psychpt

DBT is starting to become more readily available in Australia, but it is still considered very new and it is difficult to get into courses. Personally, I have never done it. I'm a patient in the private system and the hospital where I'm an inpatient only started offering it at the start of the year (was meant to start, but they wouldn't let me because I was inpatient at time). From what I've heard from the patients going, it is helful. On the other hand though, I used to self harm everyday and lengthy hospitalisations have helped me a lot. I've been in 7 weeks (coming home tomorrow!) this time, but last year I spent nearly 4 months in. I only self harm every couple of weeks, if that, now. I've often complained that self harm isn't enough to get you landed in hospital, but once you get there it is reason enough to keep you there. I think that a lot of it depends on whether or not you are in the private or public system. I've been lucky to mostly be treated in a private psych hospital but honestly, the best and most helpful things have been developing good relationships with my dr's and nurses.

the notion that cutters usually carry a dx of bpd is actually outdated. self harm is only one possible symptom out of five that needs to be satisfied to be given the dx of bpd and it is sad to see that there are still psych nurses of all people who are working and believe that cutters are necessarily suffering bpd. if you took the time to get to know your patients you would find out that many of them are suffering other complex problems, such at ptsd. it is easy to label someone bpd, even though the credibility of such a 'label' is being questioned entirely and may be scrapped. if you want to work on an adolescent psych ward, you are going to be seeing self harm of all sorts (not just cutting) on a daily basis. don't go into this area because you want to help people stop cutting. go into this area because you are willing to stick with your patients as they work through the underlying issues that have led them to self harm. you can't save people from themeselves. psych requires dedication and commitment to developing therapeutic relationships with patients so that they can eventually adopt healthier coping strategies.