6 ms·
Why are people so fucking excited about therapy? I was recently at a party where someone announced to the whole group they were depressed and had just started t
by subjectsigma 4y ago
Why are people so fucking excited about therapy? I was recently at a party where someone announced to the whole group they were depressed and had just started therapy. Everyone was clapping like they won the lottery. Utterly bizarre and upsetting.
"Hey everyone, you all thought I was fine but I've actually been deeply unhappy and struggling! I'm now going to pay a stranger with a dubious educational background $300/hr as part of a long and arduous process that sometimes takes years and has mixed results. Isn't that great?"
If she had announced she was starting chemo people would be weeping. Instead she announced she has another chronic, difficult, expensive, and occasionally fatal health issue and everyone is super jazzed about it??? I'm amazed more people don't have strong negative reactions to therapy
- lynx23 4y agoThat pretty much sums up my point. Thanks for writing this, and sorry for the downvotes. That is HN. Just accept it, and create a new throwaway...
- comfypotato 4y agoIn the US at least, there are typically routes to affordable therapy. Sliding scales, university-sponsorship, employer-sponsorship, and government-sponsorship for severe mental illness. Using myself as an (admittedly very specific, not universal) example: my employer is paying my tuition, and the university has a free program. Most therapists in the 200,000-person city in which I grew up have a sliding scale that goes down to $60.00 per hour, and that's only if you're paying entirely out of pocket.
- circlefavshape 4y agoAnother data point - therapy costs EUR60 per hour in the village (in Ireland) where I live
- subjectsigma 4y ago> I'm sorry that you've found yourself with such an unrealistic idea of therapy. I love coming back to this site. It's absolutely incredible how many different ways people can find to say "Fuck you!" The Internet is endlessly creative. Edit: it's not so bad after all
- comfypotato 4y agoRelevant: I reread my comment, noticed this was antagonistic, and removed it before I noticed your comment here.
- subjectsigma 4y agoThanks, I appreciate that.
- circlefavshape 4y agoThere's a lot of weird cultural baggage around therapy, esp in the US, but that doesn't mean it is not actually useful to people. Might be useful to you someday, it'd be foolish to let people over-empathising at a party put you off the whole thing
- astura 4y agoWhat a weird comment. They are excited that someone who needs treatment has decided to get it; not that she needs treatment in the first place. Recovery from mental health problems is extremely difficult, but it's more difficult when you don't seek any treatment or take any steps to feel better. It also reminds someone who is feeling sad and alone that she has friends who deeply care about her and her emotions. You'll see the same reaction when someone says "I've decided to quit drinking/smoking/gambling/etc" even if they aren't seeking outside help. The friends are happy and excited to see a friend improving their life, not excited or happy that their friend has an addiction in the first place. The reaction you saw in the cancer situation would be the same if everyone knew the friend had cancer but refused to get treatment for it then announced they were finally seeking medical treatment.
- subjectsigma 4y agoCommunicating the emotions of the room over the Internet is hard. Don't tell me how to interpret what I saw and felt. And it absolutely felt like this person was treating her mental illness as an exclusive club membership instead of a tragedy.
- astura 4y agoExcuse me? Reread the post your commenting on, I said absolutely nothing about the person seeking therapy, I was solely was talking about other's reactions to the person.