Therapy

Have you been to see a therapist before? If you have then how was your experience at the time and how much did they help you in the long run? How open were you as a patient when discussing your problems with them? If you paid for their services then do you feel as if you got your money's worth? If you haven't seen a therapist then is it something you'd like to do in the future?

Personally I've had mixed experiences seeing therapists ranging from bad to average with most of them. There were never any arguments or anything, just next to no progress being made even though I was very open most of the time. Maybe therapy just isn't for me. Although my last shrink was at least able to diagnose me with something which was good for recognising behavioral patterns and opening up other potential pathways for help.

I used to have a deep dislike towards therapy. Reason being is that the very first therapist I saw, I didn't feel like she really cared for me or my problems that much. I suppose that much is to be expected, I don't believe it is her job to care all that much or spend much emotional or mental energy. To her, I was just another patient she saw among the many, but she sure made it evident. Perhaps I was just misreading her general vibe that she was giving off, but she never really made much of an effort to help with my anxiety (which was what I was seeing her for at the time) and would barely really say anything. Like yeah, I get that I was mostly venting, but... I dunno, at least say something to comfort me? I dunno, I just wasn't a fan of her.

After that, I stayed off therapy for years because I believed that I could handle my issues pretty much on my own without it affecting me too much. Suffice it to say, I was deeply wrong. I won't go too much into the details of it, but let's just say that last two years or so (and especially the beginning of this year) have shown me that I need to prioritize my own mental health above all else, and push the reset button on my life. That's just something I have to do, so I went to give therapy another chance.

My second (and now current) therapist is amazing. We've had five sessions so far. I've long wanted to schedule another session, but I cannot do so yet, because my college is paying for all the sessions so far and the next one will be the last one they're paying for before I'm on my own and start paying for my own sessions, so I have to set aside money for that, as well as the inevitable doctor's visits and what-have-you.

In short, I suppose for me, therapy has been working quite well whenever I make frequent appointments. However, I feel like my mental health is on the decline once more but there's not a whole lot I can do about that without saving up enough money for further sessions. It just sucks being between a rock and a hard place.

My college provides it for free and I regret not making use of the service before I did since the three sessions I had before I studied abroad were great. I plan to pick it back up in the fall. I always feel better after I talk to someone about my problems, but I hate dumping all my baggage onto my friends so it was nice to find a healthy medium that also gives some sound advice.

i went to a therapist probably...once a week for a few months back in 2011. i was in such bad shape that my parents, despite me not living with either of them at the time, could tell my mental state was just that bad and my mom started making me go. it's hard to recall now. i would go in thinking it wouldn't help or that i would keep everything locked away. i generally did do the latter, but i would at least feel better when i left. i felt like my therapist was digging into issues that i personally didn't see myself taking any issue with and i mean i guess that's part of it. you usually don't go in just knowing ALL your problems or anything, but still. i also was discouraged that, despite being in such a low place at the time, it was deemed that my depression and anxiety were not "severe enough" for me to go on medication of any kind. because of that, i think my mom took my issues less severely bc i didn't get put on anything for it. but i think that even though i was irritated about that (just talking was NOT going to help completely) it was my fault. i didn't open up like i should have. i kept quiet about the things i should have spoken up about.

at the time, i didn't criticize myself enough for not being completely open. i just went with her decision that i didn't get put on meds. i said i felt better. i stopped going. and maybe i was doing better then, idk. i decided i was stronger than other people because i didn't get put on meds. i lied and said it was my choice to not do that. that i didn't want them anyway. whatever lie i had to say to make myself feel better. it takes a lot of strength to fight your own mind and i'm still here to tell the tale, as you see. but i'm at a point in my life again where i could definitely benefit from therapy again, but i don't have health insurance, i don't have money. but whenever i am capable to go again, i'm not going to do myself the disservices i did years ago and i intend to open up more, even if i don't want to -- so long as i feel safe and comfortable to do so, otherwise i'll find someone else.

jeez lmfao unlocked the cage there. go off i guess

I have been to therapy, but it didn't work. All therapists made me feel like shit, and worse, honestly. If I need to talk to someone, I'd rather talk to people I trust. I feel like I can help myself, these days, anyway, I don't really need some stranger from the outside. I don't open up easily enough for a therapist to begin with.

