# Therapy didn't help me



## BrainInsect (Sep 4, 2012)

I started to visit my psychologist since October. I went there for like 12 times and it didn't help me. My psychologist is a nice woman, it was really nice to talk with her. She was just like a friend that will listen to me. But other than that it didn't help me. She worked on my negative thoughts but it wasn't really that useful. 

It looks like the only way is to expose yourself to your fear. It is also a hardest thing to do.


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## PanicSurvivor (Dec 6, 2012)

BlackCry said:


> I started to visit my psychologist since October. I went there for like 12 times and it didn't help me. My psychologist is a nice woman, it was really nice to talk with her. She was just like a friend that will listen to me. But other than that it didn't help me. She worked on my negative thoughts but it wasn't really that useful.
> 
> It looks like the only way is to expose yourself to your fear. It is also a hardest thing to do.


That is precisely the thing that has worked for me over the years! Expose myself to the thing that causes my anxiety.

I used to think I was going to have a heart attack.. So now I run and get my heart rate up high. When I'm done, I say to myself "Ha! I'm not dead and no heart attack! Therefore, there is nothing to fear!"


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## BrainInsect (Sep 4, 2012)

PanicSurvivor said:


> That is precisely the thing that has worked for me over the years! Expose myself to the thing that causes my anxiety.
> 
> I used to think I was going to have a heart attack.. So now I run and get my heart rate up high. When I'm done, I say to myself "Ha! I'm not dead and no heart attack! Therefore, there is nothing to fear!"


I will try to do that.


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## OdeToMelancholy (Dec 18, 2012)

I stopped therapy a couple of months ago because I had improved slightly, but instead of talk and listen my therapist gave me physical methods to calm myself when in a bad situation. He told me to tap a few 'relaxation' points (like under my nose, the back of my hand between fourth and fifth fingers, edge of eyebrows, under the eyes, etc.) to tap or hold until evident relaxation. It worked if you got the positions right.

This is probably of no help to you, but if you find exposing yourself to your anxiety is too much, then I suggest you try these.


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## QuietCatLover (Dec 21, 2012)

I was in therapy for maybe 8 years. We tried different people, different techniques. In the end medication helped mostly. I stopped seeing therapists. I still have trouble making friends but my anxiety has gone down.


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## mat42291 (May 19, 2010)

I think therapy is a tricky thing. The therapist is there to help you, but you have to be willing to open up. Which I think the biggest problem is SA makes it really hard to do that. 

Did you feel like you held back at all? Was there any anxiety during your therapy sessions?


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## Sierpinski (Jun 17, 2012)

Looking over the research literature, it really looks like psychotherapy is nothing but placebo. As such, it really should be very cheap or free. Of course, it usually isn't. The even bigger problem, however, is that the placebo effect is genetically variable. So it is not surprising that certain people simply never respond to therapy. They don't have the placebo allele, or at least that is what I would predict. In other words, the placebo effect has a lot to do with production of dopamine when one believes oneself, so to speak, to be in good hands. I do wonder, however, if hypnotic suggestion might work even on people without the placebo allele. I would doubt that hypnotic suggestion is simply a dopamine spurt.


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## No more Elysium (Oct 13, 2012)

Hiya, I've spent years in therapy, including day-care which is 20 hours a week, and still I'm not "cured". However, my standard of living is improving, though very slowly. It just takes time, so try to take small steps, accept that sometimes you go backwards, and keep trying!


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## xXAnnXx (Dec 23, 2012)

I find therapy to be a quick fix, they only help so long, not long term. I had a psychologist, 3 counselling sessions all work for a little while.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

BlackCry said:


> I started to visit my psychologist since October. I went there for like 12 times and it didn't help me. My psychologist is a nice woman, it was really nice to talk with her. She was just like a friend that will listen to me. But other than that it didn't help me. She worked on my negative thoughts but it wasn't really that useful.
> 
> It looks like the only way is to expose yourself to your fear. It is also a hardest thing to do.


Yes, but it also helps to have someone to help process the thinking. That is why I still have a counselor and a doctor. They are people who know about SA (actually, I helped teach them, too - you never know who can benefit from what we learn!)

It's useful, but it takes more than three months for many. I have been at this for eight years. Yes - I have come a long way, so my thinking is more advanced life stuff at this point.


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## Green Eyes (Sep 6, 2009)

I have had therapy for 7 years now. I tried different therapist and kinds if therapy. Individual and group. Once a week, 4 days a week and even one where you live 5 days a week with the others from the therapy.
None of those really helped. Now I have since August 2011 a therapist who give CBT. This has helped me. She is really good and understands me, which the others before her didn't really. 
My anxiety has got less in a lot of situations. But it's still hard. School is really hard for me. I stil don't really have friends. I don't talk easy to people. It takes a lot if time and effort to get better.


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