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> No offense to the reply, but “need a therapist” is a very American response and a bit of a cop out. Why? I'd change it to "need a psychiatrist".

• vjulian 4y ago
  I don’t follow your last sentence. Why? Because it is a very American approach that is less the norm elsewhere. Therapy is not an industry to such a degree necessarily in other countries. Cop-out because it is akin to RTFM, ‘go Google it’, ‘delete and re-install’. If one doesn’t have a personal viewpoint, why bother responding.
  • soheil 4y ago
    What? No it's like format whatever that shit is and install Ubuntu.
    • vjulian 4y ago
      Still not following, but I think that is a function of the medium. I think the US therapist industry is a symptom of its culture and relative lack of community. There is an important role for mental health professionals, don’t get me wrong. I’m referring more to the industry of mental health.
      • Apocryphon 4y ago
        What other countries are you thinking about? Certainly in other nations with higher degrees of religiosity and intact community, people may share their issues with clerical figures. Certainly the American mental health industry, especially the pharmaceutical component, is skewed by all sorts of misaligned incentives. But I doubt that Europeans, Canadians, or Australians are not taking advantage of therapy options offered by national health systems.
  • tacticalturtle 4y ago
    Not the original poster, but regarding the last sentence, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can prescribe medication. A medical doctor can evaluate the OP much better than we can, and determine if medication may be able to help, in addition to changing thinking patterns.
  • halkony 4y ago
    Psychiatrists differ from therapists in the US because they can prescribe meds. Antidepressants, ADHD meds, etc. Not sure what his point is though. I understand your frustration with the "go to therapy" response. Even in the US there is a dismissive undertone to comments like this. The reality is that the people who get the most out of therapy already have a positive outlook on its benefits. Therapy doesn't fix anyone directly -- it gives a people a vehicle to look for ways to fix themselves by talking to a non-judgmental arbiter. People that have already done that tend to take it for granted and obviously there's a ton of variance in results/quality of therapeutic conversation.
    • caddemon 4y ago
      Eh I don't think a random non-judgemental arbiter would have the same efficacy. Therapy also usually involves teaching specific tools for dealing with negative thoughts. Parts of that could be outsourced to a workbook, but at times there is helpful personalization that occurs. It's totally true that it requires some buy-in, but so does an exercise routine. Things that require effort require buy-in. It is also true that there's a ton of variance and that some people who give it an honest try still don't really improve. This stuff is still really poorly understood for the most part, and I don't think therapy is a silver bullet. Neither is anything else anyone suggests. So yeah therapy is far from perfect, but I think it's selling it a bit short to suggest that the entire effect boils down to a facilitated self-conversation. I also don't get why others are so annoyed by the therapy suggestion, as I don't really see the downside of trying it. OP should look into all the options he might have, which IMO is the point of seeking community advice. You're not going to get an exact answer from HN comments, just some ideas.