_/ used2be wrote \_

well, you hear of folks who are so stuck in their illness that it pretty
much controls their entire lives. i think that is his problem.

I think so too, or he's in denial that he has anymore problems, so he's
trying to fix other people so he doesn't have to fix himself.

either that, or he IS dr david burns, and he's looking to boost sales
of his book.

I thought of that, and so did Gravity, but it's not likely that the real
David Burns would have the free time to spend on arguing with me that
this guy does.

In message <Xns9901BDAB3B97Emccatsjavanetcom@130.133.1.4>,
lisa in mass. <mccats@rcn.com> writes

Alan Harding wrote...

In message
<Xns98FD83B85A1BCmccatsjavanetcom@130.133.1.4>, lisa in
mass. <mccats@rcn.com> writes

Alan Harding wrote...

In message
<Xns98FD1823660F6mccatsjavanetcom@130.133.1.4>, lisa in
mass. <mccats@rcn.com> writes

Fast Recovery wrote...

On 24 Mar 2007 06:05:13 GMT, "lisa in mass."
<mccats@rcn.com> wrote:

with a woman on the crisis line. She remembered me
from 8 years ago, when she started. I was surprised
at how much she remembered me. She said how great it
was to hear me sounding so much better than I did
before. 8 years ago I was hell-bent on
self-destruction. Now I refuse to die. She said that
she remembered me because I always acknowledged that
my problems were my own, not blaming someone else,
and that I was the only one who took responsibility
for my actions. Noone else had to make me better, it
was up to me.

She tried to make me promise that I wouldn't hurt
myself tonight, but I refused. Then she wanted me to
call again before I did, and I said I might. As much
as I liked talking to her, I'm not calling back this
evening. I will call her back tomorrow night to let
her know how my son's visit with an ex-enemy now
tentative friend goes tomorrow. I'm curious myself.

It's been an interesting night.

-lisa

What good would hurting yourself do? I suggest you
sit down and do some writing exercises. Figure out
what irrational thoughts are causing your emotions
about your circumstances. See if you're committing
any of these cognitive distortions.
http://depression.about.com/cs/psychotherapy/a/cogniti
ve .h tm

I've done lots of work on cognitive distortions. And I
haven't been dwelling on my circumstances and my
emotions are quite under control at present. Cutting is
an addiction I developed many years ago when my
depression was new. 1% of the population does
themselves intentional physical self-harm. I'm now one
of them.

I'd still be interested in your writing exercises. ;)

Most of the exercises I've done involve making lists of
cognitive distortions and their actuality, though I've
done some long written pieces about them. I was also once
given the task of writing down a list of my positive
attributes. I carry it in my Palm computer and look at it
from time to time, even though it's been four years since
I wrote it.

There's also exercises from DBT that involve looking at a
problem situation or behavior, then finding the thought
or emotion or trigger that immediately preceded it, then
the one preceding it, back to the original trigger. Then
you develop strategies that would help to change the
course of events to have a better outcome next time the
initial trigger presents itsef. It's called a chain
analysis. I've done lots of them over the past 8 years or
so, and have gotten pretty good at it.

Do you think it would be worth trying in your current
state?

I don't think so, because I can't identify a trigger. It's
a constant flood of thoughts and urges. It's the first
thing I think about when I wake up and it's keeping me
awake at night. I know it gets worse when I hav thoughts of
wanting to die, but that really just means that the
depression's feeling overwhelming. DBT says that I need to
use the concept of radical acceptance, accepting my current
position without necessarily approving of it, to turn
unbearable suffering into tolerable pain. I'm not there
yet.

Have you tried stream of consciousness? I've only done it
as fiction. It was useful then. :)

_/ lisa in mass. wrote \_

I don't think so, because I can't identify a trigger. It's
a constant flood of thoughts and urges. It's the first
thing I think about when I wake up and it's keeping me
awake at night. I know it gets worse when I hav thoughts
of wanting to die, but that really just means that the
depression's feeling overwhelming. DBT says that I need to
use the concept of radical acceptance, accepting my
current position without necessarily approving of it, to
turn unbearable suffering into tolerable pain. I'm not
there yet.

Lisa, I'm starting in a new DBT group in May. I look
forward to discussing DBT with you.