This is starting to change and I hope it continues
That wouldn't be so bad, except there are consequences to going to therapy. Paperwork and records are generated. There are certain positions where you have to disclose any therapy that you've received (see for example Section 21 on the SF-86: https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf). Then, you answer that truthfully, and your paperwork leaked. You are supposed to be open and honest with your therapist, but can you do that in good faith? Knowing that truly anything you say can come back and haunt you in the future? Even if you work through those issues and they are firmly in the past?
There needs to be a way for people to truly feel secure and talk through troubling thoughts without fear of reprisal. I have personally avoided going to therapy for the fear that I would be denied opportunities if it was disclosed that I had a "mental illness".
It's the same reason I refuse to obtain genetic testing or DNA sequencing for myself; if I do that and, as a result, I learn that I am potentially at risk for an illness/cancer/whatever due to my genetic makeup, undoubtedly some life or health insurance policy will use that information against me to deny coverage in the future. So I remain ignorant out of fear.
Is there really? I haven't really seen it, at least among people who I hang out with (which admittedly, include a good number of therapists. Also a good number of knowledge workers who have a therapist.)
I suspect this might be class-based. The therapist market bifurcates into high-functioning professionals who can afford $400/session without insurance and just need someone to talk some feelings out, and people who really need therapy and are often referred by the school or court system. Therapists will usually take on a number of the former to pay the bills, and then a few of the latter to feel like they're doing good in the world. Who doesn't get therapy? What's left of the middle class, who are the people who usually need it the most.
If you're a member of the missing middle class, who do you see who goes to therapy? Usually the latter group, the folks who are visibly mentally ill and have trouble functioning normally. You probably don't know a whole lot of corporate executives in general, and if you do, they're often fairly good at keeping quiet that they have a therapist. So you get a very distorted picture of reality.
And knowing these class-based distortions, it's only when the highly-paid professionals, managers, and executives get together that they will casually remark, "Oh, my therapist said..." Occasionally you'll catch glimpses of this in media meant for this social class though, eg. TED talks or songs whose audience is primarily this class.
Fearing seeking help because of possible consequences is the act of creating a personal hell.
There will always be consequences no matter the choice. The chance to live life without consuming fear is the missed opportunity for not seeking help.
Why do we live in fear of our own healthcare system? It's truly upsetting for US citizens to fear getting professional medical help.
It's like if you got into a car accident and your car is totaled, but you try to fix it yourself and keep driving it around because you fear the repair costs.
We're all just broken cars afraid of going to the mechanic.
Seeking counseling for depression/anxiety does not fall under any of the questions being asked in this form.
Any mental health issue is covered by that question.
Discussion of the change: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2016/11/29/dni-announces-chan...
My thoughts on this are that first and foremost, my health is more important than my career. And for SW professionals, the reality is very few jobs require disclosure. You can easily go to a mental health professional without adversely impacting your career.
Regarding the national security position disclosure, from what I see:
- You have to disclose a court appointed order to get mental health, or a court finding of mental incompetence.
- You have to disclose a hospitalization for mental health problems.
- You have to disclose any of the following:
"Have you EVER been diagnosed by a physician or other health professional (for example, a psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, or nurse practitioner) with psychotic disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, bipolar mood disorder, borderline personality disorder, or antisocial personality disorder?"
I don't know about the last two, but the rest are serious conditions that are often treated with medication and not with therapy. If you have any of them, I think it's a lot better to get help and be excluded from those jobs. Furthermore, they're about issues orthogonal to the article and most of the discussion here.
You have to answer this:
"Do you have a mental health or other health condition that substantially adversely affects your judgment, reliability, or trustworthiness even if you are not experiencing such symptoms today? (Note: If your judgment, reliability, or trustworthiness is not substantially adversely affected by a mental health or other condition, then you should answer "no" even if you have a mental health or other condition requiring treatment. For example, if you are in need of emotional or mental health counseling as a result of service as a first responder, service in a military combat environment, having been sexually assaulted or a victim of domestic violence, or marital issues, but your judgment, reliability or trustworthiness is not substantially adversely affected, then answer "no.")"
This is an easy "No" for almost everyone.
I think for most stress/anxiety related issues that one would seek help from a therapist, you would not have to disclose any of it for this form.
Furthermore, I want to ensure the economic viability of my family. So regarding genetic testing, you have to answer questions asking whether you have pre existing conditions when applying for life or health insurance. If you know that you are x% more likely to contract a certain cancer due to your genes, do you take the chance and lie on the application? Or do you tell the truth and run the risk of being denied wholesale?
There is no clear answer and so to protect the economic future of my kids, I can still choose not to know.
