One more week of CBT and I'm still "lost". I still don't get it!! How can my feelings or emotions about what happened in RVN not effect my thought process today?? All I hear from the psyc's is "that way of thinking" is not valid today!! "What you were taught in the USMC" is not applicable to your life today!! "What happened then and the feeling/emotion it caused" can be "dialed down"!! It's not sinking in, it's not making sense, it's not working. Has anyone else had this reaction to the CBT program? I still have the very same thoughts and reactions to stimuli that I had prior to stating the program, still have the nightmares even more so then before!!! Still "hit the deck" when hear loud gunshot type noises, still have the hypervigilence and startle reflexes, still don't like crowds or being around people and wife tells me I'm more anxious then before. The meds seem to help me from going "postal" but the therapy isn't working. Anyone out there had this experience with the program and if so what if anything will help?? Thanks for any help from my fellow veterans.

pigdriver,
CBT has not helped improve my PTSD symptoms either,
nor has mindfulness, living in the moment, warm candle lit baths,
soothing music, yoga, meditation, journaling, etc...

Most literature supports the opinion that if you have
had a long period of MH problems that went untreated
then it is much more difficult to treat and the results
are not as good as when a patient receives treatment and
therapy in a timely manner.

Therapy is to try and help us re-wire our thought patterns
and induce positive changes in our reactions to certain
situations - but left untreated for years and decades, our
reactions have kind of become our survival tools.

I am glad the meds help you and I both for anger and anxiety,
(going postal).

Hang in there,
carlie

Hello, all! Sorry to be so "behind the times", but what is CBT?

Thanks!

CBT = Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Hmmm...sounds something like brainwashing! Thanks!

Every few years some scientist says he has a cure for some mental illness. Unless they can rewire brains I put little faith those who claim a cure for any emotional problem including PTSD. It is a great way to funnel money towards someone's research project, or to tout a drug to make money. Maybe it is the bumps on our heads.

CBT didn't work for me either. All my answers were wrong, and I really thought they were right..The Psych said that sometimes Veterans had to take the CBT class several times.

Something like "Happy Gilmore" trading his thoughts for a happy place, I think.

Here is a link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy

I think for CBT to work a qualified specialist would need to see you a couple of times a week and as it stands now the most any of us are being seen is for a few minuets to regulate Meds. I wonder how many Veterans get CBT at the VA? May be a good FOIA Question

Pills seem to be the RX for PTSD, these dayz. JMHO, it robs one of a part of your personality, and in doing so it reduces the quality of life. There has to be a better way. Suffer in silence is an option. JMO, feeling pain is better than feeling nothing.