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  #1  
Old January 20th, 2006, 07:12 PM
ronnie35 ronnie35 is offline
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Default Help for Borderline /Bipolar

Hello all,

I suffer from ocd,post traumatic disorder and some say bipolar disorder and/or borderline personailty.

My question is if any of the alternative methods of healing are effective and real.

I have been on medicine and tradtional therapy for years and frankly I want to do these things and fix myself but have no idea of the validity of these modalties or approaches to mental health, please help.

Hypnotherapy / NLP / Thoughtfield / EMDR / EFT

Motivational cds / subliminal cds

Color an sound therapies

Inner child work / rebirth / past life regression

Shamanistic soul retrieval / journeying

Meditation / Mindfullness / zen

Tai chi / chi kung / yoga / pilates

Herbs / Bach Remedies / Ayurveda / Amino acids

Spirituality / centering Prayer / chanting / relax response

lay on hands therapies= reiki, energy work etc.

body psychotherapies = craniosacral, feldenkrais, rubenfeld, alxander technique, bio energetics, etc.

Acupuncture / shiatsu / tuina

I know it's alot but through my research these keep coming up in healing from mental illness.

Please help, I dont want to waste money and due to my illness I can be naive I guess.

My mothers theory is they all have one thing in common and that is belief and it is I who can heal myself with the power of my mind, meds and psychotherapy, but I have been trying that for years...I am about to give up at this point.

How does everyone here proceed to treat someone like me?
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  #2  
Old February 4th, 2006, 08:54 PM
Carol Ann Rowland Carol Ann Rowland is offline
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Location: Ontario
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Default Re: Help for Borderline /Bipolar

Some of these alternative methods, particularly energy work (EFT is one example, Zensight Process is another) you can learn about online, for free, and they are very much geared to self-help use.

You can try them out and in the vast majority of cases, you can start experiencing noticeable improvement right away, without needing to invest a lot of time or money.

I have been using energy work techniques with clients with PTSD and other complex diagnoses for the past several years, and have seen excellent results - far better than when I was doing talk therapy alone.

EMDR is also an excellent tool for those who are good candidates for it, but for that you do need to be assessed and treated by someone who is skilled and knowledgeable both with EMDR and with dealing with your particular issues.

Take care,

Carol Ann
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Carol Ann Rowland, MSW, RSW
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  #3  
Old February 5th, 2006, 06:29 AM
Da Friendly Puter Tech Da Friendly Puter Tech is offline
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Posts: 60
Default Re: Help for Borderline /Bipolar

Some of these things might work - some of them might not work. Your guess is as good as anyones.

The reason why noone can really say if they "work" or not is because of hte lack of scientific data to say whether or not these things work.

It is also worth it to note that practitioners of alternative, or new age treatments are often not licensed by a state board, not accountable to anyone, and you will have no recourse if the treatment goes wrong.

This is not to say you shouldnt try something. It is to say that you should do an awful lot of research before you try things. When I say research I mean look for both the potential benefits, and the potential harmful effects before you make your decision.

You should also ask yourself - What is the worst possible reaction I might have to this treatment I am thinking about?

Once you have that answer you can look out for negative outcomes in yourself - anticipate them before they get out of hand. You can also make a more qualified decision when you have as much info as possible.

Da Friendly Puter Tech
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  #4  
Old June 13th, 2006, 02:22 PM
ann wills ann wills is offline
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Default Re: Help for Borderline /Bipolar

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  #5  
Old August 6th, 2006, 01:18 AM
hrisme hrisme is offline
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Default Re: Help for Borderline /Bipolar

ronnie,
I am an individual who has recovered from Borderline Personality Disorder (recovery being defined as no longer meeting the diagnostic criteria & dealing productively with lingering traits). In my healing journey I have utilized many traditional and alternative methods of treatment. I have found many of these alternative methods to be quite effective & useful when used in conjuction with traditional therapeutic approaches. From my personal experiences, I do not feel that the alternative methods alone would have been sufficient to result in my recovery process. I am sharing information on the approaches you specifically mentioned, with the disclaimer that I am not a licensed medical profession, nor am I able to guarentee that your response to these treatments would be similar to mine. In advance I will ask you to excuse the length of the post, the multitude of techniques you requested information on combined with my tendancy to ramble make a concise response improbable!

<<Hypnotherapy / NLP / Thoughtfield / EMDR / EFT>>
<<lay on hands therapies= reiki, energy work etc.>>
I had negative experiences with NLP, as the person I was working with was very controlling & used it as a form of making me perceive myself as helpless and damaged based on the circumstances surrounding my birth (and thus in need of saving--which is where she came in). I do not believe that my experience is typical. I have heard that others have had positive experiences, and from what I have read I believe that this technique could be useful in treating specific trauma-related events. I avoided hypnotherapy at the advise of my primary therapist--she is tolerant of my desire to pursue other forms of treatment, but was fairly admant about that particular technique. With this technique there is a highly debatable risk of so-called "false memory syndrome", I would avoid using this technique as a method to recover "supressed" memories, though it may be helpful in assisting you with processing trauma under the right circumstances. I have not personally had any experience with EMDR, but have talked to many who have had good experiences with it. I have also talked with one individual who had a very negative experience with this technique--I can not recall why at the moment, unfortunatly, I believe they may have had bipolar or some other co-existing disorder in addition to BPD. As others have stated, I would suggest only using this technique under the supervision of a trained practitioner who is better able to determine if it would be helpful or harmful in your specific situation. I have not had any experience with Thoughtfield or EFT, but have had limited experience with Reiki techniques. My personal opinion on energy theory is even if there is nothing to the energy side of things (not saying there is or isn't) the simple matter of taking time to send or receive positive thoughts is beneficial.

