I had my long awaited secondary care psych referral today and I'm confused by their findings.
Despite bouts of near suicidal depression, break downs and a general utterly miserable outlook on life, interspersed with feelings of hopelessness and despair, the psych has said that they believe my issues are a personality disorder and that CBT is the best course of action.
After a 5 month wait and high expectations of getting some help under secondary care, I was sent on my merry way with a website to click on to self refer for CBT.
Oh, and a menu of 4 ADs to try should I feel so inclined - nothing out of the ordinary, just a couple of SSRIs and older tricyclics with a list of horrible side effects including sexual dysfunction which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid, given my terrible experiences on multiple ADs previously that had this effect and actually added to my depression.
No follow up, no after care, no treatment plan - just a personality disorder and go and sort yourself out / choose a pill to try next.
Really?
Maybe my expectations were unrealistically too high?
I'm just a bit cynical about therapy solving my issues. I've had talking therapy previously that helped me make sense of things, but did precisely zero to cheer me up.
So, what does CBT do and has it cured anyone's life long depression?