Tag: therapist

my baby has left

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

My baby has left

I dropped off my baby (laptop) today as it would be pouring tomorrow. It did rain later in the evening but after I dropped off the package to FedEx, so I made good timing. I had lunch at my favorite place and then had coffee at Starbucks. I tried their new coffee, Sumantra Longberry. It was good and gave me some juice that I needed to write. After I wrote several pages in my journal, I decided to look at the roots story but didn’t have the mindset to do anything with it. I bookmarked it and left.

I got a little wet by the time I reached the station to go home. I caught the train and then got a text saying the buses were moderately delayed. Wonderful. I wanted to call my sister to pick me up but I didn’t want to bother her. So I waited. There were lines of people waiting so I decided to wait for the next bus as crowded buses give me anxiety. The next bus that came wasn’t as crowded, though the bus driver didn’t know where the stop at the station was. Made me nervous. Because there weren’t that many people on the bus, I made it to my stop quickly to go home. It was raining steadily by then. I never walked down the street so fast to avoid getting wet. I wasn’t carrying an umbrella. I hate carrying them. I probably will tomorrow, depends on how bad it rains. I have to go to Stop and Shop to pick up my father’s prescription. Damn jerk didn’t pick it up last week. Just hope my hip isn’t hurting like it is now.

I had therapy today and it went well. I like it when we talk about stuff that isn’t full of air. She is listening to me better than she has the past month and I like it. I guess telling her how I really feel has made a difference. She didn’t push seeing someone new today. I think we are going to try and work things out, which is good. We were talking about Corrective Emotion Experience, or something to that effect. I told her I will be willing to try that form of therapy. We also talked about structure and it will be the first day of catch up from the week and then on Wednesday more like a therapeutic day. She wanted to go once a week but I can’t imagine that to be helpful. All the suicide preventative people that I have talked to or listened to over the years, all seem to agree that twice a week is better than once. But she doesn’t want me to stop all together. I will only do that if she forces me to see someone else. With me catching up with Shneidman’s anodyne psychotherapy, I am learning tricks to help myself and then passing that on to my therapist via text messages. It’s hard to put his words in 160 characters but I am trying. The bottom line is trying to alleviate the press, perturbation, and pain that leads to suicide. We haven’t talked about my suicidality in the past three weeks because we are still sorting through what to do with therapy. It’s on “hold” for now. I talked a little about it today. It didn’t stress her out like I thought it would. She did listen rather than freak out. Progress. Today I thought about the Commitment to living paperwork but I have to be there to construct it. There is just only so much you can so over the phone. I suppose I can blog it and then we can talk about it and agree to it as oppose to signing it. I am just thinking outside the box. I think the biggest hurdle is going to be keeping track of the psychache when I am in physical pain. When my physical pain is low, it’s easier to do a psychache scale. But when I am really hurting, forget about it. It is very hard to distinguish psychological pain from physical when you have the heightened arousal of actual physical pain. I have been good about keeping it down and using Gabapentin more has decreased my pain tremendously, even though I have regained the five pounds I lost. There is nothing I can do about that. It’s just part of the side effects.

My therapist and I did discuss trying to find a CAMS therapist in this area. I have to get the nerve to tweet Jobes to see if he keeps track of such things. I know for CBASP there is a compilation of therapists on the website but, unfortunately, none are in my area. The closest person is in Rhode Island and that will be troublesome. I can look again. There might be more people trained in this area of psychotherapy. For CAMS, I personally know one of the consultants and am thinking of asking her rather than go through Jobes. Then I thought about it…would I see this therapist just because I am suicidal? That would be a pretty specific therapist to see just for a few weeks time. (CAMS can be useful in as little as 8 sessions.) I think I will do that and see where it gets me. The worse she can say is no, she can’t help me.

Good Day in Therapy

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, depression, mood disorders

Good day in therapy

I had therapy this afternoon and it went well. We talked about my stressors over the weekend and the night where I was up till 0600. I told her in detail of what had kept me up and where I kind of didn’t know why I kept avoiding bed. I honestly don’t know what I was doing in the wee hours of the morning.

I told her that my application for Zipcar had to be put on hold because my laptop has priority at the moment. She seemed okay with this but really was again pushing for another therapist. She wanted to give me some names and I refused to take them. She wants me to have the best care, which she feels she is unable to do because of the phone. She said she isn’t going anywhere and she isn’t mad at me. I told her that if we continue, she needs to shut up more and let me talk. Not every problem needs fixing. I am using my old laptop to see if it can do what I want to do. My box came for my “baby” but with the battery still not charging, I want to make sure I can get by until the new batter comes in, which will be later this week.

