Della, my heart goes out to you. There€™s nothing worse than desperately needing help and having the one person you feel can help you let you down, even when you know it€™s beyond their control. I know, I€™ve been there.
After I first started getting PAs and during a really bad bout of depression, I finally found courage to approach a doctor. He suggested therapy - easier said than done in UK if you can€™t afford private, least it was then. So much depends on where you live and what€™s available in your area. In mine there wasn€™t much, all they could offer was group therapy. I waited over a year (without meds or seeing anyone) and when it finally started it was hell, all types of people thrown in together, some far from supportive. People were dropping out like flies, more coming in €“ a constant turnover. But I stuck at it, telling myself no pain no gain, things have to get worse before they get better. And oh boy, did they get worse! Attacks stronger and more frequent, depression deeper, until it got to the point where I couldn€™t face it any more and stopped going.
Nobody from the centre contacted me €“ not a phone call, not a letter. Nobody gave a toss. All those months of heartache and outpourings, and nobody could be bothered to check if I was okay or offer a friendly ear. I felt totally abandoned.
I tried to hack it on my own, but I was worse now than before, seriously depressed, frightened to go outside. I knew I had to try again. So several months later I went back, saw the guy who€™d suggested the group in the first place. He looked down his nose at me, shrugged and said, €˜I didn€™t think it would work.€
I could have killed him. How dare they! I thought €“ how dare they play with your mind, dredge up all this stuff, then leave you to sink or swim. I think the anger helped because I managed to get out of him a course of CT. It meant a long drive to another town, but by then I was willing to try anything.
After another long wait I started. What a difference. The therapist was wonderful, kind and caring, and I felt an instant rapport. She said I should never have been put in the group, it was totally the wrong thing. Suddenly I had hope again. I looked forward to seeing her, began to follow the tasks she set me €“ not always easy but she