Also like to make the point I know that a lot of people with depression have a chemical imbalance, wasn't suggested they didn't. I just don't think I do, personally.

For me, I don't give a sh*t whether my neurochemicals are in sync or not. I just want to not feel so bad I kill myself or can't bring myself to bother with the therapy that might give me long-term hope. Mind you, I take the anti-depressants because my PTSD causes depression in me, and I've already tried to off myself once in life, started thinking of it at age 11, and I'm in my 40s, so the docs have reasons to see my brain is chemically "reinforced" against all that.

So for me, if ht emed can help, that's all I care about. I mean, they have never figured out the cause of my epilepsy, but they know which meds keep me from having seizures, so I long ago got result-oriented when it came to meds.

No idea why I'm rambling. I've gotten the bullsh*t about "chemical imbalance" too. Just is what it is what it is. Ten years from now it'll be some other catchphrase. Been doing the go-round with docs for 30 years, I'm a bit jaded and "meh" about it.

Supportive vibes, Alex.

That's exactly how I felt. Pissed me off when he gave me these bloody tablets like it was some miracle solution. I have nothing against medication because it does help a lot of people but I was made to feel like my problems were not serious enough to see a therapist. Maybe if I was more honest with him about my past he would of understood.

Medication for problems like epilepsy is very understandable!

Anyway doctors to me are shitty bastards, they just do not care.

I SOOOOOOO agree with you.

I am depressed. Duh. Daddy had a lot of fun with me. My brain is a bit messed up.

Don't mess it up more with mind altering drugs, I take enough already with my self medication.

I told one of my Therapist repeatedly that I do not want to take any medications because that is not my problem.

God over five years of therapy with him he repeatedly told me about meds that would "help" with my symptoms. Ugg, I got tired of him doing that.

Good for you knowing that you need other help than just trying medicate and see if it gets better

To me it sounds like the same old blaming the victim Bull S***T. For me save the Meds for the abuser and make them lethal. We they got finish with me they just moved on to someone else.

Seems the treatment pendulum in my lifetime has swung from talk therapy to pharmacology. I got kidney damage when taking meds, so that settled that in my personal case. I've been doing better since for 4 years now. Partly, I guess, because I had to really commit to talking since the pill option was no longer there.

Lately I've gotten my hopes up that the general pendulum for treatment is swinging back toward a balance concerning PTSD. What with troops returning from service abroad and the need to debrief them and educate the public and not just medicate. Trauma is not just a chemical imbalance. It's an experience that must be processed into an acceptable narrative we can live with and share with others who can support us.

Heck, Homer knew that. The Odyssey is the first PTSD story of soldiers coming home, in their case from the Trojan War. Good thing Homer wasn't just medicated or we wouldn't have had one of the Classics.

i agree they do think they help and are not a cure, i think they do help some i told the doc she wanted to put me on meds, i told her it well go away for me it hits me like tidle wave then slowly ebbs away , i think meds for sleep should be more important . the better you sleep the better you feel i can get to sleep i just cant stay there seraquil helps with that i do sleep im lucky never used to hugs min

loved shadows response lol

I am just going to put it out there based on the title of your post. Maybe your doctor is not referring you because he thinks you need to be a bit more stable before opening up the wounds. Therapy is way more painful than I ever thought it would be. Please don't take this the wrong way, but you post suggest you have a lot of anger. Which I can see why you would. It will be very hard to keep an open mind and work in therapy with so much anger.

You are 100% right that anti-depressants will not cure you. But what my doc said to me helped me to understand the purpose behind meds. He told me that if you look at the brain as working 100%, and yours is sick and not working at 100%, then we add meds, meds get the brain up to 30% so you can cope, function and think enough to do the 70% yourself or with the help of a therapist. They are only designed to take the edge so it is easier to see your way out of the hell hole. He also told me that if I had diabetes would I take the meds to save my life, I said yes and then he asked what is the difference here, you are sick. I realized at that point it was the stigma of having a mental health issues that was causing my problem with the meds. If I took the meds, I had to admit I had a problem. I associated my problem with weakness and not being strong enough to get a handle on it. Wrong thinking. I take meds and I positive I would be dead without them. Do I still have bad days, you beat I do. Fortunately their are more good days than bad these days.

