Bipolar Disorder Support Group

Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.

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Mental Health
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Therapy

deleted_user
deleted_user
My name is Jolie and I am new to the community. I have bipolar II and I was wondering- Does anyone find it hard to stick with a therapist? Its like I go for a couple months and then i think i dont need it anymore. One week i will go in and see the therapist and think i really need the session and the next week i will be a totally different person thinking- why am i in therapy?? And then i draw a blank in the session and decide its a waste of time to even go.
cb72
cb72
Yes, yes, yes!!!

Here is how to deal with it:
1) When you're feeling well, that's when you make the most progress. At other times, you're just patching wounds. Just stick it out and wait for that breakthrough.
2) Psychologists make their money by the hour. I never got anywhere unless I had a topic in mind. That required some engagement on my part between sessions. But whenever I went aimlessly to be guided by the therapist, it was a waste of my money. She's claim it's not a waste, since she's getting to know me, but that's BS. I still went though - see point 1.
3) There are actually specific therapies, not just open-ended psychoanalysis. If your therapist is doing those, they should have a 'curriculum' of sorts for you. CBT for bipolar is good. I'm trying to get myself into that.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I know how you feel. I tend to go to my therapist in spurts. When I start to feel the lows, I don't want to see anyone especially my therapist. It's at times like this that I don't even want to speak. There are even times when I feel "normal" and maybe I'm not really mentally ill.. just going through a rough time.. but it all comes back when I have bouts of insomnia or depression...then I realize that it's time to go back when I'm so anxiety filled that I'm crawling out of my skin.
I was diagnosed a few months ago and am finding that sometimes I don't think that the therapist is very helpful. Maybe it just takes some time to work through this. I've heard that with the right treatment and regular visits we can get better, just not seen it yet.
GracieLooWho
GracieLooWho
I definately get what your saying but I go anyway, I just switched it to every other week instead of every flipn week
cb72
cb72
I have done every other week when work was too busy for me to do my therapy "homework". No point in wasting my money when my therapist can't lead a session. And when I was a teen, I used to go in spurts, too, but I'd go when I was feeling bad, and I used to feel pretty bad.
starfish
starfish
If your experiences change from week to week, and you have a good relationship with your therapist, I would keep going at a steady pace - so your therapist can see an overall aspect of your experience. Seeing how you are when you feel well is just as important as when you don't, when you change frequently. Also depends on what you can afford - every other week is good too, but consistency as much as possible is best.
deleted_user
deleted_user
yes, a part of me knows I need to be steady with it and a part of me wants to analyze and help the therapist or completely blow off the whole scene.
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