Story An story/example of why talk therapy is useless (for people who are looking for solutions)

[TAW122]

So I know lately I've been having a lot of rants and vents in regards to the mental health system (in the US and even around the world), but when I have interesting perspectives and insights, I can't help but to share them. I believe it may benefit some others who have experienced similar encounters and/or be another example of how useless the system is for a lot of people.

As someone who is really black and white when it comes to logic, analytical, and more of a problem solver type (or whatever personality you call it), I don't respond well to talk therapy. I can briefly explain why it doesn't work, but first, I will explain what happens during talk therapy with most therapists and most counseling (again not all therapists or MHPs are like this but a majority of them are). So what happens is a patient goes in to talk about their life, their issues, problems, and what not, then at first the therapist/counselor/MHP sits there and nods and (pretends to) listens to what the patient has to say. Then he/she asks a question, usually just reflecting and rehashing the feelings that the patient described. A common one is "How does that make you feel?" and other questions include but aren't limited to (and wording can vary too) "What would you do if you could get x (where x is what you wanted)?", "If you could do xyz (where xyz is what you wanted), how would you feel?", "What are your plans on getting it, how would you go about it? (which is an insulting question as it is boomeranging what the patient asked.)" and many more. This is the same pattern with just about all the MHPs I've encountered in my life, but with subtle variations, some will suggest inane shit like writing down a list of interests and other general boiler, stock advice, which doesn't work to solve whatever problem I'm seeking to solve. Also, don't forget about the gaslighting and shame for wrongthink, saying the wrong thing (not politically correct or what society deems abnormal). In another thread, I did mention that MHPs are not looking to solve your problems or find solutions but to get you to be a functioning member of society again and re-indoctrinate you into mass groupthink that society has. They don't care about your woes and suffering as long as you aren't a danger to yourself or others.

So in summary talk therapy is useless because the therapist, counselor, MHPs aren't really interested or listening to your problems let alone looking for a solution, but are just seeking out a pattern and looking for behaviors to "diagnose" you, "parse" through what you said until the end just to throw some inane advice or non-solution, and of course "fishing" for keywords, red flags and looking for that opening to take action against you (including threat assessment and even potentially involuntary holds, psych holds, and what not). That's really what they are there for most of the time. In the case of the rare gem that does listen and have compassion for you, well even then, he/she may or may not help with your problems and of course are still bound by mandated reporting guidelines and what not, so I wouldn't even get comfortable during an encounter with them.

 

[rebelsue]

That is what happens when people can become "trained" to be mental health professionals. You get these formulaic types of interactions because you can't train real empathy into someone. In school, they teach social work and counseling students how to show empathy, not how to feel it. They have to actually care about you to be any good at their jobs and actually help patients. And that gets exhausting if you're taking care of 50 patients per week. And even if a person manages to do it, any keyword they look for completely blanks out their brains and they get too scared of law suits so they have to hospitalize you instead of helping you, and then the hospital says they can't do therapy with you, and you'll have to work it out with your therapist, so if you go back to them still feeling suicidal due to lack of help at the hospital, they will put you in the hospital again...and it goes around and around and around.

One time I actually had the chance to tell an EMT what would really help suicidal patients -- it would be to let them talk about their suicidal feelings without calling the police or hospitalizing them. He cut me off mid-sentence and said "Well, that's a really slippery line to walk.." It was an ah-ha moment for me. It's because their objective is preventing death, not improving quality of life. You can't have both, actually. You can't focus on preventing every single death at all costs. Some people will die. In fact, all of us will. You can't control people. But because they want to control people, because of this over-the-top zero-tolerance approach, you can't say the word suicide if you actually want help. And then you never get enough help because you're never able to really express how bad it is.

I am not even close to being the first person to point this out. I've seen it probably thousands of times on mental health internet forums. It doesn't matter how many times we say it. MHPs do not listen to us.

 

[Lost in a Dream]

That is what happens when people can become "trained" to be mental health professionals. You get these formulaic types of interactions because you can't train real empathy into someone. In school, they teach social work and counseling students how to show empathy, not how to feel it. They have to actually care about you to be any good at their jobs and actually help patients. And that gets exhausting if you're taking care of 50 patients per week.

