Now there is no one right way or no one way to do therapy. However, there is one that is widely known. It might work on most people, but it definitely won't work on everyone. It is a very complex and thought-out system.
I think it's a safe bet to say that most patients out there have at least once in their life had to fill up some form of an excel sheet. Maybe you knew it already, maybe not, but that is called the schema mode inventory.
Why is it notable? Because it is an excellent system.
If you already know what it is, you may skip this part:
Schema Mode Inventory requires you to fill a sheet (it might be offered to you in any form or it might be verbally asked of you during therapy, especially during introductory sessions). The sheet is compiled with statements and you have to choose a number from 1 to 6 with 1 being that the statement doesn't resonate with you and 6 being that it absolutely does. The scoring sheet will give you numbers in different departments.
The departments go:
- emotional deprivation,
- abandonment/instability,
- mistrust/abuse,
- social isolation/alienation,
- defectiveness/shame, failure,
- dependence/incompetence,
- vulnerability to harm and illness,
- enmeshment/undeveloped self,
- subjugation,
- self-sacrifice,
- emotional inhibition,
- unrelenting standards/hypercriticalness,
- entitlement/grandiosity,
- insufficient self-control/self-discipline,
- approval-seeking/recognition-seeking,
- negativity/pessimism,
- and punitiveness.
I'd like to clarify that I am not posting "the therapists' secrets" here because this is just teaching you how therapy works. It is nothing compared to what therapy actually is. Therapy is a complex list of sessions that are tailored according to the patient or anyone who attends it.
The therapist will assess the scores and most likely discusses them with you to point out the areas in which you display troubles. Schema therapy is perfected if there happens to be a visibly present point that needs attendance, that is the whole point of therapy. Schema Mode Inventory saves time and resources and is an excellent way to attend troubles faster.
The higher the number in a department, usually the more unhealthy you are. Be that as it may, the emphasis shouldn't be on how 'damaged' you might think you are, it should be on the roots and how to avoid them. This is where I will remind you of my most important lesson of all: all experiences make us richer. That is the mindset one needs to acquire. We have all heard stories of grandparents that have been to hell and back and still managed to smile. What you need to take from that is you have something that maybe others might not. You have the experiences.
Depression is a heavy topic and that's because the patients out there come from various backgrounds. Some come from very obvious places such as toxic relationships, abuse, alcoholism or drug abuse, chronic illnesses, and yet there are some people who shouldn't feel horrible because their life has been a blast.
Wrong! Here's why: while depression might be easier to come to people who have suffered through or are still suffering through rough patches, depression remains an illness that comes from a dysfunction that doesn't even need to be necessarily triggered, though as I've mentioned the main trigger is still stress.
I can draw a comparison here with any other organ failure.
Nevertheless, there will always be cases where the schema score sheet will say that the person is completely healthy even though it is evident that they suffer from depression.
These people have managed to do a separation between the subjective and objective sectors. They understand what is right, and do it accordingly. They pull their own strings and get work done nonetheless. They can reason their behaviour often enough.
In other psychiatric units, this act might be called masking; it is not necessarily their fault either.
These people might go through these conversations like "why did you pretend then?" The thing is, that their brain immediately starts to respond with a reaction that it wouldn't benefit me in any way if I didn't act normal. Their mind goes immediately off to acting like a normal individual, like any other.
The truth is that I am indeed one of those patients. It is a little more difficult than for those on whom schema would work because these patients are suffering from a worse conditions.
Although if you are depressed then it is high in the cards that you start believing you are in the "worse cases", I hope you are not. I am here to tell you why it is so though, a human's mind during depression tends to fall for the patterns that go a little like this: there's nothing that can help me, I am incurable. I am in the worst place possible. And if you are even mildly suicidal, you understand the (otherwise to be) following blanks.
Now I am not going to say that you are curable or not, because this depends on so many things. I assure you though, it is better to not be depressed and be able to access to those thoughts just to remind yourself you're in a better place than to be drowning in depression and hope that it ends there.
Whether you believe it or not, your body actually wants to survive and that's what you're here to do.
I am also aware that I am writing a blog to an audience that would be completely diverse and that's why I want to emphasize that you should still go to therapy! Because I could never be that precise.
On another note, I am going to end it here. If you have any questions I would be happy to do my best answering them or maybe even write a post about it!
Logging off.
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