Therapy- helpful?

Hi am wondering who has found therapy of some sort helpful?

 

If so, what type of therapy was it? 

 

I do realize it is often the person more than anything else that is important.  But have to say I just skyped with someone who does analysis or some sort and boy I have no idea how that works and kind of think requires too much thinking. 

 

Anyhow, thought I would ask people's thoughts.

Hi am wondering who has found therapy of some sort helpful?

 

If so, what type of therapy was it? 

 

I do realize it is often the person more than anything else that is important.  But have to say I just skyped with someone who does analysis or some sort and boy I have no idea how that works and kind of think requires too much thinking. 

 

Anyhow, thought I would ask people's thoughts.

 

It depends. I did talk therapy for many years (based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and it was generally helpful. Although at times it was very, very painful to do the sessions. It was more about strategies to deal with things going on in my life. You are right that finding the right person is important.

 

Did it help with benzo withdrawal? Not at all and likely actually hurt as I don't think the therapist really understood how I could be suffering that much. She recently reached out to me via email (I had not seen her in quite a while) and asked if I was still suffering with "crippling anxiety" from my klonopin taper. I felt that was completely unprofessional that she reached out as I had actually ended the relationship as she could not help me at all with handling my son's illness.

 

I do think some recent changes I have made (as a result of therapy) have been positive and are helping. I have far less patience for people who are not useful in my life (such as my youngest sibling) and I have changed how I approach work. Overall, my anticipatory anxiety, which has been a huge factor in my life and prevented me from doing many things, has lessened as well.

 

Glad you reached out for help.

I spent years in talk therapy.  I was lucky and liked all my therapists. But a few years ago it wasn't cutting it for me anymore and became less and less helpful and more like a chore and like NJStrength said it was often painful.  This past year I found a new therapist who is a DBT therapist.  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.  In DBT when you talk about things that are wrong with your life, or your anxiety, or your anger or whatever you need to talk about, you are taught skills to help you deal with or overcome these things.  It has been immensely helpful. I honestly feel like I have the skills to handle what life throws at me now.

 

The entire practice is routed in mindfulness (not worrying about the past or future, but living in the present).  It is talked about at every session and you are taught all the steps to be mindful.  This practice has changed me so much.  It makes me calmer and more content.  I honestly feel like if I had been taught mindfulness I would never have taken a benzo in the first place. 

 

Did it help me with withdrawal?  Not the symptoms themselves as its all chemical, but with ideas and fear around withdrawal absolutely.  My therapist was my cheerleader and the one person in my real life I spoke to about what I was going through in a totally honest and open way.

 

With all this being said I think any type of therapy can be useful.  Reaching out as you have done is a great first step.

 

 

 

It depends on your rapport with the therapist. For me the ones I found did not understand benzos and were aggressively telling me to do things that are impossible because of benzo withdrawal pain. I can't meditate if I have terrible akathisia. This has been by far my worst symptom and the therapists didn't get it. If they believe your symptoms are real, then by all means it can be helpful.

Even if they believe the symptoms are real, it would be tough for them to understand, huh?  I mean seems like the fear we get is 100x normal anxiety or panic... a chemical fear.  And the depression is unlike anything else.

 

 

I spent years in talk therapy.  I was lucky and liked all my therapists. But a few years ago it wasn't cutting it for me anymore and became less and less helpful and more like a chore and like NJStrength said it was often painful.  This past year I found a new therapist who is a DBT therapist.  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.  In DBT when you talk about things that are wrong with your life, or your anxiety, or your anger or whatever you need to talk about, you are taught skills to help you deal with or overcome these things.  It has been immensely helpful. I honestly feel like I have the skills to handle what life throws at me now.

 

The entire practice is routed in mindfulness (not worrying about the past or future, but living in the present).  It is talked about at every session and you are taught all the steps to be mindful.  This practice has changed me so much.  It makes me calmer and more content.  I honestly feel like if I had been taught mindfulness I would never have taken a benzo in the first place. 

 

Did it help me with withdrawal?  Not the symptoms themselves as its all chemical, but with ideas and fear around withdrawal absolutely.  My therapist was my cheerleader and the one person in my real life I spoke to about what I was going through in a totally honest and open way.

 

With all this being said I think any type of therapy can be useful.  Reaching out as you have done is a great first step.

 

I agree if had known about and been able to do mindfulness would probably have been able to conquer my original sleep problem.  But therapy I went to at the time did not help, and then there was the medication... which has ultimately led me here.

 

I thought tht DBT was for personality disorders or something?  I am not a personality disorder.  I mean I am a mess, but not that per se.  I'll have to look it up!  Thanks.

BarbaraAve,

 

DBT was originally created for a personality disorder but clinical trials have shown it to be very effective for other things. I don't have any of the things listed below, but I do have anxiety and it helped me.  Here is what Wikipedia says:

 

Marsha M. Linehan, a psychology researcher at the University of Washington, developed DBT as a modified form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in the late 1980s[4] to treat people with borderline personality disorder and chronically suicidal individuals. Research on its effectiveness in treating other conditions has been fruitful;[5] DBT has been used by practitioners to treat people with depression, drug and alcohol problems,[6] post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),[7] traumatic brain injuries (TBI), binge-eating disorder,[1] and mood disorders.[8][9] Research indicates DBT might help patients with symptoms and behaviors associated with spectrum mood disorders, including self-injury.[10] Recent work also suggests its effectiveness with sexual-abuse survivors[11] and chemical dependency.[12]

 

I came across this short article with Lady Gaga talking about DBT and how it changed her life.  The journalist who wrote it just happens to be in DBT also.  In the article there is a link to an very recent Oprah interview with Lady Gaga.  It is a very inspirational video.  The video is an hour but if you have time to watch, it will be worth your while. 

