CBT

[chris49]

HAS ANYBODY BEEN ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY. AND DOES IT HELP.I DONT THINK I WANT TO TRY IT BUT I KNOW I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING. I JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE

[Hidden]

I have about 4 years ago. It's quite good. It did help me a bit. You don't talk in depth about your feelings but you learn why you feel like this and it shows you a way of dealing with it. For example if you find it hard to be criticised you look at the triggers (dominant mother/father eg) and it explains what is happening to you when criticised. It shows you how to recognise the pattern and what to do when it happens. That.s basically it. So you learn strategies to cope with situations. It's based on NICE (can't remember what it stands for) but it's a treatment which is favoured by the powers that be because it can be observed and measured. And you can show firm results. It's always worth trying.

[Gambit62 in reply to Hidden]

NICE is National Institute for Health Care Excellence (originally National Institute for Clinical Excellence - changed its name a couple of time but didn't change its acronym.

One of the things they do is research into research to identify what are currently likely to be the best treatments for various illnesses and conditions. They then publish guidance for GPs and health professionals summarising the findings ... they also prepare summaries of summaries which is usually all that a GP has time to digest - with the result that they can miss things that came out of the pre-summary guidance (eg more detailed information on interactions between different medications).

Several years ago the information coming out of studies was that CBT was probably more effective at treating depression and anxiety than medication. The best combination seemed to be a mixture of CBT and medication.

The latest thing seems to be using a Meditation based form of CBT called MBCT (Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy).

A lot of medicine is more of an art than a science. NICE helps GPs and medical practitioners identify the treatments that are most likely to be effective but that is no guarantee that they will be effective. It is important to be open to other options because we are all individuals, but that is quite a difficult thing for GPs to achieve, faced with hundreds of patients and tens of thousands of conditions.

[Jeffju]

It worked well for me. Gives you strategies of dealing with anxiety/ depression and they talk a lot of common sense which you don't always have when your mind is in turmoil. I think you should at least try it. Good luck. Julie xx

[Gambit62]

Chris, I haven't done CBT but I have a friend who had CBT for Haemophobia combined with a fear of injections. She still uses the techniques she learnt when she has to have blood tests or an injection at the dentist.

CBT doesn't work for some people but it does seem to work for a lot so it is definitely worth a try.

One other thing: lack of motivation is very common in depression. Studies have also shown that in depressed people action and motivation often get switched around so that we don't actually feel motivated to do something until we have actually started doing it. Another reason for trying it even if you don't feel motivated

[Hidden]

I have had CBT and it worked great the first time. I had it for post natal depression and I had got so low that I was self harming. The therapist I saw was really easy to talk to and I felt I could be completely honest with him. He helped me change the way I thought about a few things and it actually helped quite quickly.

I went for another assessment but this time for something else and I was almost made to feel like I was wasting their time and I got the feeling he wasn't entirely sure how to help me so I left feeling completely deflated and it sort of validated my feelings about something even though I know deep deep down that those feelings are wrong.

If you choose to try it my advice would be to make sure you click with your therapist and if you don't then try another. It works far better when you can open up and be honest. When I finished CBT the first time I did have the opportunity to work through this aswell but due to other stuff happening in my family I couldn't focus on my problems. At the time I physically couldn't tell him what had happened even though I really wanted to but it was hard to talk about.

I really do wish I had carried on the first time.

It really is worth a try and the only regrets I have about it is not carrying on the first time and not asking for someone else the second time.

[chris49]

thank you to you all, your reply's have helped a lot

[Photogeek in reply to chris49]

Sorry Chris my reply was for Isa 125, in case I confused you.

[isa125]

i would love to get help but dont know who to contact i am really back with depressoion i threaten to stab my husband and had the knife in my hand i have also throw plates at him when i have been cooking i have told him to leave and get a seperation but he wont do it i dont want to hurt him as he already had a heart attack but i cant stop doing the things i am doing so i really do need help the medication doctors have gave me are,nt helping

[Photogeek]

Hi Isa 125 I meant that reply for you.

[dietcoke511]

I didn't find it very helpful. The therapist told me 'CBT can't fail if you follow what you learn'. Basically I found it as a sort of always look on the bright side therapy. For example, if I were to have the thought I'll never get a good job again, It should replace it with the thought I may not have a job now but who is to say a good one won't come along soon. In my view you can think like that but it's not realistic or true. However I found CAT type of therapy helpful and would recommend that.

[chris49 in reply to dietcoke511]

that is what I was worried about , that sort of thing a will annoy me and will not help what is the reasons I have let myself get in this state. but thank you for your help

[Hidden]

One thing which really annoyed me at my last CBT session (we did it as a group of 3) was that there were only 2 of us at the time and the other person was allowed to take virtually all the time and attention. I kept quiet until the last 15 minutes or so then butted in and kicked off a bit saying I had been ignored the whole time and it was my session too! They agreed in a subdued way and I wondered why they hadn't taken control and given me my time and why I had to do it. So it ended on a bit of a sour note for me!

[jules2105]

I had cbt for my needle, blood and hospital phobia which worked well. However it didn't help for my depression as I would get so upset during the sessions that I couldn't remember what he said. Cbt isn't for everyone but definitely worth a try. If I did it again I'd write myself notes during session

Jules x