Is Therapy Causing a Depression Epidemic?

[Ingomike]

Wow that’s crazy honestly never believed in therapy though I never got how people were comfortable telling a stranger everything

Actually many people are starving for someone to listen to them, so much so they pay someone or more likely insurance or government pays for them to have someone to talk to...

 

[Denny347]

As a guy who has lost MANY friends to either suicide or a downward life spiral, all from the effects of our career in LE, therapy is valuable. Having someone to talk to is priceless. Now some of us are lucky enough to have a spouse/significant other/family that are open/strong enough to be that sounding board. Others, find comfort in alcohol and other negative behaviours. Some people are VERY self reflective any they do fine with all the dead bodies, blood, carnage. Others need someone to guide them. It's ignorance that breeds the notion that talking through your issues is "weak".

 

[smokingman]

I know somethings about this topic,and that is all anyone can claim.
A great book about the background and current ideas of what therapy is and the origin(and original doctors involved)of pharma response to mental illness is "The Body Keeps The Score" written by the doctor who did the clinical trials for Prozac among others.
Bessel Van Der Kolk MD understands the changes that have taken place since the 1960s, because he was a part of most of them. From miracle drugs,to understanding of the human brain through science he has been a part of it all.

He is genuine in his idea that understanding the patient is the key and has a desire and will to try to do anything in his power to help. He is also humble enough to see he understands very little, even if it is more than most.

That said as you read the book it will become very clear the actual way to treat things like PTSD and trauma in general are all new ideas. Those ideas are based on a singular goal. For humans to be able to function in day to day society vs an institution. That was the primary driver of the science. I believe in the last 10 years that has changed, for the worse.

Living every single day dealing with some of our societies most traumatized youth has shown me a side of the human mind that at first baffled me. I do not claim to understand it fully, but what I can tell you is that since I started learning the "therapy" has changed from dealing with and helping people to understand their trauma to one of identity politics.

An example. Just a decade ago a victim was taught to understand and deal with internally the trauma they have had(be it a soldier or child). Now they are survivors not victims and are taught coping methods and how to wear their victimhood as a badge of honour, and it is less about understanding themselves and dealing with the trauma internally.

The thing is when reading enough papers, books, and understanding the history of those, one will very quickly come to the conclusion no one knows much of anything. Current ideas of treatment are all experiments. The science is corrupted by politics ,various schools of thought, and a very few studies that became popular in some circles. We have more knowledge about how things like trauma physically impact the human brain, but very little wisdom in how to use that information. Things like the hypocritic oath do not seem to be even considered very often. We are in the bleeding patients to get rid of illness stage of medicine for the human mind. It is all trial and error.

We understand but we do not comprehend.

My advise. Try to understand yourself and your own mind. Take the time to examine how your mind works. What ideas and events led you to be the person you are, and if you do not like that person change them, deliberately. Adopt new ideas, have some new events that you choose. See if you like that person and just keep living life(repeat). One of my favourite ideas is enjoying the little things in life. If you can enjoy those your life becomes full of wonderful and amazing things. In the end your own mental well being is in your own hands. No one can "fix" you. The only one who really has any control of your mind is you. Become the person you want to be, even if it takes lots of trial and error.

 

[Ingomike]

From the article:

“There has been a big push to get more Americans talking about their feelings in recent decades.”

“But now experts are starting to wonder if the widespread use of therapy may be having the opposite effect and actually fueling America's depression crisis.”

“They argue the treatment, however well-intentioned, can instill a 'victim' mentality where people become hyper-focused on their feelings and less engaged with the world around them, making them more depressed.”

“Around a quarter of US adults said they had visited a therapist or psychiatrist in 2022, which is twice as high as 20 years ago and far higher than the around 3 percent in the UK.”

Why is this?

 

[CindyE]

From the article:

“There has been a big push to get more Americans talking about their feelings in recent decades.”

“But now experts are starting to wonder if the widespread use of therapy may be having the opposite effect and actually fueling America's depression crisis.”

“They argue the treatment, however well-intentioned, can instill a 'victim' mentality where people become hyper-focused on their feelings and less engaged with the world around them, making them more depressed.”

“Around a quarter of US adults said they had visited a therapist or psychiatrist in 2022, which is twice as high as 20 years ago and far higher than the around 3 percent in the UK.”

Why is this?

Look at the dates in the graph. The US data is from 2022, and the UK 2014.

So if that is correct, you have to believe Covid was hard on a lot of people mentally, with fear of dying, losing loved ones, lockdowns, loss of employment, etc.. And the last few years, things just seem to get crazier.

 

[Cameramonkey]

From the article:

“There has been a big push to get more Americans talking about their feelings in recent decades.”

