Will DBT help me?

[davide.h 26]

I'm looking into starting it soon, more so for depression. I am desperate. I am miserable. This is no way for a person to live. I just want to cry and be hugged but of course that can't happen. If not, I've never thought suicide was the answer, but the longer I go without getting better the more appealing it looks.

[violetdisposition 1]

I think it's important to know what works for you when looking into counselling. Like whether you're okay with attending group sessions or need to do individual, and whether being able to phone in outside of hours would be helpful for you. That being said, I think DBT or some other kind if counselling could definitely help. I have a few acquaintances who were treated with DBT for similar mood disorders, and said it was very effective at regulating symptoms. It may also be worth checking out medication options (in conjunction with counselling), if you are not already.

If you don't mind my asking, have you already looked at CBT? From what I know, CBT is the most common treatment for depression. Of course, I don't know what works best for you, and in the end, you'll know what's right. The most important thing about counselling, I think, is staying consistent, so your preferences really are important.

I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry you're going through this. It's bloody awful, but it is treatable. Wishing you the best of luck.

[jonathan123 2368]

Yes. Sound advice. BT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is about the way we think. Is the glass half empty or half full? Do we think in positive terms or the negative? Why do we think always that something awful will happen? Why do we 'catastrophise' everything? Give ourselves the reasons why we think so and so will happen. In other words it's a form of self analysis.  But again, and this is only my opinion, like all or most modern so called therapies, it does not look at causes but symptoms. Anxiety in itself is a symptom with an underlying cause. Everything has a cause to have an effect. It's a law in physics and applies just as much to mental problems. Looking for causes can be very difficult and invariably needs experienced help. But the removal or acknowledgment of the cause can have a profound effect on anxiety. Childhood problems, contrary to what most people may think, do have an affect on adult life. From the moment we are born nothing is lost. Our recorder is switched on and the brain takes in the recordings. What happens around us in early life lays the foundation for what we will be in adult life. Obviously!! Oh, some say, 'that's all in the past, and he/she was too young to understand or remember' That is the biggest mistake any parent can make.  I would suggest, from experience, that childhood memories and traumas account for the majority of anxiety, and many forms of mental illness. 

[davide.h 26]

Strangely my father is a psychologist specializing in CBT but has been urging me into DBT for months. 

[jonathan123 2368]

Well go for it davide.h. After all, what is there to lose? it may not be for everyone, nothing ever is, but it has it's foundations in the beginning of all the therapies that have proliferated over the years,  and from the 1980's. It was just behavioural therapy then. Anything is worth a try.  You will be guided through it by an experienced counsellor with the proper credentials and training. 

[violetdisposition 1]

Maybe he thinks you will respond to it better? If you have any mental health issues outside of depression and anxiety, DBT is often more effective than CBT for things like bipolar, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. Definitely no harm in trying, and it will probably do a great deal of good. Just remember that there are other options if this one doesn't turn out to be right!

[davide.h 26]

Have you done it before?

[violetdisposition 1]

I haven't done DBT personally, but I've done/am continuing to do CBT. Leading a healthy lifestyle helps some, meds help a bit more, but counselling by far helps the most. Have been in for a few different issues, and it always helps. But as I mentioned, I know people who responded very well to the specific DBT program. Learning how to manage unwanted thoughts in the moment was a big help for them in particular. I really think any kind of counselling is going to do you well, and there's no point in not giving it a go. Best wishes!

[Doug97 19]

It's worth a try isn't it? You need to want to get better if you want to get better.