<<Motivational cds / subliminal cds>>
<<Meditation / Mindfullness / zen>>
<<Spirituality / centering Prayer / chanting / relax response>>

I've had eight weeks of meditation training, several years of biofeedback and relaxation skills training, plus the focus on mindfullness in DBT groups. I have found all of these techniques to be extremely helpful, particularly in coping with anxiety and mind racing. I use subliminal cds rarely, as I find they give me a headache & simple nature music is equally effective (and much less expensive). With motivational cds it depends a lot on the cd--some are useful, while others are a waste of time and money. In my opinion, anything that distracts from the mind racing, focuses on calming the mind, and promotes a general feeling of peace and wellbeing, has the potential to be extremely productive.

<<Color an sound therapies>>
<<Herbs / Bach Remedies / Ayurveda / Amino acids>>
<<Acupuncture / shiatsu / tuina>>
<<body psychotherapies = craniosacral, feldenkrais, rubenfeld, alxander technique, bio energetics, etc.>>
For the last five years I have worked with a chiropractor/licensed homeopath who uses many of these techniques. I'm not sure how effective the color & sound therapies have been, but they certainly haven't been harmful. I've found many of the herbs & supplements to be useful, as well as amino acids. I also found the bach remedies to be somewhat useful--I was shocked both times at how accurate the computer evaluation he did was in pinpointing the exact challenges I was dealing with at the time. The first evaluation was done when I began treatment & I intentionally had told him nothing about why I was seeking treatment other than I was depressed, the second evaluation was done by a partner who had no access to my previous history and had never worked with me before, so I don't believe practitioner bias could have been a factor. I found "Rescue Remedy" to be useful for awhile when dealing with severe anxiety attacks, but found it lost effectiveness when overused (I tend to build up resistance to treatments quickly, so it may just be me). I also found homeopathic neurotransmitters (seratonine, dopamine, and melatonine) in liquid form to be useful for a time, but they also wore off quickly. According to my homeopath, he could more accurately assess my needs in this area through another computer panel, unfortunatly I can not afford that at this time. He has also used acupuncture and acupressure at times--I felt that both techniques promoted a decrease in the physical pain and tension assosiated with anxiety (and I am not a big fan of needles). Obviously, as a chiropractor he does regular chiropractic adjustments, I have found these useful in treating the pain, but not particularly useful as a preventative approach (granted, I often stop going to him when I feel better, because of the cost factor). I do feel that much of the physiological improvement I have experienced is a result of this form of treatment--however I have used it in conjunction with other forms of therapy. I do not feel that in my case it would have been particularly effective alone, at least for anything other than symptom reduction.

<<Inner child work / rebirth / past life regression>>
I've done limited inner child work, and found this to be disconcerting and upsetting. This is probably based on where I was at that point in my healing journey. I now inherently nurture what I have come to see as my "inner child", and have found this effective. I have not used rebirth, and have some concerns about the use of this technique. Personally, I do not believe in past life regression, so I have not researched this technique--but if it fits with your belief system it may be worth a try.

<<Tai chi / chi kung / yoga / pilates>>

I've done some yoga & pilates, and must admit I simply don't have the willpower to stick with it long enough to notice any particular results. I feel that any healthy approach that strengthens the body is going to assist in healing the mind.

<<My mothers theory is they all have one thing in common and that is belief and it is I who can heal myself with the power of my mind, meds and psychotherapy, but I have been trying that for years...I am about to give up at this point.>>

I agree--we must be in charge of our healing journey, or we will not improve regardless of the approach used. However, we must also have effective tools to aide us in the healing process, sheer willpower alone is not enough.

You did not ask about Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, but I am a strong advocate of it--after having gone through two group sessions in the last two months. I've used this approach only in the last few months, as the group was not available when I began treatment. However, I have found it very effective in teaching skills that I feel would have been useful when I began therapy.

As far as self-help goes, I have found the book "The Feeling Good Handbook" and the assosiated workbook "Ten Days to Self Esteem" useful in helping to re-train my thought process. These books use a cognitive-behavioral approach, and are very self-directed. I have also found the book "I Hate You, Don't Leave Me" useful in helping me to understand the complexity of borderline personality disorder.

Hope you find this information useful. If I can be of any other help please let me know.
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  #6  
Old January 24th, 2007, 07:19 AM
Caroline H-K Caroline H-K is offline
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Location: Hull, East Yorkshire
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Smile Re: Help for Borderline /Bipolar

Firstly Id like to say hello as Im new to this site but also I sympathise with your conditions as I myself too suffer from p.t.s.d and o.c.d and am also bipolar, I also suffered from self harm for many years which I am glad to say Ive been free of for 11 years now.If you would like to discuss anything regarding our conditions or the treatment of (I am trying cbt which is proving helpful and interesting too) please contact me via my email secret_smile123@hotmail.com it would be nice to talk to someone who can discuss the subjects with first hand experience.
Thankyou
Caroline
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