Have questions? Feel free to ask!!
Hello out there! My name is Kristen and I would love to answer questions you may have. I have experience working in community based services as well as outpatient therapy, and also related to finding employment! I have worked with individuals diagnosed with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and post traumatic stress disorder. I look forward to helping you!!
@KristenPLPCCRC
Hi Kristen!
I was wondering, how do you deal with Dual Diagnosis cases where the patient needs medication, but also has a drug or substance abuse problem?
I ask because, when I first started seeing somebody about my depression, I was worried about having a bottle of pills around, as all of my suicide attempts involved ingesting things.
@MorsVicta great question! Usually the person who prescribes will weigh the benefits of using a medication versus the risks associated with taking it. In the case of a person who has both a mental health and a substance abuse diagnosis, what I have seen prescribers do is try a medication that is not on the controlled substance list and see if that helps.
I hear your concerns about having medications around when your plan is to overdose. That must have been a scary time for you! It can be hard to have a plan and to have access to the means. What helped you to avoid the urge to attempt suicide? In that instance, I would think that the potential benefits (improving symptoms of depression) outweighed the risk associated with taking the medication (potential for overdose).
Thank you so much for sharing!!
Thanks for the reply! I thought you'd have them come in for shots of medication instead, so they'd get what they need without having it around all the time, I didn't think there would be other medications that may help.
That was a pretty scary time for me. Therapy helped, mostly because I could finally talk to somebody instead of keeping everything inside, it gave me something to look forward to every week. Talking to other people while I was in the hospital helped too, and they weren't even there for mental health really, they had physical injuries. They all wanted to see me improve even though they didn't know me. Having all these people on my side, believing in me, made it easier to resist the urge to try a third time. Reminds me of something Stephen King wrote, about the mind being like a well and unpleasant thoughts being locked in heavy boxes and tossed in.
In the end, my psychiatrist decided I didn't need medication, and I'm so glad for that, so not having that around, or anything else I could use, was a big help too.
@MorsVicta I am so glad to hear that you had a support network and are in a good place! Sometimes that can make the biggest difference in terms of whether treatment is successful or not.
Most of the time I have seen injectible medications used when a person has difficulty remembering to take their medication. I haven't heard of any antidepressants being injectible though; what I have seen is injectible antipsychotics (such as Invega or Zyprexa). Lorazepam is sometimes used in inpatient settings for a person who may be a danger to someone else (though there has been a push toward not using chemical restraints, here in NC they still do use them).
@KristenPLPCCRC
Hi Kristen,
I am struggling with depression currently. I have fibromyalgia which has contributed to it as I'm in pain a lot. I am also going through perimenopause and have very low progesterone and iron. So I have just started the hormone therapy, increased dosage on my meds for depression (3 weeks ago) and taking iron. I still have such a hard time getting up. I am off work currently, but need to get up to get my daughter to school. I don't even think I am that tired, it's simply dreading the moring. Any advice on countering this problem.
@littleJackfruit7122 I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this! Chronic pain can be so exhausting. What is it that you dread about getting out of bed? Is it having to face the day, knowing that once you get moving you will begin hurting, or is it something else? Are you working with a pain doctor or clinic? Wishing you health and healing!!
@KristenPLPCCRC
Dear Kristen,
I wonder if you could give me some guidance on my next step. I am suffering from a romantic jealousy for about 7 years now. I did lots of research, self-reflecting and I managed to get it under control in a way. I rarely have any outburst now, and I have moments when I feel confident and not jealous at all. However here and there a time comes when I am totally crushed again. I am having such a moment right now. I feel anxious and depressed and my self worth is down to zero. I am focusing on giving it time and to love myself. But I feel like others cannot love me, wont love me and that I cannot blame them. I feel like I lost a sense of identity as well.
To give you a short info about me. I moved abroad for my love about 3 years ago. We are in a relationship for 7 years. I am happy with him, he loves me and respects me. But I have this jealous thoughts, I cannot stand the thought of him watching porn or to check out other girls. He does nothing of that in front of me but I keep thinking what he does when I am not around. From thinking it so much feeling of being cheated and not wanted becomes burning real. I know this is how jealousy works though, and I could manage it but right now I am lost again. I also know jealousy is based on imagination and just it happened that my focus got stuck on this issue. However I cannot get out of it obviously. Even when I do feel better, I am aware that this is just temporary and the bad times will come again.
