32 right now).
> I think changing cognitive patterns plays a role, a big role for someone, a little one for others.
> For some of depressed people it's really the key to overcome the disease.
> I remember i read on The Becks' book on Cognitive Therapy about a woman who has been suffering from major depression for a looong time (throughout her adult life) who got cured with cognitive therapy (basically it's about thinking yourself out of depression, changing old thinking habits and so on).
> But some of us are not responding to that. I think that the solutions/possibilities are unlimited and countless, every one of us has to find a personal solution that fits his/her state of mind i guess. As far as i am concerned, it works only when i'm mildly depressed.
> Last Summer i succeeded in thinking myself out of depression and took a huge "cognitive jump".
> How i managed to do that it's really too long to tell. Well, i was still depressed but it was like my "mental visual " grew wider and wider, do you know what i mean? It was like having been living inside a small cell/box and coming out in the huge wide world all of a sudden. It was shocking 'cause i wasn't prepared for the experience. I felt like all of my skin was peeled off, ultra-sensitive and scared as hell. Thought i was getting crazy: my basic, obsessive thought was: "if i can get myself out of depression i can go crazy as well".
> Depression was like a kind a heavy but somehow comfortable blanket i've been wearing for so long that i felt like i was naked and vulnerable without it.
> I felt like if i was to continue on that route, things would have changed, but i couldn't keep that state of mind for long: i've been fighting with my partner all the summer through (saw me changed, thought i was going to dump him). The result was that i faced major stress while i was vulnerable and defenceless so that i had second bout of depression the following Autumn. When i was major depressed, cognitive thinking didn't help me at all. The life-saver was Tofranil which dragged me out of that horrible state of mind.
> I know i'm going to sound too proud, but since you mentioned intelligence as a counterproductive factor, i feel justified talking about that also.
> I'm not trying to boast myself, sorry if it's going to sound like that : hope you're not going to hate me now....
> I swear it's the bare truth: my intelligence kind of prevented me from healing/getting cured.
> The bad thing about depression is that the more intelligent you are, the least you're susceptible of getting cured by talk-therapies; this is my personal opinion so far.
> I think most of us on this board have the same problem.
> I've scored a high IQ also and i often had problems with all kind of therapies: it was like i was seeing trough the underlying basic theories, so that everything got unfolded and i felt like i was being mocked (difficult to explain i hope you know what i mean).
> Back in 1990 i took Rorschach psychological testing that confirmed my "resistence" to therapies due to my intelligence. Please, don't think i'm boasting myself a genius, i wish i wasn't intelligent because i'm sure i'd been cured by now.
> There's a positive thing about being intelligent though: it's creative-self-therapy: it's about finding a personal way out of the labyrinth with your creative intelligence, a tailored solution for you only.
> I've been experiencing that, but again, i got scared as hell. I guess it was because i wasn't prepared.
> If you pardon me the weird analogy, it was like building the roof without laying the foundations.
> The foundations are social life, work, hobbies, sex and so on. I realize it's very hard but my personal opinion it's the first thing to do as soon as one gest better enough to do things.It sounds obvious, but it works.
> I'm aware it's such an effort, but i think it's the first line of the agenda, top of the list thing.
> (Of course you can't do that if you're too much depressed, you should be thinking about finding the right med then).
>
>


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poster:JennyR thread:6363
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010611/msgs/6530.html