I imagine that this would be a very difficult job for someone who actually cares. The current therapist that I have is one of these people and she has opened up to me in the past about how hard it is knowing that there are people that are beyond her ability to help. With me, the focus has always been on improving my quality of life, rather than just preventing death. After I was trusting her a bit more, I admitted to having a suicide plan, but was not hospitalized against my will. Previously, I had a very different experience where I went to the ER because of a physical problem, but when they assumed that it was anxiety, I admitted to the state of my mental health and had to stay in a hospital for a while. They even managed to get a court order, so there was no getting out of that one.

Honestly, I don't know how the therapist that I have now does it. I imagine that having to listen to heart-breaking stories on a daily basis and trying to help people to fix the problems that caused them to feel suicidal, only to have it not work in most cases, would cause a good therapist to feel absolutely hopeless. Maybe in the rare instances when they DO manage to help someone, it makes the rest of it seem worth it, but I don't know how. Even if the lives of some patients improve, it is only a matter of time before their old problems return or a new and more devastating thing comes along that is impossible to recover from without dying. If I tried to be a therapist, I think that I would give up after a while, especially when I know that some problems are permanent or will only be replaced with a new one if they are temporary.

Most of the MHPs only seem to care about earning a profit by exploiting vulnerable people, but the good ones that try to help are a tiny minority. I would think that knowing THAT could make being a therapist extremely difficult when you care. Just knowing that there were some people who could have been helped but ended up killing themselves due to the mistreatment from other therapists or psychiatrists would have to be devastating. I don't know how the good ones are even able to do it.

 

[Quarky00]

sits there and nods and (pretends to) listens

I just love your thinking so much

So I know lately I've been having a lot of rants and vents in regards to the mental health system

I wouldn't say lately lol.
The King of Anti-Prolifers and Anti-MHC

I never finished my Psychology BA but I've seen the crowd, plus I have had around 8 therapists (earliest at the age of 3). And I pretty much can confirm what others are saying. It's a job like all others and I think of it just like plumbers or technicians -- only those actually help... The qualification of a 'therapist' changes from country to country, but overall it's about just being able to memorize huge textbooks, not much more. That is SAD.

That said I have read much research of when and how it's effective, and it is. The mundane pattern you detailed ("how does that make you feel") is awful. "Real" CBT-DBT is extremely helpful and psychoeducation is a good basis of any therapy. I don't believe that's possible with a 1h session, it's ridiculous.


My personal Good Experience with Therapists

My last therapist and I had a 3h session every week, while doing lots of demanding homework, and real activities. I had to be taught to breath and she taught me Tai Chi. I was confronted every other week (in a good way). I was given a list of tasks I appeared to be having problem doing or that hindered my progress, and that was good. She was very hands on and involved, and despite me being an opinionated and stubborn person that was great and spot on. Sadly she didn't address my severe PTSD pain, and insisted on adressing GAD and focusing on "solutions" so I broke it off with her, lol. But it's a great example of an almost-perfect therapy. Even though I left her due to disagreement and lack of progress, shortly after I got much better and my life took off. The reasons were plenty, like real empathic support, seriously reconstructing my 'life story', validating my feelings, real life tools and ideas, general attitude of "I want you to deliver results", and lots of other stuff. Sadly that's 1 out of 8, and I was lucky..

I would like to see other opinions

People who can say therapy had really helped them. I've read many posts about people saying how their therapist is great and understanding etc, and I don't care much about that. Were any of you given real boost, in real life situation, that made you take off? Can you say that certain specific things you learned in therapy changed your life and will stay with you forever? (Maybe it's more for Recovery section;) .

 

[GoBack]

I had a talk therapist for 2 years who led me round in circles talking about stupid stuff. I just wanted to go in, offload the heavy stuff that I couldn't tell friends or family and get on with my life again till next time something bad came up from the past.

I don't know what her deal was but I ended up having a massive breakdown from keeping it all in. Some people are not made for that job

 

[TAW122]

That is what happens when people can become "trained" to be mental health professionals. You get these formulaic types of interactions because you can't train real empathy into someone. In school, they teach social work and counseling students how to show empathy, not how to feel it. They have to actually care about you to be any good at their jobs and actually help patients. And that gets exhausting if you're taking care of 50 patients per week. And even if a person manages to do it, any keyword they look for completely blanks out their brains and they get too scared of law suits so they have to hospitalize you instead of helping you, and then the hospital says they can't do therapy with you, and you'll have to work it out with your therapist, so if you go back to them still feeling suicidal due to lack of help at the hospital, they will put you in the hospital again...and it goes around and around and around.