I've only been to one. She's really good about calling out my anxious BS for what it is, that's for sure. I'm just glad it's mostly working out because, like, I basically pulled a name from a hat that my company's employee assistant program would pay for. The only downside is that she's not the kind of therapist that can put me on meds. But I feel like I'm not at that point right now... and I'd sure hope that if she felt I had to be, she would've said something by now.

There was one session where I was doing really, really bad due to a bunch of irl stress and like, she actually talked me out of my severe anxiety and I felt loads better. Witchcraft.

Now I have to wait and see how much insurance will pay and what I have to pay out of pocket. Ideally even if the bulk of my bad anxiety is with work and switching departments will be chill in the long run, I could probably use a bit more time to learn how to cope with my anxiety better. It can get bad in the moment.

Boy, this is gonna be a long story, ahaha..

My first introduction to cognitive-behavioural therapy come when I was just a wee child. At the time, neither myself nor my parents knew why I performed such obsessive and compulsive behaviors. At the age of 7 I was pulling out my hair and eyelashes, scratching and picking at my skin, and suffering from bouts of extreme gagging despite not feeling ill. Since there was nothing wrong with me physically, I was sent to psychiatric care. I don't remember any of what happened there but I know I didn't like it.

The second time I was committed, it was due to self harm. It was innocent enough, a few surface scratches here, a shard of glass there. But quickly escalated to what my therapist had described as "the worst case of self hard she'd ever seen". Later, I was caught 'playing' (let's just say that), with a loaded .357 that my parents kept in the house. While still attending general therapy, during school one of my peers saw the very dramatic damage I was doing to myself. I was sent to the guidance counselor and immediately taken to the hospital. I stayed there in inpatient for my entire Freshman year of high school. They drugged me up real good and diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and psychosis (a diagnosis that's since been revoked). I absolutely hated being there and was highly combative with staff until I realized that playing along would get me out sooner. I'm sure the doctors and nurses there were wonderful people but I was a raging teenager and despized anyone in authority by default. After the insurance stopped covering my inpatient treatment, I was moved to intensive outpatient and was equally as combative, petulant, and obstinate.

So when the whole self harm and gun thing didn't work I turned to drugs! Which was way easier to conceal before I lost control. It went exactly how you would expect. I spent years being a dope fiend, selling to support my habit, od'ing in my basement, near death experiences, stomach pumping, etc. Finally, I decided to get help because I was actually legitimately dying and, well, it scared the shit out of me this time. Got sober thanks to the help of some amazing doctors (RIP Dr. Neilson you were my hero, and shout out to Dr. Belgrave!!) and stayed that way! I was very receptive to therapy since I had lost so many friends already and actually being at death's doorstep was a hell of a wake up call.

...And then six months ago happened. I started drinking again. It was fucking stupid and I knew better but I did it anyway. I 5150'd myself, got into rehab, and am now once again sober and going to one of the best psychiatrists I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Got diagnosed with Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, possible schizoeffective disorder, and PTSD. I'm very happy and feel very privileged to be able to see someone as often as I can and I try to get the most out of every session.

Therapy works if you work it, people. Even if you're not sure or afraid of opening up, I promise these people can help you.

as you can see, i've already had ten therapists

I honestly don't remember much about my earliest experience with a psych since it was when I was pretty young. It did result in my autism diagnosis which basically just confirmed something my family and teachers were already pretty sure of from the sounds of it. Honestly, given that I can't really remember anything of it, I'm not sure how much of an impact it had on me. The one thing I do remember though, is that he had a really good manner for working with kids - especially weird ones like I was. On other hand, he also informed my mum that I was the sort who could very easily go Columbine. Hearing that later on was not as shocking as I'd like.

