My experience with CBT - Lessons and related thoughts to help you with your comedown
For those that are thinking about doing CBT - I have undergone CBT years ago when I was constantly depressed/anxious. First of all - it is expensive. I don't remember the exact price but it was a couple hundred dollars (out of pocket) each session and I did it for about 8 weeks. Secondly, it does work but it is not easy. You don't just go see the psychologist, listen to him, and everything is better. You have to apply the concepts they teach you every single day or else it will not work or be very ineffective.
CBT mainly is for people that have constant negative thoughts that are ruining your life in one way or another (whether it be anxiety, depression, paranoia, etc.). Basically, it's like retraining your brain to think logically about your current situation. For example, if one of the constant negative thoughts you have is "I'm a fucken loser." Instead of constantly thinking you are a loser you have to think about the reasons why you are NOT a loser. Keep telling yourself that you have value, you do have friends, etc. until that constant negative thought, "I'm a fucken loser" subconsciously turns into "I have value." This basic concept is the root of what I learned at CBT. It is your retraining your brain to think at your situation in a different, positive light. MUCH easier said than done.
The interesting thing is even if you are a fucken loser if you just tell yourself "I'm the man" every time that thought pops up eventually your thought will change and you will feel like the man. Self-affirmations work! Before a job interview instead of dwelling on anxiety you may have keep telling yourself, "I'm confident in myself and I can handle this." Say it over and over out loud. You will feel more confident. Apply this concept to any situation in your life.
An example of homework I had for CBT was to write down every thought I had that was detrimental to my life in any way. Consciously paying attention to every thought allows you to actually see what your thinking (this is what meditation helps with) because our minds run on auto-pilot and we don't realize how the mind is running our lives instead of ourselves running the mind. When you control your mind - you control your life. Your thoughts create your reality. Each negative thought I had I would write down how that thought affects me, what good is that thought in my life, and what thought can I replace that with that will actually benefit my mental health. This wasn't some bullshit technique to 'fake' it. It's about being honest with yourself. Back to my previous example - If you keep saying to yourself, "I'm a loser." You are only a loser because you are thinking you are a loser. It's all about perception.
I found doing the CBT sessions worked but what was equally effective was just being able to talk to the guy about my problems and how I felt about my life. He helped me through some problems and made me realize I was so worried over nothing. I have no past traumas in my life and it's just about realizing life isn't so bad. One of the biggest things I took away from those sessions is that happiness is a choice. No one has a default state of happy or default state of sad. THESE ARE CHOICES. I thought I was broken because I was not constantly optimistic. I thought if you aren't happy then something is wrong with you. Everyone has a neutral state, it's just a matter of thinking positive thoughts or negative thoughts. Obviously, the more you think positive the happier you will be.
How does this apply to a long-term MDMA comedown? Simply, you can focus on your symptoms (and be down about the situation) or you can focus on how you are a stronger person because of this, things will get better, and a night of taking MDMA gone wrong doesn't change the value you have always had. It's your choice if you want to beat yourself up for past mistakes or think about it in a positive light. I am in no way saying you can think yourself out of your symptoms. I know they are very real. All I'm saying is you can think about your symptoms in a positive way (that it is temporary, that you have positive attributes about yourself that you are overlooking, etc.). It's naive when some users come on these forums with no long-term comedown experience and say, "Dude it's all in your head. MDMA doesn't cause damage lol." MDMA damage is real despite what some say. You do have the power to change the way you think about your symptoms. In my situation, instead of dwelling on my symptoms; I accept that they are there and continue with my life as if they weren't there.
CBT is a slow process in healing your mind. Realize that if you have been constantly negative with yourself for a long period of time then it's not like flicking a switch. Yea there are certain mental breakthroughs that help tremendously but the deeper a hole you dug yourself, the longer it will take to climb out. It's a slow process of changing your thoughts to create momentum for the positive direction you want to go in. That is why so many people choose drugs when they are in a bad state because it is the quick fix and many people want things that are easy. CBT is NOT a quick fix. The people that do recover from mental illnesses or MDMA symptoms are the ones that are looking down the road and are willing to live healthy every day for reward at the end of the road even if it is years.
Unless you are seriously messed up from a past experience or your MDMA comedown I would not recommend CBT. You can probably google "CBT concepts" and take the initiative yourself without spending a lot of money. Also, meditation, mindfulness, and reading books (like Power of Now, A New Earth which was already mentioned) will improve your life and is therapy in its own right.
In conclusion, the main reason I'm not recommending CBT is because of how expensive it is and how you can take your own measures outside of therapy sessions to heal yourself. However, if you are willing to spend the money on it and put in the effort to change yourself there is no doubt it can be very rewarding.