One time I actually had the chance to tell an EMT what would really help suicidal patients -- it would be to let them talk about their suicidal feelings without calling the police or hospitalizing them. He cut me off mid-sentence and said "Well, that's a really slippery line to walk.." It was an ah-ha moment for me. It's because their objective is preventing death, not improving quality of life. You can't have both, actually. You can't focus on preventing every single death at all costs. Some people will die. In fact, all of us will. You can't control people. But because they want to control people, because of this over-the-top zero-tolerance approach, you can't say the word suicide if you actually want help. And then you never get enough help because you're never able to really express how bad it is.

I am not even close to being the first person to point this out. I've seen it probably thousands of times on mental health internet forums. It doesn't matter how many times we say it. MHPs do not listen to us.

Very true, there is a different between genuine empathy and just feigning empathy. As for MHPs and the psychiatric industry in general, yes you are correct and they don't listen to us at all.

I imagine that this would be a very difficult job for someone who actually cares. The current therapist that I have is one of these people and she has opened up to me in the past about how hard it is knowing that there are people that are beyond her ability to help. With me, the focus has always been on improving my quality of life, rather than just preventing death. After I was trusting her a bit more, I admitted to having a suicide plan, but was not hospitalized against my will. Previously, I had a very different experience where I went to the ER because of a physical problem, but when they assumed that it was anxiety, I admitted to the state of my mental health and had to stay in a hospital for a while. They even managed to get a court order, so there was no getting out of that one.

Honestly, I don't know how the therapist that I have now does it. I imagine that having to listen to heart-breaking stories on a daily basis and trying to help people to fix the problems that caused them to feel suicidal, only to have it not work in most cases, would cause a good therapist to feel absolutely hopeless. Maybe in the rare instances when they DO manage to help someone, it makes the rest of it seem worth it, but I don't know how. Even if the lives of some patients improve, it is only a matter of time before their old problems return or a new and more devastating thing comes along that is impossible to recover from without dying. If I tried to be a therapist, I think that I would give up after a while, especially when I know that some problems are permanent or will only be replaced with a new one if they are temporary.

Most of the MHPs only seem to care about earning a profit by exploiting vulnerable people, but the good ones that try to help are a tiny minority. I would think that knowing THAT could make being a therapist extremely difficult when you care. Just knowing that there were some people who could have been helped but ended up killing themselves due to the mistreatment from other therapists or psychiatrists would have to be devastating. I don't know how the good ones are even able to do it.

I'm sorry to hear about your ordeals and this is one of the main reasons I don't see MHP's let alone admit to anything they could use against me (having a plan, intent, means). I see them as nothing more than plainclothes officers of the law with the authority to take away my freedom, civil liberties on a whim just based on their own opinion of whether I am a danger to myself or others. As for your last paragraph, yes it is sad that there are people who would have been helped but because of mistreatment or bad experiences it pushed them over the edge to CTB. In regards to good ones, I think they somehow make the patient feel trusted enough to open up and also allow the patient to be aware of the boundaries (set clear in stone) and generally have good rapport with one another; but I don't know, it may vary.

I just love you're thinking so much


I wouldn't say lately lol.
The King of Anti-Prolifers and Anti-MHC

I never finished my Psychology BA but I've seen the crowd, plus I have had around 8 therapists (earliest at the age of 3). And I pretty much can confirm what others are saying. It's a job like all others and I think of it just like plumbers or technicians -- only those actually help... The qualification of a 'therapist' changes from country to country, but overall it's about just being able to memorize huge textbooks, not much more. That is SAD.

That said I have read much research of when and how it's effective, and it is. The mundane pattern you detailed ("how does that make you feel") is awful. "Real" CBT-DBT is extremely helpful and psychoeducation is a good basis of any therapy. I don't believe that's possible with a 1h session, it's ridiculous.


My personal Good Experience with Therapists

My last therapist and I had a 3h session every week, while doing lots of demanding homework, and real activities. I had to be taught to breath and she taught me Tai Chi. I was confronted every other week (in a good way). I was given a list of tasks I appeared to be having problem doing or that hindered my progress, and that was good. She was very hands on and involved, and despite me being an opinionated and stubborn person that was great and spot on. Sadly she didn't address my severe PTSD pain, and insisted on adressing GAD and focusing on "solutions" so I broke it off with her, lol. But it's a great example of an almost-perfect therapy. Even though I left her due to disagreement and lack of progress, shortly after I got much better and my life took off. The reasons were plenty, like real empathic support, seriously reconstructing my 'life story', validating my feelings, real life tools and ideas, general attitude of "I want you to deliver results", and lots of other stuff. Sadly that's 1 out of 8, and I was lucky..

