Psychiatry versus clinical psychology

I saw a video once where a therapist induced an anxiety attack in a patient as part of her treatment. The therapist was a nice lady and she talked reasonably to the patient to get her to understand that her anxiety was irrational. Psychotherapists tend to atribute mental health problems to false beliefs and what tends to happen when you have an anxiety attack is that you start thinking that you're going to die or pass out or something, even if you've had countless anxiety attacks and you know that that's all that they are.

Anyway, just watching that video made me anxious enough to want to leave the room. It was CBT, which is what you'll probably be offered if you're not happy with medication I guess. It supposedly helps a lot of people. Maybe even cures them but would I really want to put myself through that?

I don't need to believe that these people are sadists or charlatans anymore than I need to think that my doctor is a pervert when I refuse to come in for a prostate examination.

Interesting. Could you post the movie?

I tend to be a bigger believer in clinical psychology than psychiatry, since it's actually trying to solve the emotional root of the problems and give insight instead of just drugging someone up to the point that the can't feel a thing.

CBT was useful to me, even to get me out of mild psychosis, but the one I did (2 times) was rather superficial and rational. I now have a good psychotherapist who works on a deeper level and it's a great relief from psychiatry.

I feel that mental illness is often overwhelming emotional response so people disconnect from their emotions, reality, others. Imo psychiatrists lack connection to their patients and create an ever bigger disconnect to self, others and reality by putting even extra layers (meds, trauma) inbetween. Idealy, psychology would help people reconnect to healthy emotions and relationships. If you've been through a lot, this hurts tremendously, but it's the only way to genuine healing. I notice it is counterintuitive, but it helps me to run towards the feeling (e.g. anxiety) and completely feel it, instead of running away from it by fleeing into actions (e.g. getting on the pc ), thoughts (e.g. psychotic thoughts, ruminations) or taking drugs. If that makes sense?

You'd be really dependant on finding a good psychologist though! I've searched a while for this one!

http://beyondmeds.com/2010/02/06/psychiatrist-who-heals-with-love-and-empathy-not-meds/

I could try to see if I can find it on Youtube but it was a video that I saw when I was doing a course on clinical psychology and it was a few years ago now.

I've never really been keen on the idea of therapy. If I'm depressed it's because my life is depressing and talking to some professional that isn't personally involved and doesn't want to be isn't going to make it any less depressing. I just came around to the idea a bit recently because after all the crap that's happened to me over the last few years I can't really see any way forward and I've pretty much lost all of my motivation or confidence.

I did have a session with a hypno therapist and he seemed like an alright guy but he turned out to be pushing that religion that they call "The secret". That's the one where they tell you that you can have anything that you want if you just ask the universe for it. He makes great claims about having cured severely mentally ill people and the universe doing it's stuff for the people that he's "life coached" but you can't get that on the national health service and I'm not throwing money at faith healers. I told him that it seemed like a pyramid scheme to me.

I'm sorry to hear that you have lost you motivation and confidence. I hope you find a way back to it. I too feel rather hopeless at the moment, but I do wish hope comes back. For the both of us.

For me...I think a bad uninvolved therapist does harm. I have now one that succeeds in making genuine contact and giving good insights and teaching me useful techniques. He himself has overcome trauma, so he knows what he is talking about. I wish I had met him earlier.

No one can do your work though. And no one can take away the damage done in me by antipsychotics, so I just have to wait whether my emotions and my love restore itself. Without that both life and therapy are of not much use.

I've been to a hypnotherapist once too. It relaxed me at that moment, but I didn't feel lasting changes coming "from my subconscious" she promised there would be.

Can't say that I got that from the hypnotherapy either but he said that he wanted to clear stuff that's holding me back and I needed to stop thinking about a girl that I met through a dating site. It was three years ago but it started a chain of events that totally did my head in. She told me straight away that she had serious problems but I'm an easy mark for a borderline seducer.

I've got a socially isolating disability and I'm no spring chicken anymore, so even being messed about by nutty nymphos makes me feel like I've got some sort of life, which is kind of pathetic. I was in the middle of doing a masters degree but lost enthusiasm for that because of the personal problems. I only have the dissertation to do now but you've got to make up your mind about what that's going to be about well before you commit yourself to starting on the work and I don't see the point in carrying on until I can get my interest back in it.

Recognize your story... I too had a low self worth and ended up with a guy with cluster B problems. I too recognized some of his problems (not all) quite soon, but because of insecurity and empathy (he was quite good at playing the injured little boy that needed rescue) I stayed. It did me a lot of harm.

Please, fight hard to find yourself back! Good luck to you!

I'm leaving this forum now because I can see myself disconnecting from daily life even more by sitting behind a computer all the time. So I decided to start writing here. Lots of strenght for you!