Psychotherapy

[Sheila]

There are many, many forms of psychotherapy. And, within each type of psychotherapy, there are great differences among practitioners in their personalities and skills. The most important thing is to find someone who is a good match for you.

Look into the different forms of psychotherapy and shop around among practitioners. Ideally, you will find someone who your gut tells you is good for you. But, sometimes, for a limited period of time, with a pressing need, it may be necessary to settle for someone who you feel can help you somewhat, even if they have flaws.

It’s difficult to find someone who knows about w/d. Try to find someone who is either open to being educated about w/d or who has experience working with chronic illness.

It’s harder to tolerate the process of shopping for a practitioner when you’re in severe w/d, but it can be done. Or, you can wait until you feel better, and then it will be easier.

Don’t let anyone tell you your w/d symptoms are *only* psychological issues, but do be open to the possibility that your psychological issues (and we all have them) are interweaving with the neurological symptoms of w/d.

[Sheila]

Finland – Open Dialogue

http://antidepressantwithdrawal.info...But-Other-More...

[Luc]

More about the Open Dialogue (short trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBjIvnRFja4

[Junior]

If nothing else, a good therapist will help you to develop coping skills that will help you to get through w/d.

[Chris]

do be open to the possibility that your psychological issues (and we all have them) are interweaving with the neurological symptoms of w/d.

Sheila--synergy--I was thinking about this and you put it really well. There are so many implications of your statement. This may be why one approach to recovery doesn't fit everyone in w/d, and why we are the vanguard.Given the human need for certainty, we are the vanguard in learning to live with uncertainty as we head into unknown territory.The unknown can be very scary or it can be compelling like an adventure. Lewis and Clark, the great explorers
I think this is perhaps one reason the medical establishment can dismiss our experiences with ADs. They look at it as either/or--symptoms are either about the individual person or they're about the drug. But what if it's both and such complexity can't be accommodated with the given paradigm? then the human tendency is to set up an either/or situation and almost always select the option that confirms preexisting assumptions and actions--thus self-perpetuating an error. by the same token, I make a mistake if I think all my problems are caused by w/d.

The western paradigm is to treat symptoms with the assumption that the particular singularity of each person's road to those symptoms doesn't matter. Because they want to treat an absolute without variables --it's simpler if they can just give everyone the same drug.
Acupuncture is more than just needles--the doc looks at the tongue and the pulse and much more. They treat the wholistic condition of the individual in the moment. The treatment that works for me wouldn't work for everyone.
Even within individual experience, there are differences in w/d symptoms at different times. When I did my first taper years ago I had not discovered my food allergies, such as gluten.During that w/d I had really bad GI problems which made sense bec. of serotonin receps in the gut, but that was not the whole story. I was also messing up my gut with gluten. Now that I have eliminated food allergies, (knock on wood) the gut problems aren't near as bad in my current w/d.
I suspect that even the experts don't know everything about all the ways brain chemistry affects all the body's systems. For instance, actual levels of serotonin in the human brain at any given time can't be measured.

[Sheila]

annie -- Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely. People want certainty and they want things to be black and white. And when you’re talking about mind, body, and spirit, things are all interwoven, interacting, feeding back. And we are talking about a complex health situation with many contributing factors. Concomitently, the solution is usually complex, multi-faceted, and unique, as you say.

And, we always have to watch out for that tendency to protect our own sacred cows.

Re your gluten situation, Maie Liiv, a psychiatric iatrogenesis survivor, who has a website -- http://www.maieliiv.com/

sent me this –

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/

and wrote -- “Christine Harrington says the brain's response to wheat is worse when the blood brain barrier has been compromised - [by] drugs – [or] ECT…”

and I have seen people in psych med w/d go through a period of gluten sensitivity and then emerge from it, so you may find that’s true for you.

[stan]

psychotherapy!!!
instead of paxil i have needed this, but it never occured,
i never do psychotherapy, only 8 months psychiatrist analysis who wanted to prescribe me as i was tapering

[Mike]

If nothing else, a good therapist will help you to develop coping skills that will help you to get through w/d.

Sounds good but it's very hard to sit across the room from someone who doesn't believe you, is on meds themselves, or is highly invested in medication professionlly. Also, many therapies or coping strategies need to be adapted for someone in severe withdrawal. How do you do that if you have no understanding of what withdrawal is, virtually no experience, and often no true willingness to learn. Even for those that express a willingness in my experience it's not really there. And even for the truly wiling what we are going through is so abstract, invisible, that it makes understanding/communication very difficult. I believe in psychotherapy. I am not saying it's impossible but you'd have to kiss a lot of frogs. It's tough to shop around for months when you experiencing confusion or severe muscle discomfort or find showering, riding in a car, or exposure to fluorescent lights difficult. Not to mention the expense.

[Chris]

Sheila,
Thanks for link. I do know that Zoloft totally messed up my digestion. Before I took it and after, my response to food was totally different--after taking SSRI, I couldn't tolerate lots of foods. By the way, it was an Ayurvedic dr. __Dr. Virender Sodhi who helped me with my GI problems and food allergies. (he is an awesome doctor)The herbs trifal and pippli made it possible for me to digest many healthy foods like vegetables even in spite of the interference of Zoloft. (it does seem to be important to get really high quality herbs). And, as you suggested, I do have hopes that once off the SSRI, GI problems are bound to improve.

[squirrel]

I totally agree mike. I went to see a therapist the year before last , she was very young and did not have a clue so she had to speak to her boss and get back to me. Basically he said I was very brave getting this far but there was nothing they could do to help me.