I would like to see other opinions

People who can say therapy had really helped them. I've read many posts about people saying how their therapist is great and understanding etc, and I don't care much about that. Were any of you given real boost, in real life situation, that made you take off? Can you say that certain specific things you learned in therapy changed your life and will stay with you forever? (Maybe it's more for Recovery section;) .

As for the title and compliments, I'm flattered and thanks. I consider myself a rebel against a corrupt system, a corrupt society while I work to secure my exit and self-deliverance (in the future). I'm glad that you found someone who was helpful and based on how you described it, well that wouldn't have helped me because I am the kind of person looking to find solutions to problems and sadly what they do isn't going to solve my problems. As for recovery, I had never had that attributed due to psychotherapy or through the MHC system nor any MHPs. At best, it was a waste of time, ultimately going back to square one only that I've wasted time and gotten no results (perhaps even a lighter wallet) and at worst, my freedom and liberty is put on the line as I've been given a threat assessment and treated like some potential nefarious actor. What actually helped me was meeting my ladyfriend and having a positive encounter with her back in March 2019 which was why I was alive through most of 2019 and actually achieving my goal of losing virginity last Fall 2019, which was how I made it into 2020.

I had a talk therapist for 2 years who led me round in circles talking about stupid stuff. I just wanted to go in, offload the heavy stuff that I couldn't tell friends or family and get on with my life again till next time something bad came up from the past.

I don't know what her deal was but I ended up having a massive breakdown from keeping it all in. Some people are not made for that job

I'm sorry to hear about that and I hope you are able to find something that will give you peace, even if it isn't through MHC.

 

[rebelsue]

I imagine that this would be a very difficult job for someone who actually cares. The current therapist that I have is one of these people and she has opened up to me in the past about how hard it is knowing that there are people that are beyond her ability to help. With me, the focus has always been on improving my quality of life, rather than just preventing death. After I was trusting her a bit more, I admitted to having a suicide plan, but was not hospitalized against my will. Previously, I had a very different experience where I went to the ER because of a physical problem, but when they assumed that it was anxiety, I admitted to the state of my mental health and had to stay in a hospital for a while. They even managed to get a court order, so there was no getting out of that one.

Honestly, I don't know how the therapist that I have now does it. I imagine that having to listen to heart-breaking stories on a daily basis and trying to help people to fix the problems that caused them to feel suicidal, only to have it not work in most cases, would cause a good therapist to feel absolutely hopeless. Maybe in the rare instances when they DO manage to help someone, it makes the rest of it seem worth it, but I don't know how. Even if the lives of some patients improve, it is only a matter of time before their old problems return or a new and more devastating thing comes along that is impossible to recover from without dying. If I tried to be a therapist, I think that I would give up after a while, especially when I know that some problems are permanent or will only be replaced with a new one if they are temporary.

Most of the MHPs only seem to care about earning a profit by exploiting vulnerable people, but the good ones that try to help are a tiny minority. I would think that knowing THAT could make being a therapist extremely difficult when you care. Just knowing that there were some people who could have been helped but ended up killing themselves due to the mistreatment from other therapists or psychiatrists would have to be devastating. I don't know how the good ones are even able to do it.

I actually wish that you could sign a release or have your family sign a release form promising that your family won't sue them if you kill yourself. That should be standard practice for therapy. It would allow a lot more trust and honesty.

My therapist is one of those people who really cares and told me that if a client ever killed themselves, he'd probably be unable to continue his practice for emotional reasons. But he is anti-choice. Staunchly. He says that if you have a suicide plan at all, if it's even on the table, then you won't work as hard to get better since you have an "out." I think I can see where's coming from, but sometimes lack of hard work is just not the reason people's lives get to the point of fuckery to where they want to die. Sometimes you work as hard as you can and things are still awful. You shouldn't be forced to stick around because you might not have worked hard enough yet.

I really don't know what to do. I'd like to get another therapist but I'd be hard pressed to find anybody that is pro-choice. Ha. What a dream that would be. Maybe in 100 years.

 

[disabledandhopeless]

I really love how you expose their bullshit. Keep the threads coming. Thank you!

 

[TheGoodGuy]

I did mention that MHPs are not looking to solve your problems or find solutions but to get you to be a functioning member of society again and re-indoctrinate you into mass groupthink that society has. They don't care about your woes and suffering as long as you aren't a danger to yourself or others.

