Jerry, what you say is so true. I first started therapy many years ago, when there was a BIG stigma attached to it, but I was so miserable and even though I had people to talk to, it wasn't enough. When I returned to it some years later, it was a lifesaver because I didn't feel I could trust anyone with what I was feeling, nor did I understand what was going on. I discovered that my chronic depression was part of PTSD, but it took a long time to get the right help.
I think one reason people may hesitate to try it is that they're afraid of looking at who they are. I got to a point where I was more afraid of NOT understanding myself more than I was of finding out the truth about what had happened to me and why I hadn't let myself feel anything for most of my life. It's been well worth it.
Thanks for that, Judy. You've added another dimension into the therapist issue and that's finding a good one. As I'm sure you are keenly aware the world of therapy reflects other occupations in the sense there are some extremely good ones and some rather mediocre one's too. I'm a little hesitant to say it but I guess we have to admit there may well be some that simply shouldn't be doing the job, but let's hope they are few and far between.
When I first began therapy, in 1995, I had no idea what psychotherapy was except perhaps something mysterious that happens while you're lying on a couch and a kind person is carefully listening. Isn't that what we all want, after all? I can't think of anything better.
What people (who don't go to a therapist) don't know is that it is a lot of difficult and intimate work is done, despite fear, distrust, embarrassment, time constraints and financial burdens. And what therapy did for me, was to simply allow me to open up in a way I never had with any other person. So I learned how to be more trusting. I learned I wouldn't be abandoned or abused in that relationship. I learned this and so much more. I even learned that silence was okay between two people. For me, the greatest gift of therapy was finding out that I am indeed okay, just like I am.
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I think it is a telling fact that I will say I am going to see my doctor before I will say I am going to see my therapist. I rationalize that it is no one's business but I am acutely aware of the stigma. There are those that I have taken into my confidence and I will say I am going for therapy to them but even then if they assume it is physical therapy I will not go out of my way to dissuade them. It would seem that not going for help when one needs it should be more cause for concern. But to the bystander it is just not interpreted that way. Thank you for your post, the more information out there the better the chance that the stigma will lessen.
It's a big hurdle to jump that's for sure. In some quarters it now appears okay to say you're going for therapy, or seeing your therapist, if your task is one of self-exploration rather than a need for help. It'll take more than a handful of celebs to turn things around I suspect. It's over 20 years now, but I worked in one hospital where it was common knowledge that one of the psychiatrists had taken time off due to depression. Unfortunately even she couldn't bring herself to declare this openly and so the 'official' line was that she had back problems.