My next experiences are much more recent. I'm currently seeing a psychologist regularly. At first it was solely on coping with the psychological impacts of my illness and that helped a hell of a lot. I've got a lot better at pushing my boundaries again and I've gotten better at coping with my circumstances and dealing with the panic that hits when flare-ups hit so that it can't make things exponentially worse. Since then he's been helping me deal with my trillion other issues on top of that since I have plenty of baggage and problems to work on and don't need to work on coping with my sickness as much as I used to. Honestly, this guy is absolutely brilliant and I've made some really good progress in general but I do still have a long way to go. The thing with psychs is that finding the right one is really important and I just got really lucky that I didn't have to search around.

I also for a brief period earlier this year started going to an additional psych for a short while because some bullshit with the government required a slightly different list of qualifications. The actual psych was absolutely terrible there frankly. She talked down to me like a child, seemed genuinely surprised to find out I'm intelligent and well-informed and milked me for as much cash as she could by prolonging the diagnostics and shit that she was meant to be doing weeks and weeks more than was necessary. The thing was though, I only saw her once and it was one of her underlings who worked with me the rest of the time and she was extremely pleasant. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the underling was also working on a wage and was making far, far less money out of things that the bitch who I was meant to be seeing, despite doing all the work for none of the recognition. I'd like to report the place because it was shady AF but I have no idea how to go about it. On the plus side though, the diagnostic report was really thorough (turns out I've got like five more disorders than I though, fun times).

Honestly, I'm not a trusting person and it's really hard opening up about things even to a professional. Sometimes I do still find myself concealing stuff I probably shouldn't because that's just the kind of person I am. That being said, I've grown a lot more comfortable with the psych I see regularly and can talk about things more easily now and it's definitely been really helpful. Absolutely worth the money and frankly I think people should be a lot less weary about seeing a therapist. Stigmatising it is stupid and harmful and I hope that more people come around to the idea. That being said, if you find that you aren't comfortable with your psych and can't talk to them properly after a few sessions, you're wasting not only your time and theirs but also taking up an appointment spot that might go to someone who has a better fit there. You'd be better off looking for someone else, but you shouldn't give up on therapy.

Fairy said:

Got diagnosed with Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, possible schizoeffective disorder, and PTSD. I'm very happy and feel very privileged to be able to see someone as often as I can and I try to get the most out of every session.

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Oh hey, you've got really similar shit to me. Was the PTSD diagnosis really surreal for you? Granted, I only recently got that diagnosis myself, but it's doing a number on me. I'm not bothered by having it, but it's really weird to think that as a result of my health experiences I've developed something that up until now I really only associated with stuff like combat or abuse which is arguably a lot more significant.

I had a therapist for a few months that I was referred to by the GP. They were one of the few therapists in my area that I was able to see for free (since it was covered under the healthcare system) and that was important for me, since I wasn't ready to be open with my parents yet about my mental health. At the time, it was one of the lowest points in my life and I was very uncomfortable at opening up at first but figured that I needed to take advantage of the experience as much as I could. So eventually I became willing to open up more, though I think I did still hold back. I'm proud at how much I was able to disclose to someone I didn't know though. My therapist was non-judgemental and helped me to rationally work through a lot of my anxiety. Even though some of the advice was not that helpful, I think I did develop some good coping mechanisms though I could have definitely done with more sessions. I only ever truly got to work on addressing my hypochondria, but that was also my fault for not being able to openly discuss my depression even though my therapist really tried to help guide a discussion. At the time, I just didn't really know how to explain how I was feeling or put a reason to why I felt how I did. I remember though that shortly after I stopped going (there were only a limited number of sessions), I had one of the worst relapses in my intrusive thoughts yet. I did eventually work through it alone, but overall I think it made me realise that therapy is a continuous process and it's OK to need it again or to go back. Going made me realise it was important to be able to have someone I could talk to, who would help keep me accountable in ensuring that I was always working towards recovery. I would hope to have a different therapist though - the previous one I had was fine but was someone that I didn't truly feel that comfortable with as it felt too disconnected and impersonal.

