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MNGrrl t1_j0h08dy wrote

> I produced a podcast about cognitive behavioural therapy called Let’s Talk About CBT for several years,

will psychology ever move away from having the main treatment for mental illness being based off how other people experience the patient? CBT really only teaches people how to hide symptoms. It hasn't been proven to lead to neurological changes - same for claims of that with DBT.

Full disclosure: I'm a trans woman and active in community outreach and care. I'm tired of burying my friends because of structural problems that I don't feel can be solved as long as we continue to let long standing cultural problems in for-profit medicine and methodological errors that have utterly divorced psychology from the rest of STEM. See also: the publication process for the DSM being shielded behind NDA, the DEA forcing doctors to prescribe off-label medications as first-line choices for treatment of psychiatric conditions, etc., etc.

The plain english here is that I'm tired of watching the results of a system that, when faced with a need for accommodation, tries (violently at times) to force the patient to adapt to a system that has been designed to fail everyone but young white men - a mirror of the demographic composition of psychiatry until about fifteen years ago. Psychology that roots in patriarchal attitudes is toxic as hell but here we are, in 2022, living with life expectancies in the mid-30s across a broad spectrum of my community.

It would be nice to see psychology stop screaming "self care" at people who need community care they won't provide, and instead make the solutions to minority struggles fundamentally reduce to either hiding their problems or doing less and if neither works then medicate them or call it a disability and then kill them slowly from poverty they can't escape.. When in actuality all they needed was someone to hold their hand for awhile.

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nap-and-a-crap t1_j0i1wi9 wrote

It seems you might not have full understanding of how CBT works and its scientifically proven benefits? Or maybe it did not work for you or someone close to you? Personally, it has helped me overcome many negative thought and behavioural patterns, it has helped me reflect over my thoughts and actions as well as giving me a great set of tools to tackle worry and anxiety.

I highly recommend it, but we do need to bear in mind CBT is not a fit for all and every challenge of the mind. That said, it has been scientifically proven to be more effective on more than most treatments, for a number of conditions.

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Thewalrus515 t1_j0htijz wrote

The answer is, as always, broad economic and social reform, but since they profit from the system as it is, nothing will be done. Psychology is a joke field. Always has been. Therapy is a crap shoot and almost never works, it just teaches you how to hide your symptoms. Then they foist highly addictive meds on you. It’s an embarrassment.

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MNGrrl t1_j0iamnq wrote

I appreciate the sentiment but it's not a joke field. At best, its practitioners in this country are misled by patriarchal and racist attitudes endemic to medicine as a whole. Therapy does work, i happen to run a queer/nd support group for teens and young adults in the community. I'm neither, btw. But I'm trans and I know group therapy is basically queer culture because of how much trauma we carry around. So I help. And we speak to each other about what our therapists say too, both to support and criticize. We put it all out there because that's how we heal.

I'm sorry they hurt you too. I have my own grudge with the establishment, but there are good people - good therapists out there. I have one now - a nature and dog loving lesbian with a heart of gold (and maybe drinks more than they should, but I'm not judging). But she can't solve all my problems. In truth, I'm not sure anyone can. But she does make me feel like I'm not alone in the world and that...

Well, that's what therapy is for: Figuring out how to connect in a disconnected world.

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Thewalrus515 t1_j0icf2b wrote

So it’s not a medical treatment, is a random crapshoot that doesn’t work for most people, and is compensated for through psychotropic drugs? It’s not a real field, it’s quackery. It’s where you go when there’s no other option. If I wanted to pay someone to pretend to care about my problems, I’d hire a prostitute. I’d be cheaper than paying for a therapist.

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MNGrrl t1_j0ij1sl wrote

Okay. Well, you get functional enough to afford the hookers and blow then, and the rest of us will keep working on our negative cognitions because we're not rich enough to afford your brand of mental illness health.

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Thewalrus515 t1_j0imcqh wrote

My therapist cost me 180 dollars per visit for an hour. A prostitute costs around 100 dollars an hour. Which is more cost efficient if they perform the same function? Therapy is an expensive luxury that often doesn’t even work.

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MNGrrl t1_j0isedg wrote

Looking forward to seeing you in group when you lose the self hating incel crap and actually try instead of mistaking an endless search for a crutch that will let you stay toxic for therapy. And i mean that sincerely - about one in five teens i work with now came from a conservative upbringing and have so much internalized ableism and homophobia I have cried after... Because of how much they have grown in just a few months around their peers who are helping them lose that attitude. Go to therapy or don't, but find a support group (or make one). You've been alone too long. I know from experience.

Also, at a societal level - consider that most therapists are paid garbage working for most health care organizations. They could go into private practice (or be a stripper, since you mentioned) and make more but they don't. Do you know why? a lot of them, not all, or even most, but a lot - actually do care. when you find one, and open up, then maybe you'll find therapy is worth every damn penny and then some.

I think therapists should be paid triple what they are today because of how desperately we ALL need competent, effective, and compassionate care. I didn't come here just to be a crank - I came looking for perspectives I haven't heard before. I pity people who only ask questions to confirm their biases, not challenge them.

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