Overall, I say it was a good session until she started bringing up her consulting group telling her this was no good and that I would be better off with someone else. I had a feeling someone else was behind the idea of seeing someone new. I am grateful her phone has been having difficulties so she hasn’t called the center number I gave her. It’s in my area, though it will take two buses to get there. I wish I could just walk down the long street but I just can’t. It’s too hilly and my ankle would not like it at all. The other people she was suggesting I see were DBT based therapists but not strictly DBT. I have no idea if they would take my insurances. The whole idea fills me with tremendous anxiety. This is why I haven’t seen my neurologist because I am not sure how much I will have to pay to see her.

We also discussed how I was doing and I told her about the email I sent to my psych. I still haven’t heard back from her, but she is away so might not have a chance. I told my therapist that I am just frustrated with the depression coming all the time and not being able to breath sometimes because it is so heavy. I also told her I told my psych that I am frustrated with the depression and that nothing can be done about it.

I have figured out a way not to get distracted on the phone with my therapist and that is by putting on the “do not disturb” function on my phone. It worked today, though I didn’t get any phone calls. Yesterday while I was on the phone with Dell, I must have had three phone calls during the hour I was on the phone. I never get phone calls, only when I use my phone. Yesterday was also the record for calls. I used my phone quite a bit. I am glad I have unlimited minutes because I am sure that I would have used more than 450 yesterday alone.

My therapist proposed having a schedule where we get caught up and then we work on something. She wants me to continue texting and blogging her with ideas that I have that could be helpful for us. I told her it would be nice if we collaborated more on stuff rather than her always talking about spoons or how stressed I am. That isn’t really helpful to me because, duh, I already know. I also told her to drop the subject of my father as my arrangement with him is not going to change. Even if I am sick, I would have to do his meds. Though if I am really sick, I don’t think exposing him to my virus will be a good idea. He is not a well man and can’t take it. But as long as I am healthy, I still plan on going over there every week, even though it’s a pain in the ass to see the ungrateful bastard.

We talked about the possibility of going to the commuter rail that does go to her town but she said she is no where close to the downtown area. I guess that is where the train will let you off. I have never travelled there so I don’t know the layout. But even if I were, it would be an all day affair and I just don’t think that is worth it for 50 minutes. So that idea is shut down. I’ll just have to figure out how to get Zipcar.

Don’t Make Me

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

Don’t Make Me

I heard this Blake Shelton song last night and nearly cried. I texted my therapist some of the lyrics but I don’t think it got through to her yesterday. She was so frazzled by her phone not functioning we really didn’t talk about the texts I sent her. Her phone is still caputs as AT&T is doing service in her area and it’s affecting her connection. So instead of talking tomorrow, I have to wait till next week.

I had a bad night sleeping seems I woke up every time the pain meds wore off. Then temp stayed pretty stabled but it’s kind of damp and rainy so I am hurting. I was going to take a shower if I got up before 0700 but I woke up around 3 and fell back to sleep around 4 so set my alarm to wake up at a little after 7. Good thing I did because I was knocked out. I sort of dozed a bit before getting up and then I had to rush. I wanted to catch the 0822 bus and I was cutting it close. After the shower, I really just wanted to go back to bed but had to get going. It wore me out some. I caught the bus to the square and had my Starbucks. I realized on the bus ride that I forgot my headphones. Just wonderful. I think if my brother in law hadn’t scared me, I probably would have remembered to grab them. I was hurrying and forgot. So now I have another pair of headphones. I put this new pair in my backpack in case I forget again. It was raining by the time we got to the Square so I was glad I didn’t wear my Bluetooth set that I wanted to.

I met with my pdoc. I didn’t want to cry but I did. I told her it was my fault that I caused this problem with my therapist and she said that was ridiculous. It made me feel a little better about the situation. But she still doesn’t know exactly why my therapist is pushing for a new therapist. Everything is happening so fast that I don’t even know anymore. Sure I got mad at my therapist and wrote somethings to her that said I had enough, but she heard this stuff all before, why all of a sudden the change? She said she still wants to work with me, so why is she pushing a new therapist? Why do I have to go through that hassle? It just doesn’t make any sense and until I can talk with her again, I am not going to know. Maybe I missed something. And in my depressed mind I can’t figure it out. I am just coming up with reasons why she wants me gone, which I don’t think is totally through after being together 14 years. Sure the phone is a pain in the ass but why is it a problem after three years? Something is going on behind the scene that I don’t know about. That much I am certain. But what it is, I am not sure. I will have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

