Here we can all be heard for a little while. Part 3

Waves_and_Smiles

Hahahaha! That is exactly the view of my teacher friend, elsien! You aren't alone! He says he has got through 74 years without looking at his motivations and he doesn't want to start now, he finds it way too scary and rather like opening Pandora's box!

That's a good point about the control, Pyxis. Because I grew up in an environment so out of control and then my psychosis wrecked 10 years of my life, staying in control of things is very important to me, it's my safety valve. I am comforted by knowing exactly why I choose to act the way I do.

That is my main coping strategy that I was taught, MU! Always take 5 minutes to sit back and think why? before reacting. Exactly what you describe is what I was taught to do and it really does help.

Funny thing is I don't see myself as particularly analytical until it's pointed out. There are times when I sit and purposely look at things but for the most part I don't, it's purely autopilot to self-reflect because I am so conditioned towards it. I wonder if it is something similar to all children who have psycho-analytic psychotherapy from an early age? At the time I didn't notice any change in me but it clearly implanted a certain way of thinking that has always stayed with me. I remember my psychotherapist telling me that the work we were doing might not make sense now but it would when I was older and that proved to be very true. It did change my whole thought process, I just don't really notice until someone points it out as something they would never do.

System

I just got a PM from MSE Badger! Apparently its my 7 year MSEversary :j

Looking back i have come a long way from where i was when i first joined

So glad i found this thread though, its the best part of MSE

jobbingmusician

I am very analytical as well, WaS. The other thing is that sometimes I confuse people in my brain. If I can work out why I am confusing them, it often gives me insight into their behaviour which wasn't previously accessible to my conscious thinking. For example, I might think 'was it Hazel or Brenda who behaved in such and such a way?' When I think about it more clearly, I know it was Hazel, but there is often a big insight about why I would ever think it might be Brenda - I suddenly realise that Brenda, too, has been having an affair/having real problems at work/whatever the big story about Hazel is. And these realisations always seem to be right - it's obviously my subconscious shouting at me!

ETA: Ooooo, well done MU! Xxxxx

System

Waves_and_Smiles wrote: »

Hahahaha! That is exactly the view of my teacher friend, elsien! You aren't alone! He says he has got through 74 years without looking at his motivations and he doesn't want to start now, he finds it way too scary and rather like opening Pandora's box!

That's a good point about the control, Pyxis. Because I grew up in an environment so out of control and then my psychosis wrecked 10 years of my life, staying in control of things is very important to me, it's my safety valve. I am comforted by knowing exactly why I choose to act the way I do.

That is my main coping strategy that I was taught, MU! Always take 5 minutes to sit back and think why? before reacting. Exactly what you describe is what I was taught to do and it really does help.

Funny thing is I don't see myself as particularly analytical until it's pointed out. There are times when I sit and purposely look at things but for the most part I don't, it's purely autopilot to self-reflect because I am so conditioned towards it. I wonder if it is something similar to all children who have psycho-analytic psychotherapy from an early age? At the time I didn't notice any change in me but it clearly implanted a certain way of thinking that has always stayed with me. I remember my psychotherapist telling me that the work we were doing might not make sense now but it would when I was older and that proved to be very true. It did change my whole thought process, I just don't really notice until someone points it out as something they would never do.

WaS as i think you have experience of it can you explain what analytic tyoe therapy is? Is it similar to CBT or quite different?

whitewing

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Waves_and_Smiles

It's different to CBT, MU and far deeper than counselling. You do the same as CBT in that you look at your current behaviours and thought patterns that might bother you and look at ways to change them and cope with them but the techniques are different. It is particularly helpful for people with dysfunctional pasts because you spend a lot of time looking back at what happened to you, why it might have happened and how it affects you to this day. You talk a LOT about how you felt at the time and about how it might have changed you as a person and what negative affects it still has on you,

As you recall painful incidents you talk them through with your therapist and put them into perspective and by doing that learn to let them go. It is usually a longer therapy than CBT and is a deeper form of self-reflection. It isn't always pleasant because you learn things you might not like about yourself too, but by recognising they are there you then have the ability to change them.

Whereas CBT is great with things like OCD because it teaches you to deal with behaviours as they happen, I found psycho-analytic psychotherapy a better technique for dealing with things like abuse where you can't move forward until you have dealt with the past. You go back constantly and look at why you and those around you made the choice they did and learn to understand what you went through from an outside perspective. By understanding those things you can heal, accept and move on.

The analytic therapies are also purely talking therapies, no filling in charts or rating your anxiety like CBT. The only thing I ever had to record was a dream diary when we were trying to work out why I was having a reoccurring dream. They are also totally inclusive, where you might have CBT to target specific things like anxiety or OCD in the analytic therapies you look at everything as one, concentrating on why the problems came to exist.

Then there is psycho-analysis (which I had for 2 years) which is the next step up from psycho-analytic psychotherapy. That works on you analysing yourself even more deeply and really looking closely at why you behave and think as you do. I would never recommend someone goes straight into psycho-analysis without having psycho-analytic therapy first, you would be just be totally confused if you don't understand the self-reflection techniques. The therapist barely talks and won't make eye contact with you for a start, often sitting behind you (don't worry, it makes sense at the time. They are a blank sheet of paper for you to write on and will reflect you back to yourself).

