On my mother’s side of the family, I have an aunt who doesn’t believe in the power of psychotherapy. She thinks that therapy is just another cash making scheme tied together with psychiatry, which she also doesn’t believe in. She knows I see both and she tells me that they see problems on a clinical level (they do) and not on a practical level, which she thinks is more important than the former.
In my eyes, I think that looking at mental health from a clinical AND a practical level are both beneficial. I’m still not quite sure what she means by practical level. Does she mean, to beat the shit out of mental disease with a sledgehammer? How? Snap out of it? You know you can’t snap out of clinical depression, which my aunt thinks you can. Depression, for instance, results in an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, among other things. What practical treatment is there for handling a disease like that? The only recourse for a physician would be to treat it with medication, psychotherapy and, if neither are successful, ECT (electroconvulsive therapy).
I feel very fortunate that we have resources and help such as therapy and psychiatry at our disposal. I could hear my aunt bitch and moan about both psychotherapy and psychiatry ’til the cows come home, but it is my belief that unless you are the subject of a mental health issue, such as myself with Anxiety and Depression, you will never know the importance of medication and psychotherapy, and I am lucky to have them both in my life. They give me the assistance and the comfort that I need to go on living when life sometimes shows me what a bitch she really is.
When things just don’t seem to be working right with me, psychologically speaking, and my aunt sees that, she purports that I am just a spoiled little brat with a temperment and that there is nothing else wrong with me that couldn’t be solved albeit with a slap to the face, which is the last thing I need right now, especially at the age of 33. I feel sorry for her for not understanding my issues at hand, and I especially feel for her for not accepting the improvements my life has had with therapy and medication. If anyone out there is living in a state of absolute denial and stupidity, it is my aunt and I hope that one day she will see the benefits of what the treatments are doing for me.
wow I just read your blog firstly I have to say that I have just finished a 18month course of psycotherapy which I attended 3days a week so it was very full on I now do 1day a week psycotherapy and it has changed my life in so many ways it has boosted my self confidence and has given me more of a insight on to why I do certain things that may not be posative to my mental health It has not cured me of my anxiety but has taught me ways I can handel it better, and my depression stays the same but like you say thats due to imbalences of my serrotin levels in the brain which my meds have to deal with and they do help me and balence me out. as for the psycotherapy I was abused as a child and had not resolved many things about the abuse and the psycotherapy helped me deal with these difficult difficult emotions in a safe place , also my brother took his own life 1year before i started the psycotherapy and I realised that I had not properly grieved for my brother and so did grieve for him in therapy. those are the positives for me where psycotherapy is concerned its hard work and you do have days where you just want to run away from your feelings but if you stick at it and let the psycotherapists help you with your issues then you will feel the benifits, so in all I think your aunt is very wrong about her thoughts on psycotherapy I do how ever not have a strong a veiw on psyciatrists as I just seem to be in and out in five minutes LOL, but they are good in sorting out your medication. any way Iam sure your right your aunt will see the change in you as you carry on the help you are getting but the main thing is you can feel the benefits in your self, best whishes and keep well, take care stella