My first therapy session

I am glad you went. I think that this is going to help you. They have to get to know if there are underlying reasons I guess. Gives them a starting point.

I hope it continues to go well.

Hugs, Karen...

Brenda- thank you for the humor today. I needed it. We have both been facing shizz storms and ANY ounce of humor is so appreciated. Example- my BFF (who's moving away in 2 weeks ) told me to come over to her house, at least I'd be moping in different scenery, lol!

Therapy is not an insta cure but I promise you with time, you will learn skills that are priceless. And yes, I almost always leave therapy and wish is not forgotten to mention "this or that." Always! So- I started keeping a little memo book in my purse and write those things down. Sometimes I bring them up and other times they don't seem important anymore.

A suggestion that's helped me- make a list of things you'd like to discuss before your appts. Sometimes you'll stick to the list and other times, you may just stay on one topic. There are no rules regards to that.

Bravo for going to your first session. You will get more comfortable with it as time goes by and also when your new meds start working better.

You go girl!

-Lisa

Brenda,

I find journaling helps a tremendous amount. As a matter of fact, it was my therapist that wanted me to journal so he could see what was going on during the week.

Albeit, I was in a very dark place when I started. It helped a lot though, because I never new what to say in the beginning and he would use my journal as a starting point.

So glad that you went, stick with it, it gets hard and easy, like our roller coaster. In the end we look forward to the sessions because they do help.

Peace
Trina

Awesome!!! Whether it is the med or a placebo effect, if we can feel better, that is awesome!!! I will take it anyway. I have heard good about this medication. I think it is working already!!!

Hugs, Karen...

Brenda- I'm impressed you even went into Walmart. That place gives me anxiety on a good day

Excellent start. Like Karen said, placebo effect or not, who cares right now bc it's a break from the suffering and a reminder there IS hope.

I see my doctor tmr. He'd mentioned Brintellix last month. I haven't had any weird side effects from the Pristiq I was put on 2 months ago but I also haven't had much improvement. They added Wellbutrin a month ago and still nada. Maybe I'll be a Brintellix girl like you and we can be twinsies? LOL

Sincerely wishing you all the best,

Lisa

Okay I looked up Placebo effect, I guess that is where I would believe so much in the medication that I would see results even if the medication has had any affect yet, my typical "placebo effect" to any medication is being scared to death of bad affects.

Off subject, I hate figuring out how to use affect and effect, I look it up all the time and still forget what is what, so if my grammar is bad please forgive me.

Brintellix is new drug from Denmark and i wonder abt side effects unknown ,apart from stomach upset(chronic)it gives racy thoughts and heart palpitations some times(like a panic attck)

taking to therapist is stressful as i don't seem to like it,brings bad memories.

One session at a time. One a-HA moment at a time, one resolution at a time, one good moment at a time. Therapy can and does dredge up some muck but you continue to build and repair that cracked foundation.

We all have our own reasons for cracked foundation. But each tiny repair, pulling the yuck out of the darkness, while initially disconcerting, makes it lose its power once dug out and not hidden. It's like a rotten root. With that being said, saw another great quote "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now."

You're living that Brenda. You're doing the hard work and it WILL pay off more than you can even fathom right now.

My gf took the plunge last year in therapy. She'd avoided it for years. I pleaded w/her to go for a cpl of years. She finally did and now I've never seen her happier. She went through the sickness and passing of her mother, had yuck and sexual abuse from her past. She says now with 100% confidence that she wouldn't change a thing bc if not for her struggles, she wouldn't know the happiness she does now. (She also went through a med dance like us. Getting that right helped too) but to hear her say she wouldn't change anything ... Wow.

Hugs!!!

Lisa

My therapist did say I am a "people pleaser", and I know this is true, I remember having to come home from school with a bad grade that needed signing by my Mom and panicking at school all day, I just didn't want her to be upset with me.

I've had wonderful jobs, that I excelled in quickly, but because I am a perfectionist(or ocd-ish), I never thought my work was good enough, would worry all through the night did I make a mistake anywhere, did I lock the vault, why didn't I feel liked, and when I couldn't achieve the perfectionist standard I set for myself I would give up.

I think I seek praise, or validation that something I have done is good enough, and sometimes people just don't praise people. I remember after losing 78 pounds last year, my sister saw me never mentioned one time that she could tell I lost weight, I had to ask her if she could tell she said yes.

I always have found something to compliment people about, if it is just their shoes. But then I must ask myself this, if I can't please myself how can I ever please anyone else!

Lessweet, I did quit working because of my anxiety, it was SO bad, at first it was very good when I began working there.

My best friends husband Is the manager at Michaels, and the need a support specialist(basically you work for the manager and work the cash office) I had many years experience doing this.

One day I was coming inside from clocking in and a whole group of people was talking about me, basically saying I got the job because of my BF, which I did, but I did have the qualifications to do the job, they did not see me, so I sat there and listened to them run me down. I then approached them and said "Do you have a problem with me?", and they basically admitted they did.

I told the acting manager that I started and need to go get some pads, so I walked out and had a cigarette, regrouped and came back in.

Every day I would go in there they would find something to criticize me about , and I just took it. I did end up talking to my manager, and we had a group meeting. The one lady in the meeting said to me in front of every one "You know what you just take and take what every one dishes out to you, you remind me of my ex husband", keep in mind she was the one that gave me the hardest time.

So it kept getting worse, and I just called in one day and said I couldn't come back because of my anxiety.

Karen that is what others said, but I have nothing to be jealous of. The girl that trained me for the position said it took her 3 weeks to learn it, it took me 3 days, I think she felt threatened that I wanted her job, and in no way was that the case.

I will never brown nose or tear someone else down to make myself look better than them, and they found pleasure in seeing me upset, because I do have issues with OCD and the job I do has to be perfect, so when they couldn't find anything in the cash office to get me on, the started saying I took too long, yeah I took long because the office was in a mess and I had to reconcile it.

It just wasn't meant to be, we had to be let in in the morning, we have a little buzzer we would ring and they had cameras in the back to let you know who was at the door, they would literally make me stand out there until I had to clock in late, they were wicked wicked people!

No Karen, I do not see these people, of course it is a little difficult because my BF's husband is the Store manager, I do believe it did hurt our relationship, it wasn't her fault at all, she just wanted to see me succeed.

I never blamed her of course, I do believe her husband kind of did me wrong, but he was in a bad situation, if he took up for me the others would think it was because I was his wife's best friend, it got so bad he had another meeting with us and said if this did not stop, he was being transferred to another store. I then decided I could not allow my being there to cause him such grief and just gave up on the job.

I would have to pop xanax before I went in there just because I knew they would be so cruel to me.