As someone who has been to a therapist like two times more than a decade ago and got tought a couple of useless new age energy visualisation exercises I assume some of those fancy behavioural-cognitive-whatever therapies could probably have some scientific validity. You could probably even do them without a therapist and save a bunch of money. Strange that I've never seen that discussed.
i went to a therapist as part of mandatory shit for trans stuff at the time and idk they just handed me some printouts for ptsd that i could easily have googled myself
Given recent events: CW for being able to sink a lot of time and money into treatment. And for brief descriptions of what bad depression symptoms were like.
I got diagnosed with clinical depression several years back -- now identified as bipolar II which is probably not what you think it is (?)
I got put into an intensive outpatient therapy program, which included group sessions 3 hours every weekday. It also included access to a therapist (cognitive behavioral/talk therapy with a PhD) and a psychiatrist (medication treatment). I was extremely lucky to have the insurance, time, and funds to do this.
The 3 hours were for teaching effective habits for basically making it easier to take care of yourself. I was very depressed at the time and I didn't eat, clean, sleep, or shower with any regularity. That shit makes you even more depressed which makes you take care of yourself even less and all that jazz. I didn't realize that staying up until 4 am and eating microwaved potatoes was making me feel that much worse until I was taught how to crawl out of that hole. It was also group therapy, sitting in a room with like 12 other people who've been in the same place as me. I had never had friends who understood what it was like. Like, talking to friends about how every day I am filled with vague but intense dread and suffering just kinda freaked them out, but the group was like, "Yeah I feel, I've laid awake in bed for 4 hours staring at the ceiling with my soul on fire too"
Therapy with a professional was good for me because I could assume that his advice and insight was probably more objective than mine or my peers. Buddies could tell me that Trisha was being a huge bitch and I should ghost her on all social media, but they could be personally invested. If I were feeling shit about some aspect of my character or value as a person, my therapist could provide me with a nuanced second opinion, drawn from his experience with others with struggles and negative thought patters like me. Plus, some things you just can't tell your friends without causing a bunch of drama.
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses a lot on mindfulness. Basically, recognize the thoughts you're having, assess them calmly and as objectively as you can, and be conscious of their effects and next steps. A therapist could point out things like toxic self criticism or petty anger and I could learn to recognize it the next time. Also, just in general talking about your feelings really helps you digest and parst your thoughts.
I hope this helps explain some things for people. There's a lot of pseudoscience as well as weird pressure to go to therapy as well as to not go to therapy. I figure my personal account gives more insight on what it actually was like for me.
does therapy really do anything a good friend cant
Idk, never went to therapy nor had friends
As someone who has been to a therapist like two times more than a decade ago and got tought a couple of useless new age energy visualisation exercises I assume some of those fancy behavioural-cognitive-whatever therapies could probably have some scientific validity. You could probably even do them without a therapist and save a bunch of money. Strange that I've never seen that discussed.
i went to a therapist as part of mandatory shit for trans stuff at the time and idk they just handed me some printouts for ptsd that i could easily have googled myself
I went to get antidepressants prescribed, basically.
thats psychiatry which is actually useful imo lmao
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
Given recent events: CW for being able to sink a lot of time and money into treatment. And for brief descriptions of what bad depression symptoms were like.
I got diagnosed with clinical depression several years back -- now identified as bipolar II which is probably not what you think it is (?) I got put into an intensive outpatient therapy program, which included group sessions 3 hours every weekday. It also included access to a therapist (cognitive behavioral/talk therapy with a PhD) and a psychiatrist (medication treatment). I was extremely lucky to have the insurance, time, and funds to do this.
The 3 hours were for teaching effective habits for basically making it easier to take care of yourself. I was very depressed at the time and I didn't eat, clean, sleep, or shower with any regularity. That shit makes you even more depressed which makes you take care of yourself even less and all that jazz. I didn't realize that staying up until 4 am and eating microwaved potatoes was making me feel that much worse until I was taught how to crawl out of that hole. It was also group therapy, sitting in a room with like 12 other people who've been in the same place as me. I had never had friends who understood what it was like. Like, talking to friends about how every day I am filled with vague but intense dread and suffering just kinda freaked them out, but the group was like, "Yeah I feel, I've laid awake in bed for 4 hours staring at the ceiling with my soul on fire too"
Therapy with a professional was good for me because I could assume that his advice and insight was probably more objective than mine or my peers. Buddies could tell me that Trisha was being a huge bitch and I should ghost her on all social media, but they could be personally invested. If I were feeling shit about some aspect of my character or value as a person, my therapist could provide me with a nuanced second opinion, drawn from his experience with others with struggles and negative thought patters like me. Plus, some things you just can't tell your friends without causing a bunch of drama.
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses a lot on mindfulness. Basically, recognize the thoughts you're having, assess them calmly and as objectively as you can, and be conscious of their effects and next steps. A therapist could point out things like toxic self criticism or petty anger and I could learn to recognize it the next time. Also, just in general talking about your feelings really helps you digest and parst your thoughts.
I hope this helps explain some things for people. There's a lot of pseudoscience as well as weird pressure to go to therapy as well as to not go to therapy. I figure my personal account gives more insight on what it actually was like for me.