Any of my brothers have anything positive to say about psych therapy?

[keoking]

My work insurance includes free therapy, up to 8 therapist visits per year, per condition. They cover the stuff below and more.

I’m the Zen fucking master of repressing shit, shoving it deep down and locking the door. On the rare occasions I’ve gotten blacked out drunk, I’ve been told that I was totally fucking unhinged emotionally. I honestly can’t imagine what would come bubbling out if I really took the lid off the pressure cooker.

Anyone had any seriously positive experiences with therapy? I can’t imagine myself sharing personal shit with a therapist. Fuck, I could burn 8 sessions just working through my eating disorder and fucked up relationship with food. I’m about to Google that term for guys that look in the mirror and always think they are too small.

Relationship issues (marital tension, parental concerns, etc.)
Emotional stress (anxiety, depression, etc.)
Stress related to financial and legal problems
Life crises
Substance abuse (drug, alcohol, prescription drugs, etc.)
Adjusting to change, self-improvement
Grief
Work performance/career issues
Eating disorders

 

[Jeffg353]

Body dysmorphia syndrome…I believe is the term ur looking for.

It helps but u really have to be in the mindset to actually want to fix the issues. Like my parents took me to one when I was younger n I just didn’t say anything. Eventually learned to just bullshit her the entire time n didn’t have to go anymore. I didn’t want to go in the 1st place n wasn’t ready to deal with my shit at that point.

Went again on my own as an adult ready to work through my shit n it helped. Also took me a little while to find the right one. The first couple I didn’t like so kept switching until I found one I could work with.

U won’t know if u don’t try. If it’s covered by insurance go for 1-2 sessions n see what u think.

Side note: LSD n mushrooms helped me work through a lot of my shit too. To bad they aren’t covered by insurance.

 

[10gramsuvtrenEOD]

those people want to study you. I’m not saying all but most mental health professionals do. use your mind and practice meditation, explore yourself inside your head and you’ll find more than you ever thought. you’ll most likely change your total outlook on life as well with enough practice. ALL ANSWERS ARE WITHIN YOURSELF YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND THEM.

 

[dianabolman]

Honestly, yeah I’m fucking fantastic at repressing shit, I have Anxiety depression always feeling not big enough I’m fucking 6’3 235lbs, have had my fair share of financial difficulties, insecurities, jealousy, having hard times letting go of shit, and through out it all II’ve delt with it completely drug free besides smoking weed with friends every once in a while, and because how I was Raised is the root to most of my problems, but I’ve always been very strong minded, the moral of the story is, yes it feels good to get it off your chest and you can finally breathe a little bit, but it’s all up to you, you need to be in control, you need to stay positive, always look at the positive in every situation as hard as that could be, because if you just go to therapy you’re relieving so much every so often but never really fixing the problem, you have one life you need to decide when it’s time to take control. Stay up man, you got this, I think right now the best route is to do this therapy, take advantage of it, and take everything you can and really focus on your mental health and growing to be the best person you can be. Good luck man

 

[Jeffg353]

Kind of building on what these guys have said…even if u just work on fixing one aspect of ur life there’s no telling how much better it can make ur life, wether it’s thru meditation or therapy. If can have a positive snowball effect on things instead of the negative. If u change one thing, even a small thing, sometimes the rest of the pieces just fall into place.

I know as men we’re supposed to be strong n not have emotions/feelings. N for some reason therapy has this negative stigma attached to it. But if it helps improve ur life or makes u a better person, there’s no one here that can fault u for that.

 

[UncleJoeRR]

I guess I can provide an interesting perspective on this because I’ve been in therapy as a suicide survivor and then again as a domestic violence victim; it helps, but you have to put effort in. You aren’t going to be cured after one session. It’s a lot like lifting and getting big. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You’re going to want to find someone that specializes in what you’re trying to accomplish. Look up the different therapy methods / schools and find the one that you think will work best for you. I know to help me get over some traumatic memories, something called EMDR worked for me. To get through a really bad anhedonic depression, CBT helped a ton. Whatever you do, you have to commit to it. You can’t expect fast results.

 

[Nuts2Butts]

Just be careful and watch the direction of your progress. I’ve seen people get somewhat better, and substantially worse from therapy. If you see yourself getting better, cool. If you see things getting worse, either switch therapists or just quit altogether.

 

[Imissthesub]

If you think you need it then give it a shot. It can help to have an outside and somewhat unbiased perspective on what you have going on in your life. I don’t think it’s a miracle cure, but I think it can help and can help put you on a better bath if you need some redirection in your life.

 

[Kirkland]

I’m not saying not to but be really careful. I have some personal experience with head shrinkers and they are, as a group, a really fucked up bunch. I had a friend whose therapist convinced her that her father had fucked her and she confronted dad and, of course, it destroyed the family. Came to find out the therapist was fucking my friend. WTF?

Cognitive behavioral therapy can be a real asset for making personal change but make sure the goals are defined and they are your goals. Use the therapy for your goals. Go in with some concrete plans/ outcomes you’re looking for and get the tools to do that.

