Has anyone else tried years of therapy and medication and not gotten better?

[eimdia]

I get so tired of friends/family suggesting therapy and medication when I have spent thousands on these things and I am NOT better. The most hurtful thing is when they accuse me of lying and tell me that it is my fault - that I am not being honest enough with the therapist, that I am not trying hard enough. It makes me feel even more hopeless. I feel people sometimes just can't accept that not everyone is treatable. :(

 

[Water-Lily]

I get it. I think when I comes to trauma/abuse based disorders it's even more complex. Regardless of whether ones issues are chronic, trauma based, or a mix of both, it requires extensive work. Work that doesn't work the same as getting a cast for a broken arm and getting "recovered". The work one does with therapy, medication, etc can last a life time

The recovery is in the continuous work. Many people are still very ignorant to mental disorders and just think that with enough therapy and medication we'll be "cured". When it doesn't work like that. We just keep trying and trying, and keep trying even through the relapse and frustration. That is what recovery is for us, and many won't understand

I think we need to normalize what recovery is. For some things, like a bruise or a broken limb, recovery is literally getting better and moving on like nothing happened. But for a lot of people, recovery is not so simple and is instead extensive and requires a lot of inner work that can exist for many years. People want and expect quick fixes but life doesn't work that way

I am sorry that you aren't surrounded by a support system that gets you. And things like this is what drives people into dark places. I hope you continue the hard work you're doing. They might not understand but that doesn't mean others don't see and value the hard work you're doing

 

[stilhavinightmares]

Yes. And it's so painful and frustrating to oscillate between being honest and trying, and that not working so giving up and isolating. I'm so tired.

 

[d3c96524be95]

I get so tired of friends/family suggesting therapy and medication when I have spent thousands on these things and I am NOT better. The most hurtful thing is when they accuse me of lying and tell me that it is my fault - that I am not being honest enough with the therapist, that I am not trying hard enough. It makes me feel even more hopeless. I feel people sometimes just can't accept that not everyone is treatable. :(

I can definitely relate. If anything, medications and therapies always made things a lot worse for me. The usual reaction of my family when some therapy X doesn't work is that I must be doing it wrong, and that I should also try therapy Y and Z.

You take some medication for 6 months, it makes you feel terrible with no improvement whatsoever so you decide to stop. Next time you have a down, they'll say it's because you stopped .

This is wearying because it never ends. Every new therapy you try seems to drain energy you don't even have.

 

[eimdia]

Yes. And it's so painful and frustrating to oscillate between being honest and trying, and that not working so giving up and isolating. I'm so tired.

I'm really tired too :(

 

[Hollowman]

Not years, decades and I'm no better off. Just a pointless mission to nowhere.

 

[eimdia]

Not years, decades and I'm no better off. Just a pointless mission to nowhere.

Yep, I know exactly how you feel.

 

[NumbItAll]

Yes, the mental health field has mostly failed me. And people usually don't choose to suffer for no reason, so it makes no sense to blame someone for not getting better.

 

[sheepgirl]

10 years this month since I first presented to MH services at 12 years old for suicidal ideation. Numerous medications from antidepressants, antipsychotics to mood stabilisers. CBT. DBT. Psychotherapy. Psychology. Acute hospitalisation numerous times. 9 months in a residential treatment facility. Plus support workers. While I must say I have gotten better in some aspects, I still suffer greatly from many of my symptoms. Don't think I'll ever be free..

 

[WeDontKnowTheFuture]

Psychoanalysis only worsened my depression cause you're just complaining in a passive situation.
Cognitive Behavioral therapy has helped me a lot with my depressive beliefs and behaviours in the past.
But the medication i took for 4 years just fucked me up, annihilate me so i was apathetic. I had my first suicidal ideation during the fist month of treatment. I was also smoking weed during the "treatment' so my brain has been so neglected. I stopped 6 months ago and since i have the feeling of being attacked in my head, it is like indefinite angst, discharge of fear in my head constantly. It prevent me form functionning normally and cause me suicidal thoughts most of the days.
I never had this before this too long " treatment".
Actually trying hypnosis and EMDR, i am not hopeless but tired of these years of suffering and non-sense..

 

[stermc]

I go to therapy since I was 4 years old. i went to the psychiatrist when I was 12. I hated taking meds because I felt like I wasn't myself and I completely hated therapy (still do).
I went to a psych ward in 2021 and started taking meds again and it actually worked. 12 years later I found the right psychiatrist and the right meds. And I was always on and off with therapy, but now I am with a really nice one. She understands philosophy and respects my boundaries.
As you can see, it took a long time for me to get in the right place and I am still suicidal. The only difference is that I have more control over myself. The meds help me a lot, they don't take away who I am. They just help me think more clearly. And the therapist also helps me a lot.

I think it is all about finding the right professionals for you and kind of "accepting" the treatment and know what you expect from it. In my case, I don't want to focus on "giving up on suicide". I always say I will commit suicide, but they help me live a better life while I still want to stay here, and my boundaries are respected.
It has a lot to do with self knowledge as well.

 

[immrw]

Yes. I am a neuroscience major interested in PTSD-treatment research. The more I learn about the field, the more hopeless I feel learning that there really are no therapies and medications that can heal PTSD (though EMDR is the closest we have and MDMA-assisted therapy has potential). Even if we are able to find a treatment in rodent models and translate that to humans, the therapy would still be too expensive due to healthcare being a shitshow in the States with businesses and politicians who only care about making as much money off sick people as possible.