I told my pdoc that the depression is the worst that I have felt in years. I don’t ever recall a depression where I feel so empty inside. I told her I haven’t been writing and then starting the waterworks when I brought up the writing story. I know I can write about the difficulty but I just can’t find the motivation to do it. I no longer have a writing partner to help me anymore. Not like we were in competition or anything. But she would keep me on track with writing and it was nice to have someone to talk to specifically for writing. Now my partner is moving on to other creative projects like arts and crafts and bag making. Maybe she is burnt out by writing after she got married. I don’t know. Her bags are cute and I am thinking of getting one for my sister or cousin. It would make a nice Christmas gift. My writing is on hold until I can sort out the therapy situation. My pdoc is worried and wants me to let her know when I do.

As I need to send my laptop back to Dell for repair, I took out the old laptop. It works but the battery is dead. I tried finding on the Dell website and they don’t have them anymore. Office Depot has one for like $50. As long as it works while plugged in I won’t get one, though it might be worthwhile. I am just glad I can use the laptop. I just can’t use internet explorer as a browser because it’s old and my stupid hard drive won’t download the updates. That was one of the reasons why I had to get the new laptop because the old one wouldn’t update windows stuff. It’s a bad hard drive, with some kind of compatibility issue. I found this out when I had to get encryption for my work, and that was just when my laptop was a year old! But it connects to the net via the Chrome browser and word works so I am good. Everything else I can use my phone for. It’s just blogging that I need my laptop.

Weird Therapy Day

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

Weird therapy day

I am not having a good day. I woke up in the early morning hours in pain and then woke up an hour after I fell asleep. I just can’t get this pain under control. My mother decided to call me when I was just waking up and I didn’t want to talk to her so let it go to voicemail. I waited a little bit before going downstairs as I wasn’t completely woken up. When I did see her, she berated me for not answering the phone, like it was some emergency. She wanted me to let the gas man in the house to fix the meters. No can do as I have my therapy appointment. She wanted to go shopping. Tough shit.

I tried to have therapy today but my therapist’s phone just wasn’t cooperating. So we had the session via text message as that seemed to be the only thing her phone could do. So half the session was via talk and the rest via text. Interesting. We didn’t get much accomplished as you can imagine, though my therapist is a fast typer, faster than me. She still wants me to try and find someone face to face. I gave her the number for the center I found in my area that might be able to help me. I am not calling. I can’t stand the thought of being turned down or told to be put on a waiting list for months.

I told my therapist I was depressed. I am not eating, I don’t care about anything, and I have no energy. I am just so tired. And trying to find a new therapist in the mix of this is just dragging me down. I see my pdoc tomorrow and she wants me to tell her what I am feeling. I don’t know why I should bother. It’s not like she is going to help. I am getting a headache just thinking about it. I just want to go to sleep and not wake up, ever. I have to get up early tomorrow (which shouldn’t be a problem as I am up anyways) to get to this appointment with my pdoc. I really don’t want to go. I will just be wasting her time, like I am wasting my therapist’s time. I don’t know how they can stand me.

I told my therapist about Jack and Hyde and unfortunately, the phone cut out so I have no idea what she was saying. It was a very stressful session. I think she is going to get a new phone, least I hope she does. I understand why she doesn’t want to get a new phone but this has got to be a reason for getting a new one. I had to get a new phone because my phone was just not working anymore. And if the phone just doesn’t work anymore, what the hell is the point of using the device??

I am in a lot of pain today. The weather warmed up by twenty degrees. I am aching all over. But because I haven’t eaten anything substantial, I can’t take my NSAID pill. I have to have a full meal, not a small bag of popcorn. I just don’t want to make anything. I doubt I could because the gas people are working on the meters so I don’t think I can use the stove. I am so depressed, I don’t care. I just took some pain meds and an Ativan to get back to sleep. If my mother needs help with the damn groceries, I am going to be in dreamland. I just hope I don’t wake up, though I probably will. I didn’t take more than what is prescribed to me. Though I do feel like it. I really can’t because I don’t want to lose the trust of my doctors. That means a lot to me. I still haven’t figured out what I am going to say to my pdoc tomorrow. I know she will want some more information about my therapist and I just hope I don’t break down and cry. That is my biggest fear.

Other than writing this blog, I don’t have anything else I need to do today. I still need to find a quote for tomorrow’s “Quote of the Day”. It’s getting harder to find because the book is almost finished. I might have to start looking into his other books. I am finding it fun to have this type of blog. Once I have exhausted Dr. Shneidman’s works, I suppose I could go to Kay Redfield Jamison. She has a lot of quotes.