rekcik15

Do you see Therapy as a permanent solution/something that should plan on going to your entire life/get you to complete recovery? Or do you see it as a stepping stone?

While I believe people obviously can benefit from therapy, I don't believe it is a final solution. I truly believe that people need to ultimately learn things themselves. Similar to training wheels on a bike, you can help them see what it is like to be in that better place and open their eyes to it, and hopefully point them in the right direction, but ultimately they need to be put out in reality by themselves and learn about themselves and life as an individual. I think humans at the end of the day will learn better and carry life lessons further when they go through them themselves and experience them alone than being told how to think and what to feel and how to navigate through it all.

Now each person is different, some will use it better as a tool than others, and I can only speak second hand on my ex girlfriend. She relied so heavily on her therapist. She thought her therapist was the answer. And when her therapist wasn't magically making things better, she fell into an even worse place and got discouraged. I compare this to people who use anti depressants and how a lot of them see them as a "forever answer", and by having this crutch they don't see the need to work on things themselves since after all "this is the answer - so why isn't it working?"

I won't argue these things don't have their place and that they haven't saved lives. But where do you as a professional believe therapy and medication lie on the scale of treatment for say anxiety and depression?

Thanks for the reply. Don't feel obligated to keep replying, I'm sure your busy. I've been wanting to ask someone in your field this for a long while so its cool to have the opportunity. (There's going to be a question for you at the end of this I promise I'm not ranting)

I will come right out and say - as someone who has battled depression and anxiety for over a decade and put myself into the great place that I am right now - I am very skeptical of therapy. I don't want to say "Against therapy" because like I said, I know its has its place and helps people. I realize everyone is different and I am not a hard ass by any means. I am actually extremely empathetic and caring. Many of my friends come to me for advice because of my ability to listen, care, but also give some real advice that isn't bullshit that other individuals tend to feed their friends. I've got plenty of friends who are borderline addicted to their meds - or should I say extremely reliant on them. They don't do a thing to help themselves, yet I see public cries for help constantly.

With all that said, I do truly believe people are better off figuring things out (as much as they possibly can while remaining healthy) on their own. This isn't a "screw therapists" by any means. I appreciate that you do take the mentality of getting people out of it and into a better place.

So my question is: what can I do to help these friends that are struggling. Is it possible to help someone who refuses to help themselves? I won't tell you how many times people have said they envy what I've done, and when I try to give them the advice that I used myself, they do nothing. Sometimes I can't help but throw my hands in the air and say "You've got to be willing to want to get better before I can help". But I obviously still want to be there for them and help them get healthy.