Having said that meds are a personal decision. I think you are right to look for a therapist. Not sure where you live, but there maybe support groups available. Also check your local mental health center as they sometime have classes, and self referral options. If all else fails, go to emergency, so times you can get fast tracked into therapy.

You are right about needing a therapist, we are to close to these things, and we need someone to guide us through the mess of anger, feelings, and emotions. It is just to big and overwhelming for one person to handle.

I hope you find some peace and soon. Remember this guy and post here. This group is a big source of good information that will help.

(((hugs))))

I *hate* the assumption it's an either-or proposition. That either meds will fix it or therapy will. My psych doc and therapist and primary car doc agreed on a plan for me (with my epilepsy doc's input) of combining meds for certain symptoms with lots of therapy.

I know I can't face certain things without the help of my meds, as CC pointed out above, but we have to take this journey in our own way,a t our own pace. I was 43 before the zombies of memory came outta the subconscious, so I have a *lot* of years of not-dealing to suddenly reverse so I can learn to deal, and it sucks.

Rambling again, but just letting you know, yes, many a human being (doctor or otherwise) is indeed a shitty bastard --- needs a small prison cell full of big rats. Or better yet, a week living in our heads, with our memories and pain.

you have to do what you have to for you, i dont believe cemcial imbalance i i took enough of the antidepressants , i the imbalance should be fixed . and never got better , for some the med work im happy they do i wish they would help me , ma by have not found right one hugs min

meds did not work for me nothing ever did.

The NHS has very few therapists to go around...the Tories are cutting back funding and...probably intend to make themselves lots of money in a future privatization process.
The psych branch gets 1/5th of the funding despite being 1/2 of required or requested services.

...My fianc is under their care...um, I think he's probably attempted suicide about 30 times, give or take.
...Average of once a year since he was 26. I despise his psychiatrist.

I'd like to see a support group movement for survivors of sexual abuse in the UK.

Regarding meds and PTSD...
Trauma actually changes genetic expression. It changes brain behavior and neurochemistry.

50% of people with PTSD are also clinically depressed and/ or chronically anxious.
So meds may help.

Getting a DBT workbook and working through it would be a really good idea for you.

Your doc really should have put you in the queue for a therapist, though. Wait times are about a year in some areas.

My guy ( whom I have permission to talk about ) takes multiple head meds...and lithium seems to be the magic one in his cocktail, just found it.
I take 4 head meds. Therapy will not help unless I am on the right meds FIRST.
He and I both survived physical abuse, sexual abuse...and we both have dissociative alters...so there you have it, folks.

Take the pills, see if they help, but keep forcefully requesting therapy. Also contact MIND, see what they have in your area. You might be able to get counseling through them.

I don't want anyone to think I have anything against medication, because I don't in the slightest. I believe it helps so many people. However I believe for me it wouldn't be a great help, yes I have anger issues but to me there very understandable. My anger stems from my bad memories, and the rage I have towards the people who have hurt me. I don't lash out at random people and I am actually very social (I don't suffer from anxiety) I have many friends, and a lovely girlfriend. I did get mad at my doctor and swore at him repeatedly but he was an ignorant cunt and needed it! :)

I wanted a therapist, someone to understand and let it all out to. I don't want a course of shitty tablets and see how I go. I want real help, too much to ask for?

Doctors have given me medications for depression ( I have PTSD ) and I also have worked with therapists. For me, medication didnt do much other than put me in a zombie like state. I was not okay with that. Therapy with support groups helped me out alot. I no longer have issues with depression beyond normal daily levels like many do, so I dont do therapy and sure wont ever do medications again.

Can you do therapy without a doctors okay? What about support groups or classes?