[IMG]file:///C:/Users/CATHYH~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.png[/IMG]I was diagnosed BPII 20 years ago. At the time I was suffering severe postpartum depression. My first experience with antidepressants unmasked my BPII. I spent 4 years in and out of hospital, most of it in a drug induced haze, and came out the other end convinced the whole psychiatric profession was bunk. I was on so much medication I wasn’t allowed to drive and I lost months I can’t remember. It took me years to piece a lot of it back together.
Once I walked away from it all, I convinced myself I wasn’t Bipolar I just had a drinking problem and all I really needed to do was quit drinking. Happy to report 16 years later I’m still not drinking but I was completely wrong about my self diagnosis. For 15 years I managed my “moods” on my own with a SAD light and by becoming an overachiever who shops too much. I lived through several depressions but it never occurred to me until this most recent one to get help.
About 18 months ago I started a severe depression that I was told was triggered by perimenopause. 6 months in, on the verge of a breakdown I finally told my GP. He put me on antidepressants while I waited to find a psychiatrist. I took 4 months off work while I waited and during that time I could barely function.
I was very lucky to find a psychiatrist so quickly and I really like him. I was on an upswing when I met him and apparently I told him I don’t do therapy. We have yet to find a medication combo that helps my depression all he’s managed to do is stop the manic episodes. It’s been a hellish couple of months and I called him this week and told him I think I need therapy. I have all of these thoughts, all the time and the only one I’m talking to is myself.
He told me he could start seeing me more or he could introduce me to a therapist. I went with option A. Now I’m worried. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. I did group therapy 20 years ago and a brief stint of grief therapy but that’s it.
Does anyone have some advice for therapy as a treatment for depressions? Is therapy an effective treatment for depression?
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