Archive for June, 2008
We’ll be back after a short break and a word from our sponsor
My husband and I with many of our friends are traveling afar for a two-week nature/eco-type vacation. It’s the first time I have looked forward to vacation in years. Why the heck has this been such a problem for me?
Problems that arise treating a DID patient without the skills to do so
Sometimes I am so damn stupid.
I keep falling into the same trap and I am amazed that I haven’t figured it out, but continue to let myself be an idiot. I assume that everyone is an expert. That everyone, in their chosen field, knows more than the average bear.
Kinda like that old riddle:
“What do you call a med student who graduates with a D average?”
“Dr.”
Lamictal screws up handwriting and typing?
So I went to the meds doc yesterday and rattled off a list of side effects – balance, coordination, nausea, pimples all over my head. “I have no problem about these, after the problems with Lexapro,” I told him. Then I flippantly tossed out another “side effect” almost as a joke – difficulty typing and writing longhand. But he countered, “No, others have reported that too.”
Therapist consultation for dissociative identity disorder
Back when I was considering changing therapists, I wrote about Changing therapists – what to consider. This week, I took my own advice. Here’s what a leader in the field of dissociative identity disorder had to say to me.
HALT – one method to break the cycle of anger and rage
I read an interesting post on Catatonic Kid’s blog called, HALT: Bursting Anger’s Bubble. I thought it was interesting, but found myself spontaneously using the technique in my own life to cope with fluctuations in mood. Surprisingly, it worked!
Making depression a habit – breaking the downward spiral
I don’t know what’s worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don’t know why I instigate
And say what I don’t mean
I don’t know how I got this way
I know it’s not alright
So I’m breaking the habit
I’m breaking the habit
Tonight
- from Linkin Park’s “Breaking the Habit”
Milestones in treatment for trauma: everyone is a fingerprint
My old therapist often used the phrase, “Everyone is a fingerprint, everyone has a different story, everyone’s healing is different.” Then why did my therapy seem so undefined and generic? And by the same token, why couldn’t she identify the “fingerprint” milestones I had accomplished, providing only generic milestones instead?
Even after a few month, I felt something wasn’t right. So why was this fingerprint thing important?
Myers Briggs and Keirsey Personality Tests in Dissociative Identity Disorder
Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Keirsey Temperaments are two different personality questionnaires to help people understand themselves and to assess psychological differences. I had struggled taking the Myers Briggs before my diagnosis (“This test sucks – I feel two ways about MOST of these questions!”). After my DX, I wondered if different personalities in DID have different types, so I decided to test it out. Survey says, Yup!
Lessons learned in a therapuetic relationship gone wrong
I had the last session with my therapist yesterday. We are at an impasse, and it’s time for me to find someone else. Or stop therapy all together. I have not decided. But I have learned some valuable lessons I would like to share about relationships and communications with therapists.
Review: Coming Out Multiple – King
When I was first coming to terms with this whole DID thing and was paranoid to mention it to anyone, I tripped across a funny article by Bob King called Coming Out Multiple. It was one of the first things I showed a few people close to me to introduce the topic with humor.