As far as repressing shit; I think that depressing isn’t necessarily bad. The fact hatvwe all donut tells me that it’s a natural coping mechanism. Don’t fix what isn’t broken but if you’ve got some broken stuff, see if you can get the tools to fix it! Good luck!

 

[system]

I didn’t read the other comments so I apologize if I’m repeating something someone else says. I took 1 psychology class in college ( made a 98) so I’m more or less an expert. What I remember from what I was taught about psychotherapy is that yes IT CAN BE VERY HELPFUL… BUT, yes there’s a but, in reality you will never be able to benefit from it. There are 2 reasons you will likely not benefit from it. 1) time 2) money. In order for it to be truly effective you’ll need to have 1-2 sessions a week for a long time. Up to a year even. There’s really no set time table but 8 sessions ain’t gonna cut it man. Sigmund Freud was the father of psychotherapy (as well as many other things in psychology).

So, what can be done to help you? Well if you are 100% sure that you do not have the will power to get your eating habits under control there is always medicine that can help. As far as body dysmorphia, well that can be a whole other animal. I use to always think I was too small up until a certain point where I felt more comfortable with my physique. Sure there are still days where I worry if my arms don’t look very big, or I might where a shirt and think my chest looks flat. Let that desire for a better body fuel your workouts. And honestly eating a lot is important for putting on a lot of muscle. That’s probably the main reason I don’t gain much size anymore, I just simply don’t eat enough.

 

[Bearslovecheese]

If you think you would benefit from talking to somebody or having somebody that isn’t part of your life to say the things you’re unwilling or afraid to say to others would benefit you and make you feel better then yes, it could help.

As Tex said, if you’re trying to see results and work through issues then the problem is time. The initial issue is caused by something that the therapist will peel the layers back on. And ultimately there may be several underlying issues or reasons that ultimately have to be addressed and torn down. You build a house on a solid foundation, but ultimately we’ve all got imperfections in our foundation that we’ve built over and gone about our way. Sometimes you don’t want to start down the rabbit hole of trying to fix it, if that makes sense.

 

[scrapiron]

I went once, when I was like 17. I was likely just hormonal but in one visit and a 20 question test I was diagnosed with ‘pre-depression’. He didn’t write me a script or anything and I honestly don’t remember if it was a psychologist or psychiatrist or what the difference is but that diagnosis was bullshit. I am not depressed and never have been 14 years later.

That experience kind of turned me off of the whole thing, but if I legit had no one I could speak to about my problems I would seek a professional that isn’t looking to diagnose me or put me on pills.

 

[Gainsbruh]

Did nothing when i forced to go as a kid
If anything i have more difficult talking about shit because of that.

Mushrooms/lsd helped me much more than any therapy

 

[stergod]

not a big fan of it personally. Some people love it though, if its free then you may as well try it and see if it works for you

 

[sadtrans]

I believe that therapy can be helpful, but it can also be completely detrimental.

I was forced to go to conversion therapy (not calling conversion therapy real therapy, dw) as a child and as a teenager, a total of 4 times, being subjected to extreme aversion techniques and humiliation.

The first few therapists I went to were absolutely atrocious, but also what most therapists are like. The conversion therapy made me suicidal and injure myself to an extreme extent, but whenever I mentioned any of that in hopes of getting help then I was immediately forced to choke down psychiatric drugs that made things worse and forced to be locked up in psych wards, strip searched every day, locked up in a building without the opportunity to go outside unless I cooperated with every little thing they said (which is kind of hard), forced to take tranquilizers, lost the ability to take my own medication for chronic autoimmune illness, didn’t have any access to electronics and could only call other people in front of them with them listening to everything, had zero privacy and couldn’t lock bathroom doors and would get checked up on every 20 minutes during the night with people checking for my pulse, plus a million other things. Suicide watch was worse. I was cramped into a small room with nothing but a bed in it. I had my hands tied 24/7, wasn’t allowed to have any privacy even while using the restroom/showering, wasn’t allowed to move on my own at all, and was forced to wear literally paper that extremely uncomfortable. I was humiliated every day and wasn’t allowed to wear a chest binder or anything else that made me feel a little more normal which just made me feel like I was in a psuedo-conversion therapy center all over again.

However, there ARE therapists who can help. I recently found one who has promised to not lock me up or pressure me to take medication. He’s incredibly nice and listens to my feelings, and doesn’t pressure me to let go of my triggers but instead works with me on them to have them affect me less. I don’t really know how to describe what he does.

the psychiatric system is fucked and horrible, but there are a few good people in there. You just have to try really hard to find them.

 

[Cfnj]

@“sadtrans”, I am so sorry for what you have gone through. The people who did that are some of the lowest pieces of shit on the planet. I am quite impressed that you are still open to psychiatry and admire your optimism. Stay strong, and keep moving forward.

 

[sadtrans]

Cfnj" pid='11775' dateline='1525626103:

@“sadtrans”, I am so sorry for what you have gone through. The people who did that are some of the lowest pieces of shit on the planet. I am quite impressed that you are still open to psychiatry and admire your optimism. Stay strong, and keep moving forward.

Thank you very much, I appreciate the encouragement!