Posted by Camille Dumont on May 24, 2005, at 23:51:27
In reply to Re: What are my rights?, posted by Pfinstegg on May 24, 2005, at 19:22:46
> If you have a lot of difficulty attaching to a therapist, learning to attach and trust becomes one of the main goals; two years is not a enough time. It can take many years. According to ShortE's post, you can apparently get very good long-term psychotherapy in Canada. I think you are unduly pessimistic about the possibilities for growth and change in personality disorders. They are a big part of what is treated in long-term therapy. Did someone give you a really discouraging prognosis? I think, if you read some of the case histories in the current psychiatric literature, you will be very encouraged about what it's possible to do now.
Nobody ever gave me a pessimisstic prognosis. Maybe its my fault for browsing around to learn more about the condition. I end up seeing things like :
"Schizoid personality disorder is a chronic illness with a poor prognosis. The social isolation characteristic of the disorder often prevents others from offering the help or support that could potentially improve the outcome."
"While there are many suggested treatment approaches one could make for this disorder, none of them are likely to be easily effective. As with all personality disorders, the treatment of choice is individual psychotherapy. However, people with this disorder are unlikely to seek treatment unless they are under increased stress or pressure in their life. Treatment will usually be short-term in nature to help the individual solve the immediate crisis or problem. The patient will then likely terminate therapy. Goals of treatment most often are solution-focused using brief therapy approaches."
"People with this disorder rarely seek treatment. The treatment can be difficult due to their initial reduced capacity or desire to form a relationship with a health professional. A non-intrusive support group can alleviate feelings of solitude and fears of social interactions and close relationships. Individual therapy, in most cases, has proven relatively ineffective and often temporarily addresses immediate conditions instead of seeking to terminate the disorder entirely."
"Individuals with this disorder rarely seek treatment, and little is known about successful therapies. Talk therapy may be ineffective because people with schizoid personality disorder have difficulty relating well to others."
" Long term individual therapy is helpful in trying to focus on and instill some optimism in their lives. At times it has been helpful to actually audiotape a therapy session with these individuals on their release, and have the tape played back to them, especially in terms of their interpretation of their affect. They usually have a very minimal range of affect.
Schizoid personality disorder remains a very difficulty disorder to treat, and remains in the shadows of psychiatric diagnoses."
"People with this personality disorder usually don't change much. The goal will be to help them find the most comfortable solitary niche. Cultivate a job and hobbies that are satisfying and allow you to be on your own.
Treatment goals should focus on decreasing resistance to change, goal development, improving social interaction, improving communication, improving self-esteem, and decreasing social isolation. "
Its not exactly all that optimistic and me being a more "half-empty" type of person ... it just seems rather pointless. Because of its inherent nature, there is very little on SPD compared, for example with BPD.
And I'm not even sure that I want to change. Perhaps this is the problem ... my personality is not really a problem, most of the time. I hold a job, pretend to relate to others all day and find my solace on the weekend. The only desire for change I feel is when things go bad. I can relate to the comments on episodic need for therapy.
So I don't know ... for now my main goal is going through that silly yearly exam and remaining meds free. I have a very very faint grasp on who and what I am and the meds just diminish that grasp. I spend days asking me who and what I am ... and taking pills that further disconnect me from what little feelings I have do not help much.
poster:Camille Dumont
thread:502033
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050521/msgs/502575.html