Posted by bleauberry on March 2, 2009, at 19:16:04
In reply to who the fr*g thought of c.b.t, posted by manic666 on March 2, 2009, at 13:14:41
I did therapy once a week for 6 months, twice, which included cbt and other stuff similar.
My conclusion is that these things are helpful for coping skills, understanding the big picture pros and cons of life, and managing emergency situations. In addition, a good therapist can be a fantastic coach and cheerleader. In my case I really looked forward to our meetings because he always shed some new light on me and gave me new hope, almost kind of like filling an empty gas tank with fresh fuel. I ran out of gas quickly, but then, there was always next week to replenish.
However, I did not find any type of psychotherapy helpful at reducing or eliminating symptoms. Only half decent for managing them, but not at all decent in treating them.
I can see how cbt or similar can be helpful for someone starting medicines, because it sort of provides a crutch to lean on while waiting for the med to hopefully work. Without some sort of treatment to actually target the underlying disease itself, or treatment to reduce symptoms, cbt and similar are not solutions. While helpful in their own way, the disease is allowed to progress without any significant competition against it.
For example, mercury from amalgam fillings causing psychiatric symptoms. No amount of talking is going to convince those mercury atoms to pack up their bags and move out. Lyme disease, Lyme-like, or similar mystery pathogens causing psychiatric symptoms. No amount of talking is going to kill any pathogens. Hypothyroidism. No amount of talking is going to heal a thyroid disease. On and on. You get the picture.
poster:bleauberry
thread:883372
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090223/msgs/883416.html