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I might leave therapy. Will I lose my mind?

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Posted 9/25/2008 3:47 AM (GMT 0)
I have an appointment with my counselor next week. I've been feeling really bad lately and everytime I see him, it's just boring. I don't feel like these sessions are helping me anymore and I dont see the point of going. But I'm afraid that if I stop going I'll drive myself nuts not having someone to talk to. But I know I'm not gonna change my ways, so I dont see the point of wasting my time in therapy. How should I talk to my therapist about this concern? What if they just say "oh you should keep coming" but really it's just not worth it?
Posted 9/25/2008 9:21 AM (GMT 0)

Good Morning

I'm sorry you're having these problems. Unfortunately, we are not professinals and therapy has helped for so many. Have you tried the CBT therapy?  Talk with your therapist before you make any decisions re stopping therapy.

Hope you feeling better soon.

Kitt

Posted 9/25/2008 9:28 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with Kitt on this one. Sometimes people seem to lose the connection with their therapist and it might be time for you to change to someone new. But definately talk to your therapist about it first. You could try saying something like "I dont really feel like these sessions are helping at the moment" and have a ocnversation from there

Darren
Posted 9/25/2008 11:46 AM (GMT 0)

I have had a couple of therapists for my daughter and myself. I know how you feel when you say the sessions are boring. I would suggest continuing therapy but consider changing until you find you are coming out of the sessions fulfilled that it is helping you. Therapists should be guiding you through. Find another one that you are happy with otherwise this just adds to your worries and gives you no motivation to help yourself. Good Luck

Posted 9/25/2008 11:55 AM (GMT 0)
Maybe you should look for another therapist. But I wouldn't stop going yet. Maybe continue seeing this one until you find another. They all have different techniques, maybe this one just has a boring one. Either way, continue therapy.

Best wishes to you for a wonderful day.

HUgs, Karen
Posted 9/26/2008 1:27 AM (GMT 0)
I'll just add my two cents in for the "it might be time to change your therapist" crowd. It happens. I didn't wanna shop around at first, so I settled for a boring therapist that I saw for around a month... a month and 1/2 maybe. Then, he was so boring I quit altogether and didn't go to another psychiatrist for about 4-5 months. I will say this though, I didn't lose my mind partially because I've been seeing a psychologist at my school and she's great. It's free if you're a student at the college, so it's pretty awesome. The only thing is, she can't prescribe medicine... so I see her and now I see a new psychiatrist that can prescribe medicine. So far it's just been one session and I continue to see my campus psychologist that I've seen since January. Yet, so far so good. She's a little younger though and that makes a world of difference. I'd say she's in her 40's but compared to my previous one in his 60's or early 70's, it's literally night and day. Just by chance, is your psychiatrist an older one?
Posted 9/26/2008 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
oh yeah.

i see a counselor at my school, too.(free! you're right lol). wonderful wonderful person. the thing is is i just feel its a waste of time. other students could be coming in with bigger problems while i sit there like an idiot. its a waste of both of ours time.

not old, but not young.

i dont have a psychiatrist. im not on any mental medications. (though i probably should be).

 

Posted 9/26/2008 2:24 AM (GMT 0)

behindtheseeyes00987 said...
oh yeah.
i see a counselor at my school, too.(free! you're right lol). wonderful wonderful person. the thing is is i just feel its a waste of time. other students could be coming in with bigger problems while i sit there like an idiot. its a waste of both of ours time.

not old, but not young.



i dont have a psychiatrist. im not on any mental medications. (though i probably should be).

The putting your problems thing in perspective is good every once in a while. Like, X person went through a hurricane, perhaps I won't die if I'm stuck in traffic for 10 mins longer today (at least I have a car/roof over my head , blah blah). Yet, I want to be very emphatic when I say this piece because someone gave me this advice long ago when I began posting on boards like these and on Q&A sites. NEVER compare your problems to other peoples and say "well they just had all of this stuff happen, therefore my problems are insignificant and therefore no one would care about them anyway." . That's completely and utterly false. It doesn't matter if something as small as you were bummed about a B+ on a test while some kids in Africa don't get to go to school. NO. Never never think like that. Your problems are not insignificant, no matter how "small" in magnitude... if they matter to you or if they bother you enough, then they are very much important and you should not feel guilty about them.

