The meaninglessness of therapy

Kiwong

Well-known member
I must admit, i had lessons to learn to swim (was slow to pick it up).
With learning the bicycle, i had a guide - namely guide-wheels. But i picked that up after sufficient practise.

I too learnt to swim as an adult, after having a fear of deep water most of my life. There are adult swim teachers out there.

I'm not sure how therapy relates to learning to swim. I went to the local swimming pool and found a teacher.
 
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JJ999

New member
Re: Therapy of living!

I found all therapists wanted to do was talk about your past and childhood which wasn't very helpful for me at all. It just made me think of my past and made me depressed.

The most helpful thing I found was to not think about my problems and just try to join clubs/social groups/study something and meet people who have the same interest as you. Wallowing in my own thoughts and staying in the house makes me personally worse.

Just going somewhere and have nothing to do but talk I can't stand! At least in a hobby/sport/pub games or comedy/lecture you have something to start talking about with other people. The more you do/learn the more life experiences you have to talk about!
 

Earthcircle

Well-known member
I must admit, i had lessons to learn to swim (was slow to pick it up).
With learning the bicycle, i had a guide - namely guide-wheels. But i picked that up after sufficient practise.

As a child, I was forbidden to learn these things, and I never did. There many such things I don't know, and it is embarrassing. But, like I said, I am 52 now, and my incompetence will soon be indistinguishable from dementia. So does it really matter?
 

Earthcircle

Well-known member
Re: Therapy of living!

I found all therapists wanted to do was talk about your past and childhood which wasn't very helpful for me at all. It just made me think of my past and made me depressed.

The most helpful thing I found was to not think about my problems and just try to join clubs/social groups/study something and meet people who have the same interest as you. Wallowing in my own thoughts and staying in the house makes me personally worse.

Just going somewhere and have nothing to do but talk I can't stand! At least in a hobby/sport/pub games or comedy/lecture you have something to start talking about with other people. The more you do/learn the more life experiences you have to talk about!

My therapist is also a psychiatrist, and I need to keep seeing him to get the sleep medication. I think I'm trapped, since I won't get the sleep meds by joining a club. And yes, I do worry about the therapy making me worse. I feel that past therapy made me worse.
 
In Australia Psychotherapists can't administer medication. You have to be a Doctor before you can train to be a see psychiatrist, and only they can prescribe certain mental health recommendations. If they approve then they can refer your Doctor to prescribe. Psychiatrists are cool because they're pretty much drug dealers, they have an aversion to talk therapy!


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Re: Therapy of living!

I found all therapists wanted to do was talk about your past and childhood which wasn't very helpful for me at all. It just made me think of my past and made me depressed.



The most helpful thing I found was to not think about my problems and just try to join clubs/social groups/study something and meet people who have the same interest as you. Wallowing in my own thoughts and staying in the house makes me personally worse.



Just going somewhere and have nothing to do but talk I can't stand! At least in a hobby/sport/pub games or comedy/lecture you have something to start talking about with other people. The more you do/learn the more life experiences you have to talk about!



That's not the case for me. Psychiatrists give me drugs and send me off with a smile, & my Psychologist just sends me off with a list to challenge my negative thought patterns. That's cognitive behaviour therapy, a neo-liberal strategy to save time & money increasing turn over with outcome based solutions we pretend work but for it's the meds doing their trick.


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Earthcircle

Well-known member
My psychiatrist is also a psychoanalyst. In fact, he seems to prefer talk over meds. Given some of the horrendous reactions I've had to meds in the past, I am in some sympathy with his viewpoint. But I really just need zolpidem, and having to talk about my life and childhood so aimlessly seems like it shouldn't be necessary. He tried putting me on Valdoxan, and I had a surprisingly bad reaction. (Although perhaps not surprising for me, since I typically don't react well to meds.)
 
Maybe you could come to an arrangement. Continue getting the prescription and talking to him, but he has to pay you instead!


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I'm on what some say is a dangerous drug for sleep / bi-polar & need high doses now for it to be effective, called seroquel.


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Earthcircle

Well-known member
I'm on what some say is a dangerous drug for sleep / bi-polar & need high doses now for it to be effective, called seroquel.


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My lunatic father used to take Seroquel. My mother had to grind it up and put it in his food to trick him into taking it, since he was too insane to take it willingly. And this was only near the end of his life; for most of his life we just got the raw insanity.
 

Pacific_Loner

Pirate from the North Pole
My psychiatrist is also a psychoanalyst. In fact, he seems to prefer talk over meds. Given some of the horrendous reactions I've had to meds in the past, I am in some sympathy with his viewpoint. But I really just need zolpidem, and having to talk about my life and childhood so aimlessly seems like it shouldn't be necessary. He tried putting me on Valdoxan, and I had a surprisingly bad reaction. (Although perhaps not surprising for me, since I typically don't react well to meds.)