I have not touched on the “leaking” of information which I think is where you were going with your question. While I do not consider myself interesting enough to be a target for “doxing” wouldn’t it just be easier if there was nothing to “dox” in the first place?? Just in case I do end up in a public position or otherwise targeted for harassment?
Long story short this is a real issue and not something that “has never happened to anyone in human history”.
I've long argued that we should come up with a better term. I prefer stress counselor instead of therapist. It allows more natural discussion with others too. "I see a stress counselor and we just talk about how to be less stressed at work and home" is a very easy and non-clinical way to discuss the same thing as going to therapy. We also need to mandate that mental health is covered by all health insurance plans. Anything we can do to remove the stigma is a positive.
The real solution is the one we've already been pushing for and have had a great amount of success over the years, which is to treat mental health issues with the same importance as physical health issues.
Crappy upbringings and suboptimal mental habits do not always come with psychiatric disorders. And such people often don't live their best lives because they forego therapy on the grounds of "I'm not that bad, others have it much worse, I don't want to be self involved and drain resources. Also I don't want a diagnosis just to get therapy." But something like counseling has been provided by elders or religious authorities for millennia across various cultures. It's strange that now, that form of counseling is provided mostly by medical professionals to a big chunk of the Western middle class. But it's absolutely better than nothing.
However, they will most certainly help you change the way you think about that mistake. Which can be extremely helpful in moving past those mistakes and making the best of where you find yourself now in life.
I just recently started seeing a therapist, and this was a huge revelation to me. More specifically, helping me realize I was holding onto a lot of guilt over things where it made no sense to cling to that guilt. Learning to let go of that mental overhead has been extremely helpful.
Well, OK - that realization didn't make my problems go away, but it did set me down a path.
As others have already said, the role of a therapist isn't to solve those problems you have in your life. They might be able to help you not get mentally affected by those problems, though.
When I found out my insurance included therapy, I said "Heck, why not?" Had only 3 sessions with him. The outcome?
I learned that my problems are not severe enough to warrant serious therapy (based on a heuristic they use). That's not to say I shouldn't feel bad about them or anything, but to highlight that yes, people have ups and downs, and I may have just a few more downs than the median, but I'm not far from the median.
The problems I was dealing with had solutions. He outlined a few options to me and recommended some books. I picked one of the options and started reading those books (frankly, I was interested in the topic anyway).
Knowing that my problems were ultimately due to the lack of a few (learnable) skills makes a big difference. And now I can see people around me who have similar issues - some who think they've got serious psychological problems - and their internal mental torment is rather sad.
Agree with what others have said: Plenty of crappy therapists out there. I seem to have been lucky with mine.
Rather therapists help you not make the same mistake again.
A lot of humans think "But I'll never make that mistake again!"
But then they do. We're just not evolved to live in modern environments, so our brains and nervous systems lead us to do silly things.
Therapists help reduce the likelihood that you keep making the same mistakes. And they provide techniques to mitigate the risks arising from new types of mistakes you might make.
It's why our sessions all focus on brief therapy and practical psychology principles.
to you
to others
it may very well change very concretely how you feel about past present and future
Not an easy task I'll give you that
In Europe, my friends working in finance are close to going mental as well.
I would assume most people are not that candid with their partners, but that's the sort of thing you can discuss with a therapist.
Another aspect is that often times sensitive subjects involving the spouse come up that you have previously been unsuccessful in discussing with them, or you are simply uncomfortable discussing with them.
An easy comeback would be to say "you should be able to discuss anything with your spouse," but reality ain't that simple for everybody.
i think 8ch used to fill that roll for me but now it's gone and there's no one else to talk to & everything's spiraling out of control.
And therapists will not charge crazy rates. You'll get plenty of good ones for half that cost.
No idea if still true.
Insofar as it works, therapy is "preventive care" -- it should help you to live a healthier life, thus reducing your overall cost to the insurer.
This gets tricky when we consider the frequency and cost of therapy. If you go every week, and a session costs $200 (not unreasonable in much of the world) then it's probably only coverable in a single-payer, "healthcare-is-a-human-right" system, and even then only after building a pro-therapy consensus that might be difficult.
Because even if everyone should go to therapy, lots of people think they shouldn't.
And routine checks on basic indicators like blood pressure and cholesterol are part of conventional health advice, particularly as people age, in order to identify and respond to problems early, before they become much more severe and difficult to treat.
Equivalent preemptive/preventative treatment for mental health is less understood/available.
Most of us were raised by imperfect people trying their best who still made a lot of mistakes. Even people who had really prepared parents probably experienced things which might have left us with some unresolved issues.
Go see a therapist. Its not a big deal.