2d ago

Depression self-help

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Oh wow, I've been meaning to look up the comment I wrote last time this was posted. And here's a great opportunity to do so! Time to make yet another attempt...
All right, either:
try to decide what kind of therapist is needed (difficult)
figure out what kind of therapy/therapists are covered by insurance (time-consuming and stressful, sometimes impossible)
provide a bunch of private information (time-consuming, difficult, and stressful)
look through a list of relevant therapists nearby (usually easy)
try to identify one that you might relate to or at least be able to deal with (very difficult, sometimes impossible)
call them up one at a time to see if they're really accepting new patients (time-consuming and stressful)
try to find a regular time that works in your schedule for the new therapist and for other obligations (difficult)
again provide a bunch of private information (time-consuming, difficult, and stressful)
go meet with the therapist. try to get along with them because if you don't it's your fault and you have to start all over (difficulty varies, sometimes impossible)
do all this while dealing with whatever problem you need therapy for (difficulty varies, sometimes impossible)
Or:
access Paracelsus: https://paracelsus-project.org/ (easy)
translate: https://translate.google.com/ (easy)
distill potions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrrbGRIOhCw (easy)
I know the wording's a meme, but the hell with whoever made the original post.
- Ironically you need therapy in order to go to therapy. If someone has issues with overthinking, anxiety about interacting with people, stress/anger issues, depression that makes them unmotivated of course it's going to be hard to go to a stranger they're expected to be their most vulnerable with.
- Seriously. I looked into it awhile back for something. My insurance's page was complete garbage. Their provider network is completely useless. Every therapist on there either isn't actually taking new patients, doesn't accept the insurance, or links to a dead site.
  You should be able to sue your insurance company $100 for every ghost listing they have in their provider networks.
- I met my partner 18 years ago. She started therapy regularly after our first five years together. She started to see some patterns in her behaviour, especially toward me, that she wanted to work on. Since then, she has decided she wants to become a therapist.
  On the other hand, my journey started when I tried to access counselling 25 years ago. My GP tried to put me on an antidepressant immediately. I said no. Since meeting my partner and her starting her therapeutic journey, she has tried for a long time to get me into seeing a therapist. It took almost 15 years, but I started about a month ago.
  Now, this first therapist has not been mind-blowing in any way. No breakthroughs, no revelations. Really, I don't think we're vibing. But, still, being able to say aloud some of the things that I hide from everyone else is, in and of itself, therapeutic.
  The list, above, were my stumbling blocks, too. They still are. Add to the list that I'm an underemployed, visible minority, a father-of-two in a high-stress career, and that I refuse to "adjust [blithely] to a profoundly sick society." I'd rather continue to feel my isolation and my detachment than walk into Walmart whistling and smiling at my good fortune.
  All this to say (TL;DR) therapy comes from your own commitment to honest self-examination. Guided, surely, but at least attempted. It won't be found in a pill, potion, or portent. I hope to find a therapist who can challenge me to do better.
- I have a completely unrelated question but is the US the only developed country where without health insurance you get no medical care at all?
  
  We can get medical care without insurance, but it's rock bottom. People go to the ER when their kid is mildly ill because the ER has to see them.
  We're about to lose our Obamacare insurance because the Republicans fucked us over. I get one doctor appointment next week, won't get any follow up care.
  BTW, I'm unemployed but my wife works for the largest credit union on the planet, a "great job" people say around here. She gets no insurance, PTO, nada. Been there over a year, excelling on every metric, still not a "full" employee.
  
  No, you just get a bill that some European governments couldn't afford.
  
  Same in Iran.
  They just went before the USA in the list.
  (/Jk, they might even have some sort of free "healthcare" in Iran).
  
  The healthcare is getting stoned, isn't it?
- Now I can't speak for a availability or how you can get insurance to pay for it in the US. I mean you don't even have to have insurance in the US?
  But most of your other points are BS my guy...
  Not that important and a doctor might have suggestions here already
  The only required stuff should be the same you need to provide any doctor
  In Europe insurance or doctors will help with that as well
  You might need to try a few different therapists but they are professionals. They can deal with you
  Therapy doesn't necessarily require a regular appointment schedule
  🙄
  Same as 5.
  Again, sucks if you are in the US. In Europe you can take sick leave and go to a facility for multiple weeks at a time if you have severe issues.
  If you financially or through some other means cannot do it, sure. But most of the western world has decent access. So go to therapy. Women manage somehow.
  
  Women don't manage somehow. Iirc, about 11% of women go to therapy, while 7% of men do. The difference is almost negligible.
  Also, from my personal experience, going to therapy has been quite unhelpful. I shopped around and met with quite a few therapists. One was genuinely insane. The rest seemed to do basically nothing and have no real suggestions of improving my mental health issues. For the most part, it seemed like they were phoning it in, and didn't think my problems were real problems.
  "Go to therapy" is thrown around like some trump card. But the reality is, going to therapy is very hit or miss, and in my case, pretty much entirely miss. I get more out of going for a walk in the woods. And if trees are reliably doing a better job at your vocation than you are, then I think your field is probably bullshit.
  
  I can’t speak for a availability or how you can get insurance to pay for it in the US.
  It sounds like you're in Europe. Healthcare in the US is much worse. Protect your nation's healthcare, please, for the sake of your descendants, and as an example that we may one day emulate.

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