There is another issue that I believe influences, or/and is influenced on how I feel. Isolation. People of the country I moved to mostly do not speak English. And local language is super hard. Although I improved a lot in 3 years I am still not fluent. So it is extremly hard for me to make friends here. When I first came here, I started with studies in another city and had foreign friends there, however I spent 6h daily commuting from and back to the city where I live with my SO. Now I am in the process of writing thesis so I am mostly home alone. As I am more introverted I dont mind spending time alone at home while he works, actually I enjoy being alone but I do miss to have friends..I have noone to talk to about this issue. I dont even tell to my old friends, because I am kind of embarassed and because they do not understand how it feels to be jealous. Only my SO knows. Anyhow, thanks to my jealousy I isolated myself from any chance when I could make friends in this new environment, or be with friends. I mostly dont want to visit my home country because that would mean my SO would have a week alone so maybe he would watch a lot of porn. I also dont want to stay out whith friends when they visit or with local friends here if I know my SO is home alone. I am afraid and try to prevent a visit from any female friend (or sister) with big breast or who dresses sexually provoking way. My other relationships are getting damaged this way. The country I live in now is Muslim in majority which is good for me because women dress more modest than in Europe. I cannot imagine myself living in Europe or any other country where women are wearing very sexy. I am paranoid and cannot enjoy life. I feel trapped.
I dont know if it matters but I got crushed again now after my parents visited. Not due to jealousy but simply my self confidence got crushed. For a week I was listening to my mom shouting on my father. Now when I live far away she is easier on me, but towards father she has the same attitude. She is extremely demanding, strict and controling woman. At the same time it is obvious she has her own insecurities. All my life she was extremely controling towards me and my sister. Work and success meant a lot for her, but love not so much. My poor sister also suffers from insecurities. Life away from my family helped me actually to get to know myself, what I want, who am I, and to gain confidence. But I get moments when I feel down again. And I know it is my fault for developing jealousy.
Anyway, I would like to ask what would you suggest me to do to fight this problems - low self worth, jealousy..? Before I loved to work and be among coworkers, but now I am afraid to take on any job that would have different schedule with my SO. Maybe I should though. Meditation also helps me, but when I have moments like I am having right now I feel so lost. And every time when it happens again I am more fed up. I ask myself, will it ever end? It hurts so much. If not for my SO who loves me, and for my dog who would have noone to care for her, I'd even have moments when I'd consider suicide.
And as for the moment I am trapped in now, what steps would you suggest to find my self worth again and my own identity? I feel like I dont know who I am or what I want, or how to behave with people,.. I dont feel grounded. I feel depressed and anxiuos thoughts keep coming around.
Thanks in advance!
@Coconut2939 Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you! It sounds like you are struggling in your new environment. It can be very hard to move away from everything that you know into the unknown!
What is it about your boyfriend that makes it hard for you to trust him? Has he done something in the past that caused you to fear that he might do something? I think it is important to think about your fears and to confront them so that you can understand exactly what they are.
I do think it is important to have a social network. Maybe if you have an outlet it may help to take the focus off your fears. What are some things that you enjoy doing? Do they have groups where you live that can support you in doing that?
@KristenPLPCCRC Thanks a lot for your reply!
It is challenging to start life in new environment but I can handle this actually. I mean the culture is really different and language hard but I know that this are usual challenges that everyone faces and it gets better with time. And I am confident in myself that way, I am happy in that retrospect of my life. I also had huge performance anxiety and social anxiety with which I am successfully dealing and can live with, but I just cannot fix myself jealousy wise. So now I am thinking to even try some medicine for anxiety. When I ask people online about it, they ''say dont use drugs fix it with therapy''. But I think it is hard to find a suitable therapist that can help me with this issue, and I honestly cannot afford that many therapies. So I would like to ask you, do you think my case is appropriate for psychiatrist visit or should I deal with it with self help/therapy? Honestly I got really tired picking myself up when I always fall back and I just cannot overcome this issue.