Can't you tell these people that there is no point in digging up a past that is no longer there and you would prefere to talk about the present in the hope of getting some advice to cope with current situations that you struggle with?
 

Earthcircle

Well-known member
Can't you tell these people that there is no point in digging up a past that is no longer there and you would prefere to talk about the present in the hope of getting some advice to cope with current situations that you struggle with?

I just want sleep medication. I don't see the point in talking. It's not that I don't have problems, I just don't see the point in talking. I have had too much therapy to still believe in it.
 
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Earthcircle

Well-known member
I found a website that purports to explain how therapy helps: https://helpguide.org/articles/emotional-health/finding-a-therapist-who-can-help-you-heal.htm . In fact, there is even a section specifically devoted to explaining how therapy and counseling can help. I would like to annotate that section.


How therapy and counseling can help
Talking about your thoughts and feelings with a supportive person makes you feel better.

** I am not sure that it makes me feel better, since I seem to have the same problems no matter how long I remain in therapy.

It can be very healing, in and of itself, to voice your worries or talk about something that’s weighing on your mind.

** In what way can it be healing? Does it reduce symptoms of social anxiety, for example?

And it feels good to be listened to—to know that someone else cares about you and wants to help.

** I experience frustration, since my life does not seem to improve in therapy. I seem to remain the same person, no matter what.

It can be very helpful to talk about your problems to close friends and family members.

** Helpful in what way? How does it help?

But sometimes, we need help that the people around us aren’t able to provide.

** Is this in reference to symptoms? There are professionals who can reduce the symptoms of mental illness?

When you need extra support, an outside perspective, or some expert guidance, talking to a therapist or counselor can help.

** In what way does this help?

While the support of friends and family is important, therapy is different. Therapists are professionally-trained listeners who can help you get to the root of your problems, overcome emotional challenges, and make positive changes in your life.

** What positive changes? Specifically, what?

You don’t have to be diagnosed with a mental health problem to benefit from therapy.

** How does one benefit from therapy?

Many people in therapy seek help for everyday concerns: relationship problems, job stress, or self-doubt, for example.

** Obviously. But what do they get from therapy? What is the outcome?

Others turn to therapy during difficult times, such as a divorce.

** How does therapy help people who have gone through a divorce?

Why therapy and not medication?

The thought of being able to solve your problems with taking a pill each day can sound appealing. If only it was that easy! Mental and emotional problems have multiple causes, and medication is not a one-stop cure.

** Does this imply that psychotherapy cures mental illness? It would be helpful if the author stated this more explicitly. It sounds more like a hint.

Medication may help ease certain symptoms, but it comes with side effects.

** Is this to imply that psychotherapy also eases certain symptoms? This would be valuable, if it were true.

Furthermore, it cannot solve the “big picture” problems. Medication won’t fix your relationships, help you figure out what to do with your life, or give you insight into why you continue to do things you know are bad for you.

** Does therapy do those things? Why was none of this mentioned in the previous section? I have had roughly 14 years of psychotherapy, I am now 52 years old, and I have no personal awareness of psychotherapy fixing a relationship, helping me figure out what to do with my life, or providing me any insight into anything whatsoever.


Therapy can be time consuming and challenging, as uncomfortable emotions and thoughts often arise as part of the treatment process.

** What is the point of treatment? Helping me to figure out what to do with my life? Has anyone here had the experience of therapy helping them to figure out what to do with their lives? Has therapy helped anyone fix a relationship?

However, therapy provides long-lasting benefits that go beyond symptom relief.

** So therapy relieves symptoms of mental illness? I've never experienced this, and I wonder why the author just didn't say so directly. Why is it merely implied? I get the impression that the author is shy to state directly that psychotherapy relieves the symptoms of mental illness. Given my own experience with psychotherapy, I can see why they might be shy about this.

Therapy gives you the tools for transforming your life—for relating better to others, building the life you want for yourself, and coping with whatever curveballs come your way.

** Finally, we come to something that sounds like a reasonably direct statement of how therapy can help a person. But I never experienced any of these benefits, and I feel left out. Have other people found that therapy helped them transform their lives, build the life they want for themselves, and cope with whatever curve balls come their way? It seems alien to me, in the sense of not corresponding to any experience I ever had in therapy.
 
I'm still hoping that therapy can help me with some "tricky" issues. But that's all i've got - hope. Perhaps past therapy has helped me in very minor ways, perhaps not, it's hard to say. My basic core issues remain basically the same. As far as concrete, visible results, i can't see any (from the past). But also i think i didn't do it long enough, with each time/therapist, nor long enough in sum total. So i'm still waiting & hoping.
 
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