Psychologists

I hate it when I go to psyc's and they spend hours asking about my educational background and then assuming that because I have an education that I am more capable of coping with life. Sigh.

 

I have never gone to a psychologist but when i consulted a psychiatrists because of T, she asked some questions about me and my family and said that my T is psychosomatic despite my hearing loss, and suggested me to take an antidepressant -i refused- for 12 months. I recognised that she had an auto-conditioning to find a way to persuade patient for using drug. After this appointment i have strongly considered the thoughts that say psychiatrists are turning into salespersons of antidepressant companies.

 

I have never been a huge fan of psychiatrist and psychologist. In my personal and professional dealings with them, I find them too detached from the patients' suffering. However, I cannot blame them because their training dictates the protocol of treatment. I am a firm believer of psychotherapy but in the case of T, the goal of therapy is not to eradicate but of acceptance.

 

I hate being put on the prescription treadmill as well, but right now I can't see any positive alternative. I'm relatively new to tinnitus and don't have any deeply ingrained methods for coping with it yet, so I have to settle for the meds. The one person in my life who absolutely hates meds and doctors and feels that healthy lifestyle alone will ward off depression/anxiety is my brother and he's schizophrenic. When my tinnitus started, he told me to trust no doctor and rely only on myself. Yeah, a regular joe self-diagnosing and treating himself. Couldn't POSSIBLY go wrong.

 

My experience with psychologists and psychiatrists has been totally the opposite from others on this thread. Early on in my tinnitus, I realized there were two components for me: the ear/brain/physical part, for which I needed to see ear specialists, audiologists and neurologists: and the anxiety/emotional response part, for which I needed to see a psychologist and psychiatrist.

True, psychiatrists these days primarily manage medications rather than do therapy. But I wanted a specialist handling those meds, which are very tricky and potentially very dangerous, not a primary physician. My psychiatrist was wonderful; really worked with me, respected my worries about becoming too dependent on meds, and found something that eased my horrible rolling panic attacks and helped me sleep. He kept me on the lowest doses possible and let me make decisions about treatment.

Don't feel like you have to apologize for using prescription medications, Alex. I don't any more. They can be lifesavers. You need to deal with the anxiety and the insomnia when you get blindsided by T and for many of us, all the natural alternatives in the world wont do the job. You also can view them as a stopgap, as I do, with the goal of gradually ending them when you are better.

As for psychologists: My cognitive behavioral therapist (Neenie, weren't you praising CBT recently?) taught me how to shut down panic attacks and realign my thinking so I could better deal with the stress of tinnitus. And yes, we dealt a lot with acceptance -- which like it or not, is pretty much what we've got at this stage in the game. There is nothing out there that eradicates tinnitus and chasing cures that claim they will is a good way to waste your money.

I am not saying that therapy, or the path I took, is for everyone who suffers with tinnitus. But it certainly helped me. If you are having a bad experience or aren't clicking with a psychotherapist (and I have had that happen to me), find another one if you think therapy might help you.

 

Yeah, when you're totally unequipped to deal with something as intangible and painful as T, it's hard to be picky about where you get your relief from. The reason I'm usually so wary about getting prescription meds is simply because of the film 'Requiem for a Dream.' People who've seen it know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, the meds I got two days ago have been working and I've been sleeping well for the first time in almost two weeks. I'm just hoping that someday soon I'll be able to sleep and function normally without the meds.

 

This sentence made me laugh lol. It is tragic but without context that is a hilarious sentence.

How loud is your T, Alex? The only tip I can give is what everyone keeps saying; Don't "slip out" of your normal life, keep doing the things you like, and don't give the T too much attention. The problem for me with this advice is that I need motivation to do these things. If I, because of T, no longer enjoy the "normal" life, why would I keep doing them? But after a little while, you enjoy them just as much. I am almost there now.

What I find is that I feel tired a lot more, and everything seems like a lot more work than I would have thought before T.

I am maybe about to make my (short term) dream a reality; Get my own segment in a TV show with 500 000 viewers, which is like... What was my goal, but only in my wildest dream the last three years. But now I don't feel very motivated anymore, because of the T. Actually that's not true, but I'm more anxious when it comes to some parts of the job, because of T. I guess I just have to "fake it 'till I make it" and act as if T never happened. That's what I've done the last three weeks, and my sensitivity to sounds is gone now, and that problem was bigger than T. Holy shit I didn't even realize it was gone! I am typing on my keyboard with no problems! WOW!

Ok this was my little stream of consciousness, I hope it made sense. If not; Sorry. Hehe.

 

Sorry if it was out of context, my brother just manages to piss me off even when he's nowhere nearby. I brought him up because, right now and for long time, he has been the biggest source of stress in my life. I love him but he frightens the shit outta me. I was around him a lot during the holidays and that's when my tinnitus flared up big for the first time.

As for my T, I honestly don't thinks it's anywhere near as bad as it is for most people on this site. I'm neurotic and prone to anxiety, so that's why my T can sometimes feel like the worst agony imaginable. But listening to the stories of people with far worse T than me shows that I've got things really damn easy compared to most. Still, my T is still the worst thing in my life right now.

 

I think my is really low too. But it still manages to stress me a lot.

 

Yeah, our T may be minor, it's hard to tell because it's a subjective ailment, but it's still scary because we aren't as acclimatized to it like most people on this site who have been living with T for decades. Right now, my T is a calm humming with a high-pitched but quiet undercurrent.

 

same here my t , is high pitched with some low undertones , aint nothing wrong with some Dope from aunt , Joanys Pharmacy...Who knows there may be a magic bullet for some

 

...I really have no clue how to respond to that except to state that I really have no clue how to respond to that.

 

I think it's kinda hard to find a psychologist that fits you as a person these days.