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/mika-lady-gaga-my-hero-here-s-why-ncna1114276

 

If insomnia is your only issue there is something called CBT-i.  It is CBT for insomnia.  I haven't done it myself, I just heard about it.  That might be something to look in to.

 

Hope you find something that works for you. 

 

Pearl

I spent years in talk therapy.  I was lucky and liked all my therapists. But a few years ago it wasn't cutting it for me anymore and became less and less helpful and more like a chore and like NJStrength said it was often painful.  This past year I found a new therapist who is a DBT therapist.  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.  In DBT when you talk about things that are wrong with your life, or your anxiety, or your anger or whatever you need to talk about, you are taught skills to help you deal with or overcome these things.  It has been immensely helpful. I honestly feel like I have the skills to handle what life throws at me now.

 

The entire practice is routed in mindfulness (not worrying about the past or future, but living in the present).  It is talked about at every session and you are taught all the steps to be mindful.  This practice has changed me so much.  It makes me calmer and more content.  I honestly feel like if I had been taught mindfulness I would never have taken a benzo in the first place. 

 

Did it help me with withdrawal?  Not the symptoms themselves as its all chemical, but with ideas and fear around withdrawal absolutely.  My therapist was my cheerleader and the one person in my real life I spoke to about what I was going through in a totally honest and open way.

 

With all this being said I think any type of therapy can be useful.  Reaching out as you have done is a great first step.

 

I agree if had known about and been able to do mindfulness would probably have been able to conquer my original sleep problem.  But therapy I went to at the time did not help, and then there was the medication... which has ultimately led me here.

 

I thought tht DBT was for personality disorders or something?  I am not a personality disorder.  I mean I am a mess, but not that per se.  I'll have to look it up!  Thanks.

 

BA, I am in a very similar position. I also took benzos because of my sleep problem and now realise that I could have done so many other things. Even taking other medication which wasn't a benzo. I have not tried DBT. However, I tried CBT several times and found that the techniques might be very useful for someone who has normal anxiety but not in a benzo withdrawal situation. You need willpower and strength to put the techniques into practice and if you are not careful this can stress your nervous system out more. Nonetheless, it is good to have someone to talk to who isn't just your friends or family occasionally. It has been more useful for me to find practitioners who might not teach quick 'techniques' but who have some idea about long physiological suffering. Whether it is a massage therapist (but make sure they are gentle!) or a naturopath, even though I don't suggest taking most supplements at this point, it is good to find someone who knows about chronic pain and illness. You can try to call and feel it out and see if they know about pain management. Benzo withdrawal is a physiological problem to a greater extent than 'ordinary' depression (which I believe is still physiological, but easier to change using environmental factors). Therapists who have experience dealing with cancer, fibromyalgia or any other chronic pain condition might not understand benzos but will be more willing to listen. I do not recommend someone who just focuses on thought patterns and does not see how this is truly physical pain.

Yeah, well no family at all and friend not around so don't have them to talk to.  But you are saying someone who deal with people who chronically ill or dealing with deep disability.

 

I find the psych stuff worse than the physical, thus far.

 

Re the CBT type therapy, yes, don't seem able to follow much.  I mean they would want you to get sun/light and exercise and I kind of am doing neither.

 

Huh, massage therapy... interesting.  Some of those come to you, even, I think, for a price. 

 

thanks.

Yeah, well no family at all and friend not around so don't have them to talk to.  But you are saying someone who deal with people who chronically ill or dealing with deep disability.

 

I find the psych stuff worse than the physical, thus far.

 

Re the CBT type therapy, yes, don't seem able to follow much.  I mean they would want you to get sun/light and exercise and I kind of am doing neither.

 

Huh, massage therapy... interesting.  Some of those come to you, even, I think, for a price. 

 

thanks.

 

If you have nobody else to talk to through this process then I definitely recommend getting some kind of therapist. Even if you are not having any physical symptoms at the moment, the reason I recommended someone who looks at whole body-mind connection rather than just the psychological aspect is because GABA receptors DO cover most organs in the body and some advice that a CBT therapist might give for 'normal' anxiety (such as do a lot of exercise and push yourself or try to get up at this or that hour) can be overstimulating or dangerous for some buddies in withdrawal. It is just so important to listen to your own body in this process, and not get stressed by following a very rigid schedule. I would recommend more of a talking therapy though.

Hi BarbaraAve

 

I do get some benefit from it, mostly because my therapist is aware of benzo withdrawal problems. We both acknowledged that he cannot alleviate symptoms. He compared it to going to therapy for a painful broken leg. He can't heal the bone any faster but he can teach me ways to cope. One thing that really helps me is being able to speak with an actual human being face to face about this ordeal. Sometimes the therapist has something in mind, like a coping technique to teach, and other times I just discuss what's going on. Both have been at least somewhat helpful.

You think skype enough like face to face?

 

I am such  amess.... my computer that can skype has broken hinge... soon it will die and hve not ordered a new one.  it is like one thing on top of another and my organization skills are just shot.