I strongly agree with this as a fact, I could lay down a paper that perfectly describes why am better off dead because I suffer from so many physical and mental problems some some both physical and mentally are chronical problems so to any psychiatrist no it doesnt get better because they are chronical illnesses.

And they do just want to re-indoctrinate us and throw us back into society also I don´t really care about us we are not their friends or family so if we ctb they wouldn´t be feeling their lives was over.

They are also extremely close minded, as I mentioned with my problems it doesn´t matter to them because they are always right so no matter how articulately I explain my problems they can´t comprehend it because they are so close minded, their entire goal is to keep me alive not to end my suffering. I also can´t take them seriously because you pay for an hour to talk with them and when the our is up then it´s just goodbye even if you were to magically be near a breakthrough it doesn´t matter because the hour is up, then these people really don´t care, if you had close friends whom you were able to talk to about this stuff and who cared about you they would listen for hours, I had such friends as a teenager there wasn´t a timer on my problems or having to pay for it.

I also always avoid using words like 'suicidal' or 'depression' because I know I will get punished for it as you also point out so it´s also extremely hard to make "progress" when you know there are certain things you can´t mention because they are red flags I have to stop myself several times when talking because I almost spilled the beans if they wanted this to work better there should be no rules or laws so a person could say they were suicidal, depressed, even having homicidal thoughts without them writing it down into a data base for the government to see but instead the sessions feels like I am walking on egg shells.

 

[AnnonyBox]

I tried a free online version of this, I gave them a few weeks and they never heard from me again. Their goal is to make you lie to yourself until you think you're 'healthy.' They all love Cognitive Behavioral Therapy too, which is nothing short of ignoring your problems, in my experience.

 

[mold]

luckily, i have a therapist who isn't greedy or money hungry. though i have definitely dealt with therapists who just repeat the same questions over and over before. my current therapist realizes how bad my situation is and lets me meet her more often now at no extra cost. she's very sweet and i wish more therapists were like her.

 

[Kumachan]

thats very interesting! I always wondered, how this "talk therapy" can help someone with situational depression. Say, im lonely, lost my job, tired of life in general etc. How can this therapy help? Change my perspective somehow? Even if i had the best, caring therapist, how does this work?

 

[Epsilon0]

Therapy helped me.

I did therapy for a long time (over four years) and I was lucky enough to meet a truly professional psychologist who knew what she was doing. I needed therapy for a host of ailments: agoraphobia, panic attacks, dealing with chronic pain and extreme fatigue.

When I started the therapy, the most debilitating issues I had were the panic attacks and the agoraphobia. I would get panic attacks even while being in therapy, and I was usually half-dead when I got there anyway, because even a small thing like taking a cab ride from my house to the hospital was an excruciating experience for an agoraphobic such as myself.


Interesting enough, my psychologist did not dig deep into my past and did not have me talk about my "daddy issues" or whatever at the beginning. She was very practical and from day one helped me practise small (very small) steps I could take when the panic would set in.

I did a lot of exercises with her - some did not work at all, some did. CBT worked, gradual exposure worked, meditation worked. Also, what worked were different ways to talk to myself when the pain would flare up.

In time I learned how to deal with my panic attacks and as soon as that happened my agoraphobia started disappearing. After a while I wasn't longer afraid of panic attacks and they also dissapeared. My chronic pain and fatigue remained though.

After about year or two of weekly therapy sessions my condition improved and this improvment allowed me to take short walks and go to group therapy - which I absolutely loved. Up until then I had thought I was this freak, but meeting highly successful people who struggled just as much as I did, helped me understand that psychological problems can affect anyone. I suddenly understood it wasn't my fault that I had fallen ill.

The group therapy was also exercise-based - a lot of breathing, yoga exercises, observations of our emotions and going outside to interact with nature.

Writing this, I realize I was extremely lucky to find a very good psychologist. In group therapy I met people who had gone through several therapists until finding one who could help them.

It's a hard job! All my respect to those who do it well.

 

[BabyYoda]

Good thread. I don't see the point in doing this so-called talk therapy when I could just message a friend and vent about my problems. Unless I don't have friends and I need to pay thousands of bucks just to get it off my chest.

"What are your plans on getting it, how would you go about it? (which is an insulting question as it is boomeranging what the patient asked.)" and many more.

Ugh, I remember when I was talking to Person B and he asked a question similar to this. Like I don't freaking know what I should do. I shouldn't be expected to know everything.