It does take a while to think with that mindset though. I'm not the master of optimism myself, but I try and remind myself of this every time I catch myself comparing my problems to others. Comparing my problems to others does me not a single bit of good because my problems still exist. Just because I compare them, doesn't solve them so I try and face them whenever I can.
Posted 9/26/2008 2:27 AM (GMT 0)
Or a slightly better way of saying the above which just popped in my head would be, just because someone elses problems SEEM bigger than yours, doesn't mean that you can't voice your opinion about your problems. If they bother you enough, then they bother you. I'll only use one cliche when I say "it's all relative". Someone's bad grade on a test is every bit important to them as say someone's car wreck that day.
Posted 9/26/2008 3:04 AM (GMT 0)
travis-
thanks so much for your advice. i know-im such a pessimist. that exactly is my problem. i always compare my problems to others, therefore feel they are insignificant.

i just get the feeling that my counselor doesnt even care about me. and i dont want to switch counselors because they're all in the same vicinity. and im not going to a new person to explain everything all over again when this one i have knows me so well already.
actually-i dont really think its my counselor thats the problem, its just me. its just my trust and confiding in people is really weak.

but anyway thanks for your advice, i go next week so we'll see what happens....
Posted 9/26/2008 5:19 AM (GMT 0)
00987 I would like you to read my post it is mom9mom My story after please think about talking to your DR. about trying some anti-depression meds. if the first dosnt work try something else thay have alot of them.Please dont think your problems are insignificant when you think like that it make you feel like you are insignificant as a person because are thoughts and feelings are what make us the person that we are inside. Thats the part that counts.If your counselor is not helping its time to start looking for a new one .But I aggree with everyone else dont stop going untel you find a new one. Keep in mind that it might take a few tell you find someone who is the right fit.Hope you are feeling better.      mom9mom
Posted 9/26/2008 10:12 AM (GMT 0)
behindtheseeyes00987

Good Morning,

You are important, you are worthy of the time you receive in therapy.  Each of us has their own place in this world and if you need therapy the time is well spent by you and the therapist.

My therpist would ask me questions sometimes that made me feel like I was in a seminar and believe me I got wore out just trying to figure out where we were headed and why.  However she did teach me to leave all the old stuff and hurt from the past in the past.........she taught me how to Stay in the Moment.  Kick the "stinkin thinkin" to the curb and believe in yourself.

Hugs
Kitt

Posted 9/26/2008 3:42 PM (GMT 0)

behindtheseeyes00987 said...
travis-
thanks so much for your advice. i know-im such a pessimist. that exactly is my problem. i always compare my problems to others, therefore feel they are insignificant.

i just get the feeling that my counselor doesnt even care about me. and i dont want to switch counselors because they're all in the same vicinity. and im not going to a new person to explain everything all over again when this one i have knows me so well already.
actually-i dont really think its my counselor thats the problem, its just me. its just my trust and confiding in people is really weak.

but anyway thanks for your advice, i go next week so we'll see what happens....

You're very welcome. I know exactly what you're talking about with the explaining things to people all over again deal. I don't like that at all, lol. Me and my current counselor have almost a 9 month history together so far and I can't just walk into a psychiatrist office and be like "oh, remember when I was going out with suzie a while back? oh... erm... no whoops, of course you don't". So, whoever I see from this point on, it's still going to include my psychologist. I got fairly lucky though, I went to her at my lowest point. I went to her when I was like seeing a psychologist? Man, I must be really desperate and low. Yet, I really ended up liking her.

This new psychiatrist I'm seeing for the medicine benefits, I'm not sure if we're doing therapy yet or not. The way I see it , it's going to be WAY too much effort to try and fill her in on the 9 months me and my counselor have been seeing each other for. So I think I'm just going to clue her in to the present and then explain the roots of my other issues in the past.

Let us know how it goes though. You've got some very good people here from what it looks like and we've all got a little bit of experience in some areas so don't hesitate to ask anything :)

-Travis
Posted 9/26/2008 6:00 PM (GMT 0)
BTE,

LIke everybody is saying, your problems are just as important as everybody elses. We all suffer from depression, but it can be in different ways. So please continue therapy and continue posting here.

Hugs, Karen
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