After third session I don’t feel like I’m getting across

[sway_]

Hi,

I’m a 35 M. I have just moved psychologists after two sessions and I’m not feeling that I’m really being treated correctly.

I have been over my upbringing on seperate occassions sometimes having to repeat myself and I feel since I’m on medicare don’t want time wasted. In the past it’s been the case with other psychologists, they send back out and I’m back to my coping mechanisms nonethebetter.

I feel since I haven’t yet recieved an evaluation I’m being treated simply as someone with symptoms of anxiety and mood disorder.

The CBT can’t get through to me and I feel because of this I’m resistant to the methods suggested. I’ve been depressed for a long time (untreated) having to get by on by through coping mechanisms rooted in childhood, along with issues of dealing with stress I suspect also an underlying personality disorder.

These get in the way of work and vice versa, either it be anxiety/panic attacks, incessant chatter (constantly told not to talk), mood swings from happy to aggressive. So at present I haven’t returned since and the thought of being sent back to job services and pushed into an detrimental environment gives me anxiety, I feel trapped. Knowing that I’ll leave the psychologist the same way I came in then should I consider seeing a psychiatrist, or what other mental health programs can be available to me ?

thanks in advance

[blondguy]

Hello Sway_s

A warm welcome to you and thankyou for having the courage to post!

You are proactive by having such a strong desire to heal and have some peace in your life. I understand you as I used to have acute anxiety which has morphed into depression (under management with my GP)

May I ask if you have a GP that provides you with support? I still see my GP for a fine tune every 4 weeks and always feel better after leaving my appointment. I have bad anxiety attacks for a long time and found a mental health worker through my local council that insisted I see him every week for a minimum of six months. He reduced my acute anxiety attacks/feelings by 80%. He gave me my life...my career....and my personal life back

Anxiety attacks are awful....period. The good news is that the severity of the anxiety can be reduced with ongoing regular counseling. In my 20's I thought that twice a year was okay.....I was so very wrong..

If you can ask your GP about free counseling. I know it may not be the counselor you have chosen yet 100% of any qualified therapy is better than none.

Just a note Sway_s. The forums are a safe and judgement free place where can post whatever is on your mind. Your privacy is paramount to Beyond Blue.

My mental health worker was a psychiatric nurse in a community center....I never knew that until he gave me my life back.

You are more than welcome to post back with your thoughts when convenient for you Sway_s 🙂

You are not alone

My kind thoughts for you

Paul

[sway_]

Thank you Paul,

I will consider using the GP as a resource in the future. I agree that the regular counseling will be a long term thing, for the short term I feel strong desire need for visibility and having what ever I've been living with acknowledged by 'professionals'. I'm growing impatient with talk therapy because it doesn't work, I just get further agitated. Yet here I am talking to you Paul ! I thank you for listening, I'm just wanting to be accepted and that someone will hopefully understand me, since I don't feel I've got through to the psychologist as yet.

As I have lived with depression and mood disorders which have been left mostly undiagnosed and untreated for a long time, and at my age being in a fragile state I don't feel I'm ready to enter the workforce when my mental health is declining. Especially with the anxiety of failing to meet requirements set out by job services and the risk of becoming homeless. The reason I don't feel I'm able to reduce the anxiety when it comes to work as I understand it, is through my history of working with an underlying stress disorder I believe has a lot to do with emotional trauma growing up (eventually I left home at 14) where self harm was something I used to relieve emotional stress. So If I'm being asked to be cognizant of advice intended to make me feel better about myself or to approach the situation in a way they outline then I become further agitated.

I'm at peace living with depression, solitude & dark thoughts and I'm not lost, so attempting to consul, remove or avoid something that is a part of myself is something that I can't simply part with, they'll always be there. Words are cheap but sessions are expensive.

Psychologists have provided me with advice on how to deal with the anxiety and suggestions about managing work stress, however as I have worked in an industry where being tough, persistent and having a compliant attitude is necessary for job survival there's nothing new about what psychologists are saying to me. I can't just keep coming back to see a psychologist every time I fall through the cracks of employment and back into the pits of despair then being pushed into back of the job queue with expectation that work is the be and end all to my problems when this puts me and potentially co-workers in harms way.

That's not without saying I don't have goals as I have many, they're just not achievable under present conditions and circumstances.

Thank you again.