Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
Has anyone here gone to see a therapist or Councelor for the depression that goes along with the many issues we face? I have thought about it. many of you know I'm a Jesus lover and I have relied on my faith for many years and all the cliche sayings. You all prob know them God won't give you more than you can handle etc... And while I believe in that It is getting to the point where even though I can tell my family anything and they are l there for me. I'm tired of dealing with it all I'm tired of telling them my feeling because I think it stressed them out sometimes to hear from my own lips how hard this is. I always try to stay upbeat no matter what so it's hard for them to know what to do for me when I get down. My prob is that I do not want anti depressants I don't like how they make me feel and I don't want to be labeled as depressed either. I just want to be able to tell someone I feel like giving up without them worrying that that means I want to kill myself. That's not at all what I mean I just mean I'm tired and lonley in this disease and frustrated by the mounting probs that never seem to stop cascading over me. Sorry this is so long does any one feel like me?
I think we can get caught in a cycle of negative feedback sometimes that makes things worse for us and its good to get a new fresh view or ways to handle. You could try groups too, look around for a good match, but I believe it would definitely be worth the investment.
Kim, there are many counselors who are Christian yet they can give coping skills without it necessarily being attached to relying on scripture. If all we needed was a good sermon to set us straight, it'd be great! But it's not lack of faith for us. It's missing the coping skills that we need. That's my take anyway.
So many have or were in therapy. It's often suggested by CP doctors.
So your not alone.
I did seek out a therapist at one point after my dr told my husband & I that chronic pain would be a part of my daily life. I did not click with the therapist I chose but found a support group at my doctors that kind of substituted in my case. Many in that group were in therapy & the majority on anti depressants.
Like you I rely on God. I could never have been where I am today without his help. Yet I feel seeking that extra help can only make us stronger.
Coping & accepting are difficult areas for me.
I never rule out seeking that extra help in the future. The future could be tomorrow who knows.
For me anti depressants are not an option. Your all part of my anti depressant.
Yet like you there are those days...........
I think Kimberley that it's smart. After all our health encompasses not only how we feel physcially but how we handle things & how we think.
I guess another way of looking at it is what do you have to loose?
a good therapist can only enhance your life right?
Big hugs,
Sammy
go for it
hugs
depot
Think of seeing a therapist as your ticket.
A lot of those Christian aphorisms, to me at least, are downright damaging. If "God never gives you more than you can handle" does that mean you are ungodly if you just can't handle it? Anyone here knows that chronic illness can stretch one to the breaking point, and you have had a truly bad run of events. Do people say those things to teens who are dying of cancer? To the mother of a three-year-old killed in a freak accident? To the family of a suicide?
See if one of your doctors can refer you to someone who works with people with chronic illness. You will obviously want a therapist who respects your faith, and that won't be hard to find. Having faith and asking for help are not mutually exclusive.