Start CBT tomorrow.

I have been in a deep hole with my MH stuff. Since my previous provider left this clinic they have messed with the dosage of important meds. Cutting my abilify in half. My sleep has been utter crap. Just in a dark place!

Well the soonest I could do get in to my new provider is Tuesday(over a month ago) BUT I start cognitive behavioral therapy tomorrow morning. I am nervous! Last time I went to actual therapy I was 10. Only one visit as insurance didn't cover it and my mom was a single mom with two kids.

Did I mention i'm nervous? I've avoided this for a long time. I'm a little scared of what's in my brain.

I want to thank those of you that suggested this road...but i'm nervous...?

Good luck, Mel. The beginning process is always nerve wracking. I'm glad you are getting extra help

Hi Mel,

Everything is going to be OK. The hardest part is just showing up for the first time. After I had that first session down, it made me eager to go back and learn more. And what an addition CBT has been to my MH toolbox!

Our brains are each wired in certain predictable ways, differing according to our own MH diagnoses. The "wires" are nerve-signaling pathways. For example, in the case of, say, PTSD, the brain is wired so that the nerve impulses travel from one area of the brain directly to another area inappropriately...all driven by adrenaline which has been triggered by___________________situation. You can fill in the blank. What CBT does is to help us make new and more appropriate connections. So, instead of having a flashback, the nerve impulses can bypass the old connection, go to an alternate area of the brain and generate more appropriate and more profitable behavior. It's just the neatest thing! And we can control it. We can retrain our brains. It takes some time and some effort on our part, but it's so worth it.

I no longer have flashbacks and now I know what to do when I start to feel an adrenaline surge. These adrenaline surges used to happen frequently and often randomly, without rhyme or reason. I still get those from time to time because my brain got "stuck" from trauma and got used to feeling adrenaline all the time. But I get them less and less now as I continue to practice what I learned in CBT. And I feel so much better.

Don't be scared...this is going to do you a world of good!

I'm so glad that you're seeing a CBT therapist today and I hope it goes well! (Although, if it doesn't, remember that you might not click with a therapist and that's okay, and you can find another.) Hang in there!

Oh no, I'm so sorry that your meds are being messed with! I know it always throws me for a loop when I have to change a dose or anything like that.

Hang in there, and make sure to take care of yourself!

it went really well. I will see her twice a month. I am so relieved it's not funny!

now on to the new psychiatrist tomorrow. Will be very important. Will be writing down my talking points to bring up. BED...ADD...should be interesting! Nervous as hell.

thanks everyone! :D

YAY!! I'm so glad you did it and that it went well.

I had to get my liver function tested and then if it's good I start a med for BED. I'm not at home so I don't have the name.

it went well. It was weird, it was a video conference appointment. It actually worked well that way.

I've got hope!