Trying to 'unf**k' your life

@chibam I haven't been active on the forums for about a year, but may have met you before when I was more active.

It would be interesting to know what the percentages of harmful experiences are, not sure that studies would be done on this directly as not sure that governments and other controllers of mental health systems want to know about the issue.

I believe the most harmful mental health systems are those that involve involuntary treatment including detainment in hospital or prison, or community treatment . The people involved in running those systems have a lot of control over others lives - in the name of protecting others mental health. I would guess that the majority of people who experience involuntarily treatment suffer further mental harm rather than support. They try to justify this treatment as necessary, but I don't believe that.

Then there are many other mental health therapists including psychologists, counsellors, OTs, social workers, nurses, psychiatrists. Even GPs, other health professionals and peer workers. I have had therapy from each of these & for me there are some professions I feel are more likely to be able to help me in a way that feels supportive. And there are individuals in each profession that cause harm.

Then there is the idea that once you have a negative experience this could influence how you respond to the next therapist which may increase the likelihood of a subsequent bad experience.

Even if the people who have been harmed by therapists are a tiny minority - I believe they have the right to voice this hurt - hopefully to reduce the harm in the future and also to assist in the recovery journey from this harm.

@chibam @CrazyChick ,

Anecdotally I have seen enough MH problems here to see it is a problem worth worrying about. I'm guessing maybe 30%? I'm sure the boffins at SANE could do a survey on forum content to see.

@CrazyChick , I agree bad experiences early on can easily lead to disenchantment. The problem is still no MH person will actually explain what they are doing to you. (It's actually rife in all professions). They expect you to just agree with everything they say - I realised whether you have a 'mental illness' basically boils down to whether you agree with them or not. It's bizzarre. @chibam , that's why they don't 'help' you, as psych studies are just a meme, they mostly don't care about your problems, just looking for more 'converts' to their way of thinking.

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@CrazyChick wrote:

It would be interesting to know what the percentages of harmful experiences are, not sure that studies would be done on this directly as not sure that governments and other controllers of mental health systems want to know about the issue.

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Quite so. And this will be compounded by the reluctance of victims to speak out, too. It's like what they say about rape statistics: "Most rapes go unreported". I suspect you'll find the same is true for psychological abuses at the hands of therapists.

That's how it was for me. I was on that program to get 10-12 discounted therapy sessions from Medicare (I think it's called "Better Access"?) At the end of the treatment run, I was supposed to go back to my GP for a "debriefing" session. I didn't do that. And even if I had, I wouldn't have felt safe being honest about how terrible the therapy was, because I had to sign my doctor-patient privelage away, and I don't know whether it was still surrendered for that debriefing session.

Of course, subsequently I have (anonymously) spoken out about what I went through. But not in any sort of survey that might be geared towards determining the proportions of good vs. bad therapy.

So, even if they were keeping official statistics, mine probably would falsely register as a successful treatment run.

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@justanotherguy wrote:

They expect you to just agree with everything they say - I realised whether you have a 'mental illness' basically boils down to whether you agree with them or not. It's bizzarre. @chibam , that's why they don't 'help' you, as psych studies are just a meme, they mostly don't care about your problems, just looking for more 'converts' to their way of thinking.

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Totally.

Modern therapy is just rebranded evangelism. Seeking to prey upon the most desparate and downtrodden to convert them to the therapist's worldview.

I think the therapists' union could totally learn a lot from the butlers' union. Learn that their proper role is to dutifully and humbly serve the aspirations of their patient, not to dictate them.

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@justanotherguy wrote:

The problem is still no MH person will actually explain what they are doing to you. (It's actually rife in all professions).

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And unfortunately all the official literature is so wishy-washy and imprecise that it's impossible to even know how any given type of therapist will handle your case before you actually book an appointment.

Like "psycho-social supports". What do they actually do? And who do they actually serve? Oh, you can get explainations and definitions off of websites. But they are so wishy-washy, you really can't tell what they mean. And sometimes, you need to know specific details about this stuff. Like, it might say: "they help people with work challenges". That's so ambiguous! What does that really mean? What does the word "help" mean, in that regard? That sentance could really mean anything, and I suspect it often means something that the patient finds unappealing.

The overwhelming amount of useless waffle in all the official literature, marketing, and "help" material is beyond a joke. I think there needs to be a law that states that all official literature, ect. relating to mental health treatment must be clear, complete, unambiguous, and layman-friendly. People have every right to know what's really going on, and what their letting themselves in for.

Hi @chibam , just going back through the thread, so many MH issues seem to come from stress, and the endless 'conditions' are just coping mechanisms. How can so many psychiatrists spend 10+ years getting qualified but be so incompetent?

@chibam again my psychologist said as much today.