 

[Sensei]

(in the US and even around the world)

Depending on how you count, there are 195 to 250 countries in the world. I'm impressed that you have read up on psychiatric healthcare in all of them.

 

[InterstateFlowers]

Hello! I've always read your threads from a distance so I'm so glad I have the chance to finally say something! Your quotes are interesting too and I even saved them! When you see something wrong, you say it and make a conversation. I really like that. I'm also really lucky to have an amazing therapist who genuinely cares, if it weren't for her, I would have never lived to this day. That said, I can't say much to bad therapy. But oh my god, I have so much to say when it comes to "behavior health centers" and mental health outpatients.

I've only been admitted as a minor (13-16) and looking back on it, it was terrible. Even though most of the people my age were generally good people, there are some kids who just did too much drugs and couldn't relate to the suicide thing.

One of the two reasons I'm grateful for the experience was because it introduced me to people I would never talked to otherwise. Some kids lived in really shady areas people nickname the "hood" or participated in gang activity and even though they were kind of intimidating, they were people just like me. We got excited over cocoa puffs and pizza. They just lived in shitty situations with shitty parents. My second reason is that it really opened my eyes to never judge people. You hear all the time to never judge by appearance but it has never been so important to me now. So many of the girls there I would never expected to have problems.

Besides that, I hate it with all my being. I'll never forgot the heartache to see someone get discharged to their shitty home with their stupid, sucky parents who couldn't love their kids and provide for them. I shed too many tears because outpatients are so useless to the ones who need it the most. They just keep you there until you say you're not suicidal (a week at minimum) and let you go back to the home that pushed you to suicide in the first place. I hate it so much.

Outpatients don't do anything besides keep you there. It's literally glorified babysitting besides the useless group therapy. How the fuck is this stupid fucking therapy going to help the one who comes homes to parents who make her work chores to exhaustion? Or the one who just smokes weed all day to cope with the pain of being raped? None of them work with love in their hearts and it shows.

This is only the adolescent units. I have no idea how the adult units are. Sometimes, I remember walking by them between glass borders and seeing them eat in the cafeteria and feeling so bad. I saw people of all ages. I remember wanted to talk to them because I was so curious. Learned really quickly you're not even allowed to even glance their direction or make contact. It made me so sad.

 

[RayoSinSol]

thats very interesting! I always wondered, how this "talk therapy" can help someone with situational depression. Say, im lonely, lost my job, tired of life in general etc. How can this therapy help? Change my perspective somehow? Even if i had the best, caring therapist, how does this work?

No amount of talk therapy can change the fact that I just feel completely misaligned with the goals and values of the society I live in.

My problem isn't that I need to talk it out to heal some past isolated instance of physical or emotional trauma; my pain comes from the constant dissonance between constantly being told I'm free yet knowing that there really is little choice in HOW I can actually work to support myself in the economy and culture in which I live.

Even if I start my own business, my choices for what kind of business I can start and how I have to work to maintain it are affected by forces far greater than me, whose power was consolidated long ago.

I don't want talk therapy; I want workplace democracy and the ability to be vulnerable and real at the place where I have to spend the majority of my life and energy until I retire or die. That's just not possible in a corporatist world; that's not how our world works. Not now. Maybe not for a long time. Maybe never.

No matter what kind of work I do, there really is no other choice but to wear the smiling mask of a neurotypical person, shut up, put my head down, and work for the interest of someone else's fortune, until I either become an unfettered capitalist owner myself (unlikely in my case), or die.

That's the script. It was written long ago, by the first landowners of Virginia and the economy that evolved from their lands. There is room for variation in that script, but there is little to no room for deviation from it.

Another world is very much possible, with all the technology we have today, but to imagine such a world, among millions who either prefer or simply never question the status quo comes at the price of making oneself a "radical" and an "idealist."

The society that created my authentic values, doesn't authentically support those values, except for the sake of putting on a show to keep the plebeians calm and happy. To truly value authenticity, liberty, justice, or peace comes at a social and psychological cost.

It is that realization that fuels my mental illness, personally, and no amount of talk therapy could change the fact that I was raised for a world that doesn't actually exist yet, or maybe never will exist.

For someone like me, talk therapy can't really help; it can only guide me toward the ways that I can better delude myself until I can act and sound like everyone else.

Been there, done that. Unfortunately, self-deception just isn't a strong talent of mine. For me, therapy is like throwing bullshit at a waterfall; it just doesn't stick.

 

[s1mplem3]

Nobody cares about you and that's not new.