Thank you! He gets wet food and I have an auto wet food feeder, but it is a real PITA to set up and clean and it only holds a couple of meals. I'll have to work on being more regular about it.
I was initially on an SSRI but it didn't help with that sort of thing either for me and I was also wondering if I was making me worse. :( The psych provider switched me to lamotrigine because I was still struggling and it was failing to alleviate that, but I'm not sure if this is harming my brain. I'm probably just some science experiment where they are fucking my brain up for fun.
Lamotrigine is actually specifically for the depressive part of bipolar disorder is the thing tho. I don't have that...but if I did, it's designed to help it.
200 mg is really absolutely not a wild dose. It is generally seen as the minimum therapeutic dose for conditions like bipolar disorder. The standard titration schedule is over several months, not several years.
It's really frustrating that I seem to have a "paradoxical reaction" to like every psych med.
I have been under intense interpersonal workplace stress for many months now before I even started taking this drug and no med is helping me. :(
She incessantly does that. She basically sits there and tells me to find a way to deal with it. It's frustrating to me though. Like if I knew, I wouldn't be there. And things just keep getting worse and worse and I'm destroying my career and relationships. Honestly I just don't know what to do at this point, I'm at a loss
Hey man that sounds great! I've personally tried a lot of "indirect" approaches myself and haven't had much luck...eating right, consistent intense exercise, getting a furry companion, etc.
One thing is that I've found also is that you can kind of do a sort of "self therapy" with particular kinds of books. Not vague self help books, but books with actual research behind them. This one in particular was recommended to me:
Now, I get that this particular therapy modality is not for everyone or every kind of issue. And I recognize that not everyone enjoys this rigid approach. But I've become desperate for something with research behind it that has the potential to help.
I sought out a specific therapist with this modality recently and interviewed/grilled her on the intake session. I was happy to hear her bring up this book unprompted and she said she goes through the program in the same rigid way.
I'm probably going to be dropping my current "talk therapist" for her, but we'll see how things progress. Luckily I have the "luxury" right now with taking a few sessions with each before I decide.
BUT the point is that this book is designed in a way that it can also be used alone and not necessarily guided by a specific mental health professional.
Therapy is fucking expensive. Learning that the hard way right now. I hate how the modern thing people just throw out to others nowadays is "get therapy". I've had many people tell me that and quite frankly it's offensive. It just absolves people from responsibility of actually giving a fuck about you.
When sessions cost $150 a pop, it's not fucking feasible for most. Thankfully in a position where I can afford that at the moment, but I recognize that many can't.
Plus there are so many fucking shit therapists that do nothing to help you in the real world. "Talk therapy" seems to be so commonplace with them and it's just not useful for actually "getting better". It's not only financially difficult to find a decent therapist, but also mentally...as you're having to rehash your story over and over again until you find one that can actually fucking help.
I'm still trying but it's offensive as fuck when people in my life get frustrated with me for "not making progress" in therapy when they aren't giving me actionable things to do.
Yeah I thought I had found one of the "good ones". They were my best friend for years until they totally and completely rejected and abandoned me during the toughest time in my life. Because I was inconvenient for them. I've been an internet dweller all my life due to social anxiety. And I know that's the only place now that I can really find safety and comfort, not the "real world".
We are still friends now but it shattered the illusion of what I thought existed. And it is difficult at times to like them now. I feel even crazier flipping from liking them to hating them. Never felt that before with anyone.
They aren't a friend I can just "leave" because we work together.
My cat refuses to use those vertical column scratchers. I have to get vertical ones which are much wider than that. Also he just prefers to scratch the couch anyway even with ample scratchers that he uses >:(
It's interesting to me some of the relationships people have with their parents. I love my mom, but I don't think I could ever tell her I was struggling. I never really have I don't think.
Recently my job threatened to fire me, my friend abandoned me, and then I had to go on FMLA for mental health reasons as a result. Never told her a word.
Yeah OP can you expand on what this means exactly and what your intent is? Are you just planning to vent your traumas? I feel like you don't need a specific group for that. You can do it anywhere online.
Yeah it does do a lot of telling you what to hear but honestly I spend a lot of time arguing with mine instead of it just validating me lol. I think as they continue to develop it, it becomes less like that.
The problem is my therapist just gives me vague concepts and I don't at all know what to do with the information. So I keep going to ChatGPT to help me try to figure out what to do with the concepts she gives me.
I just feel like this isn't giving me enough structure or guidance to the point where I can make much progress.
Update 2: The therapist I grilled today actually showed me the generic version of this book (not the anxiety one) unprompted so I think that's a good sign. She said she works with the book with you.
Update...I sat down with it last night and it started ok but then I got triggered really badly and had to stop because I was really distressed lol.
I have access to hydroxyzine (which I honestly don't use...it's like Benadryl and was given to me in case I ever need trouble sleeping which I don't). Don't laugh but I was consulting chatgpt and it gave me the idea to try taking it before I do any of these DBT workbooks and stuff to help me relax. Gonna give it a shot and see what happens!
Thanks for the rec!!! You know I bought this book a while ago (but the generic one, not one specifically for anxiety...I didn't realize they had different subsets) and never really cracked it open.
Well I pulled it out and ran over to FedEx to print out all the online worksheets lol. Gonna start checking it out tonight.
Thank you! He gets wet food and I have an auto wet food feeder, but it is a real PITA to set up and clean and it only holds a couple of meals. I'll have to work on being more regular about it.