They are great arguments but just feels generalizing something many don’t even do to begin with.
This comes off like you didn't read the article. The author instead seems to be speaking against a certain generalization that therapy is never a bad thing.
> To be clear, I am a fan of therapy, and as a practicing psychiatrist for almost 20 years, I have witnessed many patients improve in treatment. However, the therapy-is-the-answer model is problematic for several reasons.
The author is suggesting that therapy isn't always the answer to every problem. I think the author even agrees with you that therapy is often a good answer to many common problems.
Do parents need to spend more time with troubled kids? Do you as an individual just suck it up and move on to only have problems later in life? Generalizing in this way sounds like “not my problem”. In life you either teach people or put up with them. This article suggests people just become self-reliant. We all know that doesn’t just happen overnight.
Most professions that are noble ought to be putting themselves out of a job. Doctors, therapists, educators, etc. Not just passing the buck.
There are different approaches to therapy. The article points out some ways that talk therapy could actually make problems worse, not better. But a good therapist would recognize the kind of problem their patient is experiencing, get to know their patient, and opt for a treatment path or an approach to talk therapy that will not be detrimental.
And therapy goes way beyond "talking about your problems to a professional." Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, for instance, is a structured process that is often utilized specifically in cases where talk therapy would not be effective. [0]
Therapy isn't the answer to every problem, sure. It's not going to help me unclog the garbage disposal. But I think the generalization that most people would be better off with the support of a good therapist is a true one. And sure, that's just my own opinion - but it's my view that mental hygiene isn't that different from the other ways we maintain the health of our bodies, and most people don't seem to object to the generalized advice that everyone should see a dentist twice a year.
Some of the points this article raises, like the negative effects of rumination or the potential utility of stress, are already known to me because I learned about them from my therapist, advising me about them!
Choosing the right therapist can be a challenge though, especially if you don't know what a good therapeutic outcome should look/feel like. I think most of the advice in this article would be better applied to "how do I choose the right therapist" than "should I just completely rule out therapy."
[0]https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22838-diale...
> I think most of the advice in this article would be better applied to "how do I choose the right therapist" than "should I just completely rule out therapy."
FWIW, I read this advice as, "How do I choose the right therapy?" which is similar to what you're saying. I can see how someone reads this as the latter, however.
It seems to me that the article's author is trying to do the opposite of generalize. They are in fact saying that generalizing is not good; specifically that assuming everyone needs therapy for everything might not be a good stance.
What about how many people see the “go to” thing as a sign of weakness? It’s just hard to make these blanket statements, that’s why I commented.
I just fundamentally disagree. You need to vent sometimes, you need to get it out of your head and into the world. You need someone to lend an ear here and there. You can’t talk about certain repressed emotions with certain people either.
The trend seems to show we are more “connected” but more lonely than ever. How many people who frequent HN for example have someone they talk to about their life’s problems frequently? How many of those people want to be the person that only hear you venting without feeling used?
Therapists serve a wonderful purpose. Little strings attached, you can vent to someone and get feedback. Don't like them? Find a new one just like you would a friend or family member who doesn’t want to listen.
If America valued communities like they did many decades ago, we wouldn’t need as much mental health support because we would already be getting it. But therapy is a tool to be used and many do not ever utilize it. To generalize like this article is trying to do is a shame. There’s plenty of therapists that help people see the bottlenecks in their lives to then fix and become happier and no longer need it.
I will 100% agree with the idea of stress to strength. Pavlov famously did experiments late in life on breaking dogs down with enough stress only to reverse the effects with enough stress.
> “[Pavlov] spent the rest of his long life giving stress-induced nervous breakdowns to dogs, after which he would try to reverse the breakdowns, all the while keeping careful experimental records.
> “He found (1) that he could classify dogs so as to predict how easily a particular dog would breakdown; (2) that the dogs hardest to break down were also the hardest to return to their pre-breakdown state; (3) that any dog could be broken down; and (4) that he couldn’t reverse a breakdown except by reimposing stress.”
Oh and the most common way to resolve said issues? A relatedness or connectedness to something.