I have found both types of therapy helped me equally for different things. I couldn't move on from the PTSD I had from my past so needed analytical therapy to go back and release all of the emotion I had kept hidden away, remember the things I had blocked and lower the wall I had built up. Once I had done that, CBT helped me manage the behaviours I had developed like OCD in the here and now, I had already come to understand why they were there, but I needed CBT to help me control them which I couldn't have done personally without knowing the causes. The therapies work very well together if you have a dysfunctional past that has caused you to behave in a way that you wish to change. Just never contemplate doing them both at once, it would clash horribly and be very unhealthy.

System

Waves_and_Smiles wrote: »

It's different to CBT, MU and far deeper than counselling. You do the same as CBT in that you look at your current behaviours and thought patterns that might bother you and look at ways to change them and cope with them but the techniques are different. It is particularly helpful for people with dysfunctional pasts because you spend a lot of time looking back at what happened to you, why it might have happened and how it affects you to this day. You talk a LOT about how you felt at the time and about how it might have changed you as a person and what negative affects it still has on you,

As you recall painful incidents you talk them through with your therapist and put them into perspective and by doing that learn to let them go. It is usually a longer therapy than CBT and is a deeper form of self-reflection. It isn't always pleasant because you learn things you might not like about yourself too, but by recognising they are there you then have the ability to change them.

Whereas CBT is great with things like OCD because it teaches you to deal with behaviours as they happen, I found psycho-analytic psychotherapy a better technique for dealing with things like abuse where you can't move forward until you have dealt with the past. You go back constantly and look at why you and those around you made the choice they did and learn to understand what you went through from an outside perspective. By understanding those things you can heal, accept and move on.

The analytic therapies are also purely talking therapies, no filling in charts or rating your anxiety like CBT. The only thing I ever had to record was a dream diary when we were trying to work out why I was having a reoccurring dream. They are also totally inclusive, where you might have CBT to target specific things like anxiety or OCD in the analytic therapies you look at everything as one, concentrating on why the problems came to exist.

Then there is psycho-analysis (which I had for 2 years) which is the next step up from psycho-analytic psychotherapy. That works on you analysing yourself even more deeply and really looking closely at why you behave and think as you do. I would never recommend someone goes straight into psycho-analysis without having psycho-analytic therapy first, you would be just be totally confused if you don't understand the self-reflection techniques. The therapist barely talks and won't make eye contact with you for a start, often sitting behind you (don't worry, it makes sense at the time).

I have found both types of therapy helped me equally for different things. I couldn't move on from the PTSD I had from my past so needed analytical therapy to go back and release all of the emotion I had kept hidden away, remember the things I had blocked and lower the wall I had built up. Once I had done that, CBT helped me manage the behaviours I had developed like OCD in the here and now, I had already come to understand why they were there, but I needed CBT to help me control them which I couldn't have done personally without knowing the causes. The therapies work very well together if you have a dysfunctional past that has caused you to behave in a way that you wish to change. Just never contemplate doing them both at once, it would clash horribly and be very unhealthy.

Thank you very much for explaining it WaS. You;re always so honest and insightful and explain things in a way thats easy to understand

I'm curious as to what kind of therpy would benefit me most. I have issues involving the past (being bullied, an incident of sexual abuse, parental divorce x2, a broken relationship with biological dad and death of maternal grandparents, abusive relationship-all have which affected me, none of which has ever been discussed in detail), on the other hand i also have impulsive thoughts, racing/intrusive thoughts (not quite voices but hearing myself say bad things as if its someone else), panic attacks/anxiety and catastrophizizing. For the former i'm not sure what would help but i feel CBT would help for the latter.

Do you have any siggestions on what could help? Feel it might be helpful if i end up back with the mental health team to know what i should be looking at for helping me.

Sorry for all the questions, you're just very knowledgable and i trust your advice

faerielight

I over analyze everything,including myself Waves., although I have a lot of negative filters which distort everything. .def.. maybe it's because I'm a Pisces Tea..I love the cat massage pic

whitewing

Analytic therapy (CAT) helped me to understand how my childhood experiences affect my reactions to things, and also that my reactions weren't the way that most - non-distressed - people reacted.

I think both could help you MU, especially as you have Swain to love you regardless.

Maybe analytic first and then support the issues you have left with CBT if need be.

It's all a learning process anyway, with ebbs and flows. I am so glad that I had CAT. It did change my life. Just to not have suicidal thoughts daily is a massive improvement.

System

whitewing wrote: »

Analytic therapy (CAT) helped me to understand how my childhood experiences affect my reactions to things, and also that my reactions weren't the way that most - non-distressed - people reacted.

I think both could help you MU, especially as you have Swain to love you regardless.

Maybe analytic first and then support the issues you have left with CBT if need be.

It's all a learning process anyway, with ebbs and flows. I am so glad that I had CAT. It did change my life. Just to not have suicidal thoughts daily is a massive improvement.

Thank you, its something to discuss tomorrow at my doctors appointment.

Right now i am willing to try ANYTHING thats makes this illness any easier to live with . At the end of the day i have it for life so might as well try and find the best ways to deal with it