Prolonged Exposure

[clw4514]

ok, so ive been mostly absent from here and everywhere else for several months. depression & anxiety escalating. individual therapist strongly suggested prolonged exposure. anyone been thru this? seems like crap science to me. then again, what do i know. input, experiences, etc will be very much appreciated.

TIA....

Christy

[carlie]

clw,

Exposure therapy =

Talking and writing about your trauma over and

over and over and over - reliving it so that

it is supposed to be not so traumatic for you anymore.

After doing this, the MH providers say you will be able to

handle any triggers that come up on a more

rationale basis.

I say - Bullshit - they can shove that little program

and therapy where the sun doesn't shine !

I personally get my share of exposure therapy by walking into

Walgreen's at Christmas, seeing all that danged Old Spice on

the shelves - - eeek - - run carlie - run !

Of course this is only my feelings and my opinion,

for those that have found it helpful - Congratulations.

jmho,

carlie

[clw4514]

haha! at least im not alone on that train of thought. i cant handle crap now so im really not understanding how the PE would even begin to help. 20+ yrs of avoiding feeling and im supposed to be better/cured in 9 sessions. i wonder if they have a program that will cure "fluffiness" in only 9 sessions B)

i told her i would TRY it but i needed to have my meds increased to cope with it.

thx for ur input, chickie!

[sharon]

You have the right to say "NO". I stopped going to the VA for Mental Health due to the same thing. It only made my PTSD worst. Nighmares and panic attacks excalated.

[LarryJ]

Prolonged Exposure!

"Prolonged Exposure" IS my PROBLEM!

I could do WITHOUT any MORE exposure! Why do they think that I DO NOT want to "talk about it"?

Old Spice, huh? Never had any, nor any desire for any. Monster-In-Law bought me a "kit" with all this "AXE" stuff in it. Thought I'd try some of it, so I get the shampoo and proceed to squirt some into my hand. IT'S ORANGE!

That was enough for me.

ORANGE? WTH? WHASSUP with that? (I'm talkin' H-D Orange)

[carlie]

I think all exposure therapy has better

end product results if the trauma is still fairly fresh

say within 12 - 18 months.

I know of no statistics to support this and I don't have much trust

for statistics anyways,

too many ways for them to be flawed.

The number one way is that who ever is paying for the stats to be done

usually provide some indication on what answers they answers

they are expecting ~ lol.

But for those that have developed copeing skills that

are what the MH people will say are ir-rationale

and other things such as "self medicating",

I feel that after doing these things 20 & 30 years, the

exposure therapy is much less effective.

jmho,

carlie

[*Bergie*]

ok, so ive been mostly absent from here and everywhere else for several months. depression & anxiety escalating. individual therapist strongly suggested prolonged exposure. anyone been thru this? seems like crap science to me. then again, what do i know. input, experiences, etc will be very much appreciated.

TIA....

Christy

I completed prolonged exposure in Nov. 09, what they do is gradually increase your exposure by working with you regarding levels of difficulty. Like going out in crowded places for me was very difficult so I started by going to places with few to no people and working up to more crowded situations. Honestly, with the help of the therapist I did improve while in the treatment. However, soon after the "reasearch study" ended I digressed to where I started. I would not do it again to many bad memories, and don't recommend it. The problem is that once the VA cuts you loose your on your own and left high and dry (SOL). I had a 2 week follow up after I completed the "therapy" and let them know I felt abandoned again by the VA. I was told that they had so many other vets that needed this treatment that they could not continue to see me, that I was lucky that I was selected in the first place. What a crock of dodo.

Hope this helps,

Bergie