I am quite curious who here has been prescribed medication but isn't regularly supported with some form of regular (!) talking therapy?
I have seen both the positive and negative effects of medication.. but often people are left to deal with the side effects of these drugs on their own.
What are you thoughts and experience on this?
I think therapy is essential if you’re starting anxiety or depression medication. The medications might only blunt your intense feelings without helping you heal from the trauma that may have precipitated the intense feelings.
In my personal experience, the brain will “break through” the medications and continue to alert you that something is terribly wrong until you process through in a healthy way what has happened to you.
I see a therapist weekly. She really helps me to identify negative thought patterns that I get stuck in and helps to reinforce the positive changes I have been making. Lots of times I get really hung up on a couple things that I view as failures and she helps me to see all the other positives. One thing to remember with therapy is that not all therapist are the same, they all have their own unique way of working and you might have to try a couple until you find one you mesh with, once you do it can make a world of difference.
I have never been offered therapy
Hi Doggie123-UK, would you be interested in doing talking therapy (or have you tried in the past)? Is there anything that would stop you from starting?
My problem would be travelling, as well as anxiety I have two main health issues, copd/emphysema and ibs/diverticulitis also not sure if I could cope with group therapy.
Ah that's understandable!
Would you be open to do therapy online (videochat basically)?
There's lots of therapists who offer this option and you could essentially choose who you want to do therapy with, does that sound interesting at all?
Group therapy is typically offered if there would be some tangible social benefits (like in the case of people struggling with alcoholism, drugs, bereavement ecc.).
Anxiety certainly needs less stress-inducing approaches.
I miss therapy. It costs money, but I think it's money well spent. I'm 50 though and it just feels like I'm never going to get much better
Well, it is a long process for all of us and it should really be more affordable, so that it is more easily integrated in our society/culture.
You might be able to find therapists in your area who will adjust their hourly rate to your financial needs (sliding scale therapists)?
It's always helped me to think of therapy like "me-time" or a treat. I can go spend money on something I like, so it shouldn't be any different with therapy! 
Sorry to hear that, it is definitely a long journey to healing and plenty of ups and downs too, but then again.. that's life right? 😊
Do YOU think it is helping you? What do you think of the conversations you have with the therapist? Are they helping or would you like something different?
I have often relied on therapy. Sometimes I am maintaining so I don’t. I have also switched because I learned so much from one and have to progress in other ways. My last therapist specializes in shame resilience and empathy building. The new one is helping me get unstuck with my anger so I am able to start achieving my goals.
I think therapy can be focused and evolving (different people) and it can also be physical such as yoga. Or all of it. Maybe your next therapist helps you determine what you need 🙂
I don't tolerate therapy or medication at all. So yeah.
Hi!
Care to elaborate on that?
All the medication I have tried I have had an extreme negative reaction to so they decided it was too risky to keep trying (I have reactions to physical health meds too so it's not unusual for me). All the therapy I have done has made me extremely unstable. I have to first try and stabilises my safety, sensory, autism, communication, physical, understanding of people and purpose needs before I have a chance of being stable enough to do Therapy. So I feel really stuck because I want to be able to do something to help myself, but waiting on services to be in place to try and stabilises me which is always a challenge and will be even more of one now since my body is doing weird things.
Does that explain it a bit more?
Thanks so much for sharing!
I've experienced something similar with medications of any kind and joked to myself many times that I should be a lab rat given how sensitive I am 
May I ask how therapy made you unstable?
Is it anything to do with the topics of conversation?
Or maybe the therapist being someone you don't exactly know yet?
What do you think they could do to improve their approach towards your needs?
Hi, Ha that's funny! We joke that if I react normally to anything we should call an ambulance because something must be seriously wrong!
Unstable as in actively suicidal and impulsive. Also just everything get majorly exasibated to a point where I can't cope.
Even doing really light stuff like talking about my week sets me off it's really weird. I also get frustrated about not being able to communicate what I want to be able to communicate. Therapist struggle with my body language as I am either dead pan or hyper which confuses them.
I confuse most people so yeah.
I think having an autism and trauma specialist, making sure all my needs are met first and extra support is out in place for therapy. Having support that understands me. Yeah we are working towards this but my body has thrown a bit of a curved ball at the moment.
So yeah.
Thanks so much for sharing!
It's always a complicated process, but I do hope you will get to receive meaningful and inspiring therapy eventually. I think it is an important step on our journey to healing, even if it might take some adjusting to it.
The principle behind my first try at medication (over 30 years ago) was that medication would alleviate things a bit so I would be strong enough to sustain therapy. It did the job. My first 5 years in therapy had to do with dealing with childhood issue and life story. In the numerous depressive episodes that followed, I usually took care of having both medication and therapy. However, therapy is not about "historical stuff" anymore. It deals with concrete actual situations, of with the illness itself. I have depression + anxiety at the moment. Anxiety is new to me. I do take medication but I also see a psychologist, attend a support group and registered in an anxiety self-management workshop. Plus hanging out here and reading stuff about anxiety. My stance is that medication is probably necessary, but by no means enough on its own. I've been lucky not to have much side effects, ever, except these last few months of nausea and vomiting at night (which I think is better than anxiety). I never felt my psychologists could be of much help with side effects. This time I worked it out with my GP and psychiatrist.
Thanks for sharing and I am glad to hear medication has helped you and you have been also given psychological support. Ideally that's what we all should go through imo, rather than being left to our own devices and dealing with symptoms we can hardly recognize till they start to affect our lives and the ones of those around us.
Hello so I have struggled with anxiety for years now and I have had a therapist off and on and I am also on medication it took a couple of tries but it’s all about finding the one one that will work for you therapy will definitely help you I used to have real bad panic attacks and now I am doing so much better and now I can understand and control my anxiety a lot better as far as the medication finding the right one that will work and help you is the key
I have been on different medications over the years (for both anxiety and depression.) I am on medication for other health conditions, and the problem has been finding something that doesn't create awful side effects or counteract my others. So far, those problems have outweighed any benefits I have seen, so I stick to therapy. I recently started CBTherapy again, with advice to add Trauma Therapy. I have always felt a lot clearer with the help of therapy; unfortunately, I haven't always been in the financial place to stick to it for as long as I need. I'll be honest- If I could go to therapy weekly, long-term, I would be in a much better place. But financially, that isn't realistic at all.
I take medication and see a therapist every two weeks. I also see my psychiatrist every month. If something comes up I can call either one of them and they get back to me by the end of the day.
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