Author Topic: Anyone doing/done DBT?  (Read 4140 times)

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Offline happyhappy

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Anyone doing/done DBT?
« on: November 22, 2012, 07:39:18 PM »
I am doing DBT at the moment. The group part of it is nearly finished. I don't know if it has helped me or not. My CPN has been telling me how well I have done and stuff but she is hardly going to say "You've done crap all" really eh?
I think it has made me more aware of my self harm....or self defeating behaviours. Like drinking. I have always said I don't want to give up forever and they have agreed I am not alcohol dependent but I do drink much less these days and finally accepted that it does indeed have a major impact on my mood.
It has kinda made me sad too though. I have to look at all the things Ido that are self harming/defeating. Overdosing, stopping my medication, drinking, raging, cutting, b**ning......flaming nora.....also indulging in risky behaviours. Actually, on writing this all out I can see that I have cut down a lot on stuff....but I kinda miss the craziness sometimes......but that is what it is all about......learning to live with 'ordinary happiness'.

Anyway, I was interested if anyone else was doing/had done it. I don't think it is widely available and in some trusts they will only fund it for people who have a BPD diagnoses even though it has been shown to be effective with lots of other mental health problems.

Happyhappy

Offline is_it_true

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Re: Anyone doing/done DBT?
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2012, 09:41:09 PM »
hi i have just under gone an assesment for dbt. i have bpd and have done some dbt related life skills wrk which was group work. the waiting list for the dbt is upto a year. got my acceptnce letter last week. so im still under close watch of my cmht and have a good cpn who i see fortnightly.
im already afraid i will fail and it wont help....and anxious about it ending and it hasnt even begun yet!!!

how long have you been doing it?

Offline purplelaces

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Re: Anyone doing/done DBT?
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2012, 09:59:23 PM »
I did a course of it a few years ago now, I found the 1-1st with the psychologist more useful than the sessions as I really struggled to take the sessions seriously.
It certainly makes you stop and think but it isn't a cure for things.
I tried CBT a couple of years ago and that was too emotionally challenging for me, so it depends what you prefer really.
I would definatly try it if given the option. Due to funding and cuts there is less and less treatment out there for us.
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Offline happyhappy

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Re: Anyone doing/done DBT?
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2012, 07:37:13 AM »
@ is it true.....I worried so much that I would 'fail' and that I wouldn't be better at the end of it. I still do. However, I think I set my bar too high. At the beginning of it I was still in denial about so much of the stuff I do and the reasons why I do it. I will come away from the DBT with a better understanding of myself. I think that what I wanted was what I saw as my 'old life' back but it has helped me realise that my old life was far from perfect and cotributed hugely to me getting ill. I also thought that I wanted to be back in employment but I am not even near ready. At the beginning my 1-1 therapist said to me that maybe by the end I would even feel like doing some voluntary work..........I thought she was off her rocker. Voluntary work? I wanted more.
It is about so much more than self harm though although that is what I am focussing on at the moment as it is big for me just now.

@ purplelaces...yes, I agree. I have found the 1-1 most helpful although I have got a lot out of the group too. That ends soon and I am dreading it.

Happyhappy

Offline purplelaces

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Re: Anyone doing/done DBT?
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2012, 08:27:17 PM »
Could you keep in touch with some of the people on the course and keep an informal support network going? I wouldn't recommend it if there is people who are still struggling as it can end up turning into something else, but sometimes knowing that you are meeting up for a coffee once a fortnight with people who you know have been through the DBT could be something useful?

They did a big push in my area about 5/6 years ago of DBT, they ran about 6 different groups but then they stopped it because they wanted to push more towards doing CBT for patients.

It would be interesting to have known why they suddenly change their minds and how they decide whether something is a viable treatment or not,

How many group sessions have you got left?
"M..o...o...n spells peanut butter and jelly"
"life is a lemon and I want my money back!"

Offline happyhappy

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Re: Anyone doing/done DBT?
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2012, 09:43:21 AM »
I might keep in touch with one of the people. I don't feel on the same wavelength as the others and one is just too emotionally volatile for me. I am not sure how many sessions we have left....maybe about 6...

It is interesting why they pushed towards CBT but I would suspect that funding has a lot to do with it. DBT is quite an expensive therapy to run. If the results aren't being seen either..... I am a bit suspicious sometimes of my CPN with regards to the 'success' of the DBT. I am apparently going to be discharged from the care of the MHT when this ends and that is regardless of where I am at. So, if every patient that she sees gets discharged, then it looks like a success doesn't it? Maybe I have picked her up wrong and maybe she is right.....if they didn't discharge people then people wouldn't move on......?