My boyfriend is actually very loving and supporting. He doesnt do anything that would be harming me emotionally or any other way. Actually he goes out of his way to support my comfort, he closes his eyes when we watch a movie and a sexy lady appears, and many others. I mean how many guys would do that? The thing is I developed this anxiety after very bad relationship 8 years ago. I dont know if or how that relationship really affected me. But I know before I was very rational person also not a jealous kind, and after it I was an emotional mess. The guy was very manipulative and a liar. Anyhow after that relationship when I started with my current bf he was on purposely trying to make me jealous in the begining, to feel loved he said, and sometimes he was quite an ass but I know he loved me. He also wanted more personal freedom at the beginning which was making me very insecure, and at those times I was developing my jealousy that was almost like paranoia. That was 7 years ago, time was passing and as we almost broke up I decided to get myself together. I started to analyze and rationalize my thoughts, I got it clear that my fears are often based on my own imagination and blown out of proportion. I started to meditate and be more mindful, read positive things, find positive things about myself daily, also exercising daily. But I still cannot change how certain situations make me feel. Breathing exercises help sometimes but not always. I have better and worse days, but lets say that averagely in a month I have 20% of good days, 50% of relatively okay days when I dont think with light speed all the time but I still have this burden on me, and 30% I am totally down, feeling hopeless and depressed. Some months are better some worse. 14-10days before my mentruation I am also harder to control my thoughts. And when I am out it is like my brain is already programmed to scan the environment for how women are dressed - whether I want to pay attention or not. I am focused to do my thing, trying to not care but I notice every piece of skin shown by women. On my good days I let those pass, on less good days it just makes me sad but I try to ignore it and focuse on something else, and on worse days it brings out all kind of other thoughts and I start to think massively how I am not good enough, etc. That is when I am alone. When he is with me I get a panic attack with any too much revealing woman. This is just one side of the issue. The other is that I cannot relax anymore and enjoy when my friends visit me, I think all the time, plan, worry behind the forced smile I try to put up for my friends and family. I am afraid to take on the job. Etc. I feel safest when there is no surprises in my life, when I have same old schedule and I can mentally prepare myself before any activity. But this life is lonely and I know it is not a way to live in isolation. Just any other way it causes me too much stress.
I am sorry for such long essays. I really respect that you reply at all, I know you are very busy. But in case you read this, would you suggest me to visit psychiatrist or I better dont take on medicine in my case?
Thanks again in advance!
@Coconut2939 Thank you so much for sharing with me! I know it can be hard to open up to someone - it takes a lot of courage to share your truth!!
As far as medication, I am not licensed to prescribe and so cannot say for certain whether it would benefit you or not. However, it does sound like you are able to manage anxiety in other areas of your life, which I think is absolutely amazing! Anxiety can be so scary, and can make us either freeze up or run.
Is it the jealousy that is causing the most issues for you? If you had a bad experience in a relationship in the past it can be very difficult to break the habits that we are accustomed to. Therapy may be very helpful for you to work toward resolving those fears and doubts so that you can feel more confident in your current situation.
Whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck!!
@KristenPLPCCRC
Going to study BSc Psychology next year in uni!
A few questions :
- What is the difference between BSc and BA psychology?
- What career paths are available for therapists?
Thank you in advance!
@Sean1988 congratulations on your program - this is an exciting field! I dont know that I have heard of a BSc program. I know that in the US, most therapy or social work positions do require a masters degree or higher and a license.
Best of luck to you you in your program!!
I have bipolar disorder and I'm struggling with finding the right medications...... do you have any suggestions on medicine I've done some research on it and told my psychiatrist and she's prescribe certain medications to me that I suggested but they haven't really worked out I'm still having some manic episodes, can you please help?
@Jfayeblackwell14 I am sorry that the medications aren
I began self harming and I feel it will stop eventually I don't know if I need professional help or not
@Strawberry64 self harming behavior may or may not go away on its own. It may be beneficial to work with a professional who can help you learn why you are self harming and who can maybe teach you some healthier coping mechanisms. Also, the self harm community has some fantastic resources from what I have seen and may be able to help as well.
Have you ever had thoughts that you wish you werent here anymore? Please reach out to me if you have!!
I have someone who has paid for therapy and heard from no-one. Given they haven't heard they don't feel they should pay.
@caringPanda45 I am so sorry that they havent heard from anyone! You may need to reach out to the admin staff to discuss options with them. Lara Gregorio is someone you may want to talk to.
I encourage your friend to continue to seek therapy, and hope that the process goes better in the future!!
@KristenPLPCCRC thanks for getting back to me. I have given them the email to follow up what happened. Cheers
@caringPanda45 oh good, I hope they get a positive resolution!!
Even though i am a bisexual. But in case i come out as a straight, is it ok?
@Mani16 I think you should be whoever you are! It is important to be yourself. However you choose to identify, it shouldn
Is the therapy option on here free?
@Rachel1988 the therapy option is not free on the website as 7 Cups has hired licensed therapists to provide services. There are listeners available on the platform who can chat with you for support, but are not able to provide professional advice.
Hope this information helps!!
Idk who to talk to. I'm signed up for online therapy now for 2 weeks. Was talking to Him. I cleaned my phone and now everything is gone. How do I fox it? Who can I call? Or contact?
@omastars I would get in touch with the admin staff to try to figure out who was the assigned therapist. Maybe look under support and feedback at the bottom of the page? Hope this helps!!