“But now experts are starting to wonder if the widespread use of therapy may be having the opposite effect and actually fueling America's depression crisis.”

“They argue the treatment, however well-intentioned, can instill a 'victim' mentality where people become hyper-focused on their feelings and less engaged with the world around them, making them more depressed.”

“Around a quarter of US adults said they had visited a therapist or psychiatrist in 2022, which is twice as high as 20 years ago and far higher than the around 3 percent in the UK.”

Why is this?

And it doesnt help that MANY outsiders beyond the therapy room are telling them they are victims. That drumbeat, repeated often enough and loud enough, and the individual can accept that they are indeed victims and stop.

Why stop moving forward and getting better with the help of a pro? Because being a victim and accepting that fact is just plain easier than moving forward and healing to the point you are no longer a "victim".

Same reason folk just want to take a pill to lose weight instead of working hard by improving diet and exercising. Path of least resistance.

 

[bobzilla]

From the article:

“There has been a big push to get more Americans talking about their feelings in recent decades.”

“But now experts are starting to wonder if the widespread use of therapy may be having the opposite effect and actually fueling America's depression crisis.”

“They argue the treatment, however well-intentioned, can instill a 'victim' mentality where people become hyper-focused on their feelings and less engaged with the world around them, making them more depressed.”

“Around a quarter of US adults said they had visited a therapist or psychiatrist in 2022, which is twice as high as 20 years ago and far higher than the around 3 percent in the UK.”

Why is this?

Considering the bs we as a world have dealt with in the last 4 years, this is not surprising. If you consider the divisiveness that we experience on a daily basis, even on our own "communities" its a wonder more people don't think they're ****** up.

 

[bobzilla]

And it doesnt help that MANY outsiders beyond the therapy room are telling them they are victims. That drumbeat, repeated often enough and loud enough, and the individual can accept that they are indeed victims and stop.

Why stop moving forward and getting better with the help of a pro? Because being a victim and accepting that fact is just plain easier than moving forward and healing to the point you are no longer a "victim".

Same reason folk just want to take a pill to lose weight instead of working hard by improving diet and exercising. Path of least resistance.

Something I learned from my sessions, the only thing I'm a "victim" of is my own ignorance. The only person that has direct control over how I feel, and what I feel is me. Sounds simple, right? It's not. Not when you've let others influence your feelings, moods and emotions for 4 decades. Unlearning some things is hard. Really really friggin hard no matter how simple it may seem.

 

[stocknup]

“Around a quarter of US adults said they had visited a therapist or psychiatrist in 2022, which is twice as high as 20 years ago and far higher than the around 3 percent in the UK.”

Why is this?

I would say that Social Media has had a huge impact ..........A lot of people are pretending to be who they are not , and can`t even keep up with their own make belief world .

 

[CindyE]

I would say that Social Media has had a huge impact ..........A lot of people are pretending to be who they are not , and can`t even keep up with their own make belief world .

I can't even keep up with all the different genders or whatever nowadays...there's some new "______sexual" thing invented almost daily it seems.

 

[patience0830]

I can't even keep up with all the different genders or whatever nowadays...there's some new "______sexual" thing invented almost daily it seems.

Seems more like conjuring than invention to me. But again we need definitions.
Raining hard again here so I had to stop shoveling dirt.
May be basement work next. I still have .223 to reload.

 

[bobzilla]

Seems more like conjuring than invention to me. But again we need definitions.
Raining hard again here so I had to stop shoveling dirt.
May be basement work next. I still have .223 to reload.

OK, for the record my pronoun of ***hole was not intended to be tied to anything sexual.

 

[Creedmoor]

As a guy who has lost MANY friends to either suicide or a downward life spiral, all from the effects of our career in LE or mil experience, therapy is valuable. Having someone to talk to is priceless. Now some of us are lucky enough to have a spouse/significant other/family that are open/strong enough to be that sounding board. Others, find comfort in alcohol and other negative behaviors. Some people are VERY self reflective any they do fine with all the dead bodies, blood, carnage. Others need someone to guide them. It's ignorance that breeds the notion that talking through your issues is "weak".

Most I know that went that route, used the bar, pharmaceuticals or a pistol.

 

[shibumiseeker]

And a lot of times they are there to help you figure out how to deal with those emotions and details without needing to "talk it all through". Sometimes just stopping me, asking me if this is something that I have any effect on or can change in any way and if not how to move past it.

But yes, it is definitely easier to talk with someone that doesn't have any pre-conceived notions of who you are and is willing and able to help you than it is to try to talk to someone that thinks you're just "not manning up enough" or need to "stuff it down deeper". Those things may work for some, but not for others. Trying to "stuff it inside" can lead to an explosion.... and that's not good for anyone.

