Comment by Carol Rose and Company on 29 Sep 2009 at 9:06 am

Dear Karen, Last night I wanted to kill myself because my alters wont let me sleep. My mind never ever shuts off. I want to ask you if when your alters were annoying your everyday life how you slept? I called my therapist, he gave me his personal cell number. By the time he returned my call I felt better because of reading your blog. I know my opinion may not be worth a dime but you had saved my life last night. I found strength through exhaustion from your writings. I told my shrink what I was doing and he said he read your book because of treating me and knew what I meant even if he didn’t read your blog. He said he will read it when he has time. He also said he was thankful for your effort to help patients like me. He also said he didn’t mind if I write you and ask questions. He said your therapist did amazing work with you and he hoped he could be as much help to me as Dr. Baer was to you. Thank you Karen.

Dear Carol Rose and Company,

Thank you for not ending your life! I am so glad to hear that you changed your mind. I understand how fragile you must be feeling at this time. The exhaustion caused from lack of sleep from alter chaos and activity will wear one down. I’ve been there, too! I don’t usually recommend medication because I hated taking meds myself but your therapist may be able to prescribe something to help you relax enough to fall asleep. Dr. Baer gave me a prescription for a low dose of Xanax, which took the edge off. I kept them for those hard nights, but rarely if ever needed them. I’ve found reading put me to sleep just as well, too!

Just like you, my thoughts never stopped. I swear, every second of each day was filled with thoughts. For me, as time passed in therapy, my constant thoughts lessened, but they never disappeared, just became more tolerable. Distraction was the key for me. Reading, music, television, anything to change my pattern of thought was welcomed.

I am glad to hear that reading my blog has helped you calm down. That’s important to me. I am also glad that you share my blog with your therapist. That tells me you are trying your best to understand your illness and all that you are experiencing. By sharing with your therapist, he can understand where you are coming from and will be better able to help you heal.

Thank you for such wonderful compliments. I believe you have found the right therapist to accompany you on your journey.  Just by what you have shared, I believe your therapist is working right beside you. That’s just the way Dr. Baer and I worked together to heal me. Teamwork at it’s best!

Karen