I did for a while... until they started doing it by computer. It started causing me severe meltdowns and a huge lack of understanding. They claimed it had to do with my insurance not covering a "proper" therapist or something. I ended up having to stop seeing one. It was mostly just for prescriptions and stuff, but my PC doctor can do it now. I don't want to go too much into personal details...

I did get a Dyspraxia diagnosis from my psychiatrist before they did it by computer. I guess Dyspraxia isn't really well known and such because there's really know way to test for it. :/

gimmepie said:

Oh hey, you've got really similar shit to me. Was the PTSD diagnosis really surreal for you? Granted, I only recently got that diagnosis myself, but it's doing a number on me. I'm not bothered by having it, but it's really weird to think that as a result of my health experiences I've developed something that up until now I really only associated with stuff like combat or abuse which is arguably a lot more significant.

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Absolutely. My PTSD diagnosis is only about a month old and.. it was pretty surprising. I honestly never even considered myself a 'victim' since I've always understood and was able to verbalize what happened to me. Apparently it's a common misconception that PTSD only happens to military and people who have seen combat. And while my PTSD is a result of abuse; it can still happen to anyone who has had any traumatic experience. Even if you don't remember what traumatized you - your body does. And it's as scary as it is liberating to learn about why I have so many breakdowns from a more clinical view.

I've never seen a therapist before. Although, I've always been interested in therapy, psychology, or psychiatry as career choices.

I did take a few therapy sessions when I was in university. I had some quite a few nervous breakdowns and one of my friends/co-workers suggested I take advantage of my school's counseling. My therapist was a PhD student and overall he was nice and gave me some pointers on dealing with my anxiety. Unfortunately, after I did three or four sessions I stopped. My mental health during my final couple of years of school went on a roller coaster, and then after I graduated from university it didn't get any better.

One reason I haven't gone to a therapist is money. Another reason is I guess I'm afraid of not finding one that is the right fit for me and the prospect of additional help like hospital visits and medication.

I used to take therapy sessions, but I don't feel like it'll make a big change in the long run. It did help with my anxiety at the time though, I'm grateful for that.

I saw a therapist briefly in high school. My mom suggested it when we had a heart to heart one evening. I don't remember what I opened up about, but it ended with her offering to pay a therapist for me. I said yeah cause I was interested in the experience, I didn't think it would help me much.

I went in thinking I would be a closed book, but I felt pretty comfortable with her from the get-go. At the time, my biggest secret was how many friendships I had developed online. My parents never wanted me to give out my name, photos, phone number, etc. but I did it anyway. I didn't want to risk losing those friendships so I didn't tell them about it. I was able to talk to my therapist about that, for whatever that was worth. I don't think it helped much because it took another 3 years before I opened up about that to my mom, specifically.

I also talked to my therapist about typical teen boy stuff. I remember talking about my crushes at the time. I can't remember what else we talked about. I really don't think it helped me much, but then again, I also don't think I was in dire need of a therapist, either.

Also, I don't mean to rub it in anyone's face. My heart goes out to everyone who is in need of a therapist and can't afford one. Later in life, I did contact my family doctor about seeing a therapist due to depression, but they were in so few numbers that I had to wait forever to book an appointment. It didn't even feel worth it, because it took a lot of effort to get up and go to the doctor about it in the first place. The scarcity and unaffordability of therapists is criminal. Everyone should be able to get the treatment they require, when they require it.

I've never seen an official therapist, but I am definitely convinced it can help to have somebody to talk to. I've been afraid to open up for a really long time. Only half a year ago I was brave enough to step to a couple of my friends and dared to talk about my problems. When I did, a big weight that I had been carrying for a long time (I don't let go of my struggles, but instead I have a habit of letting all burdens stack up in my mind) fell off my shoulders. For me, just sharing already did a whole lot. In the end, I wonder why I thought it would be so scary to talk to people about things. I should've started doing that a long time ago.
Not sure how much I'd be able to disclose to a total stranger though.

I've also been at the other end, sort of. I've pretty much been a relationship therapist for two of my friends for a couple of months before they broke up. Their breaking up was really for the best (and inevitable), but I like to think that it would have gone in a way much, much worse if I wasn't there for them.