I’ve been in EMS since the mid 80s. I watched a generation of “real men” implode and kill themselves dealing with the crap they they dealt with in Vietnam where they got no help. The generation before that that dealt with WWII we call the greatest generation, a lot of them also quietly killed themselves.

I try to teach my students resilience, how to be tough mentally to do the job where you are going to see and handle intense emotional crap on a daily basis that most people rarely see in a decade. They’ll see it under sleep deprivation and the stress of working in a system of low pay and very little administrative support for a public that mostly heaps abuse on them.

And I try to teach them healthy coping methods which includes the trifecta of proper eating, exercise, and rest, as well as allowing themselves to feel the human emotions and to be able to talk about them in appropriate settings which sometimes includes counseling. I try to steer them away from self destructive behaviors such as drinking to cope. Because in our profession the suicide rate is 11 times that of the general public because for a very long time we’ve been told to “man up” and just deal with it, which is quite frankly one of the most stupid things I hear said. And my personal philosophy is to embrace the suck because that’s how I get better at what I do. But I’ve also taken care of myself and reached out when I needed to.

 

[Denny347]

Most I know that went that route, used the bar, pharmaceuticals or a pistol.

Indeed. The human brain was not built for the kind of trauma that LE (in high crime areas) and Mil (combat) see. Looking back in the early years of my career, I now see so many red flags that preceded their downward spiral and sometimes death. The department would brush them off after a critical incident and put them back to work the next day. I was there and as introspective as I am with myself, I totally missed my downturn. If it wasn't for my astute wife slapping "figuratively" me in the face to get my attention, who knows where I would have landed. Being a "man" is pre-emptively seeking a solution before it becomes an unfixable problem.

 

[Denny347]

I’ve been in EMS since the mid 80s. I watched a generation of “real men” implode and kill themselves dealing with the crap they they dealt with in Vietnam where they got no help. The generation before that that dealt with WWII we call the greatest generation, a lot of them also quietly killed themselves.

I try to teach my students resilience, how to be tough mentally to do the job where you are going to see and handle intense emotional crap on a daily basis that most people rarely see in a decade. They’ll see it under sleep deprivation and the stress of working in a system of low pay and very little administrative support for a public that mostly heaps abuse on them.

And I try to teach them healthy coping methods which includes the trifecta of proper eating, exercise, and rest, as well as allowing themselves to feel the human emotions and to be able to talk about them in appropriate settings which sometimes includes counseling. I try to steer them away from self destructive behaviors such as drinking to cope. Because in our profession the suicide rate is 11 times that of the general public because for a very long time we’ve been told to “man up” and just deal with it, which is quite frankly one of the most stupid things I hear said. And my personal philosophy is to embrace the suck because that’s how I get better at what I do. But I’ve also taken care of myself and reached out when I needed to.

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[INP8riot]

Attitudes like this are something I've had to fight for over a decade. Thanks for being an "helpful".

I have found that if I fight anything for that long and I'm unsuccessful, it is usually a me problem and I have to take a hard look into the mirror and figure it out myself.

 

[blain]

Actually many people are starving for someone to listen to them, so much so they pay someone or more likely insurance or government pays for them to have someone to talk to...

Could I get an equivalent service by obtaining a close friend (rich in wisdom & integrity), that was honest and straight forward with me?

 

[Creedmoor]

Indeed. The human brain was not built for the kind of trauma that LE (in high crime areas) and Mil (combat) see. Looking back in the early years of my career, I now see so many red flags that preceded their downward spiral and sometimes death. The department would brush them off after a critical incident and put them back to work the next day. I was there and as introspective as I am with myself, I totally missed my downturn. If it wasn't for my astute wife slapping "figuratively" me in the face to get my attention, who knows where I would have landed. Being a "man" is pre-emptively seeking a solution before it becomes an unfixable problem.

My brother and I were lucky that when we did come after being deployed or working overseas we had a grandfather, a few G Uncles, and Uncle and a father that all served from WW2, Korea and VN to put us back on a even keel. My older brother was in VN, he still is a little ****ed up over it.

 

[INP8riot]

Actually many people are starving for someone to listen to them, so much so they pay someone or more likely insurance or government pays for them to have someone to talk to...

I do insurance claims and I am typically the peraon they just wanr to tell their horrific life altering event to (scratch on their bumper). I have told my wife that these people just want to be heard and someone to listen. Unfortunately, I'm stuck listening to them.

It's weird for me because I have never felt the need to tell anybody anything they didn't need to hear about myself. I got plenty of issues, but I know I'm confident enough that I was always right! lol