Venting Fuck mainstream "mental health"

[qualityOV3Rquantity]

I don't want to discourage anyone from trying to find help from mental health services. I personally know people who have been helped by doctors, psychiatrists and therapists.

Several times in the past few years, I volunteered for some corporate-funded "mental health awareness week" at my university. And my God, I hate the material we handed out.

On one pamphlet, there's a picture of some guy sending a text to a friend or coworker saying "u good?" And a caption that said something like "reaching out could save a life." And I'm like, sending a text saying "u good?" isn't going to save a fucking life. Either the person will reply "yeah I'm fine, just a bit tired lol" when they're really on the verge of suicide, or worse, they'll respond "actually man, I've been feeling pretty horrible because..." followed by a litany of problems that the original texter couldn't possibly solve.

Normal people want to live in some fairytale world where every suicide is preventable, where no one actually has unsolvable problems, and where the only reason anyone commits suicide is because they haven't looked for help. And all it takes is one appointment with a doctor to give you some magic pills that will make the depression go away, or a few appointments with a therapist who will quickly make you think "wow, life isn't actually so bad!" And then you're cured.

But people suffer in this world. They suffer for real, and they suffer for years, decades, lifetimes. And many of them suffer from depression that is resistant to treatment, or in many cases from life circumstances that inevitably cause depression (in my case, an incurable chronic PHYSICAL illness that makes every fucking day agonizingly painful!!).

But yeah, after I commit suicide, make sure everyone knows it's because no one texted me "u good?"

 

[NoName_NoLife]

100% true, I completely agree with you

I life in country (poland) where you wait half a year to see a doctor :) Great country where is 5x more suicide man from women :) being born a man has 3 times more difficult life later than a woman. Fewer men are asking for help due to social stigma in this country. If you ask any man "u good?" literally every single one of them will tell you "yes it's fine".

 

[KillingPain267]

u good though bro?

 

[NoName_NoLife]

u good though bro?

yes it's fine

 

[drowinginsorrowww]

this thread has me cracking up but it's also so sad!
ahhhh ctb'ers have the best humor

 

[nattys5thtoenail]

I know everyone on this site says this, but it just makes me angry how society will smile in your face and tell you that "help is available" and to not kill yourself but meanwhile they won't make an effort to combat systemic issues that CAUSE people to want to kill themselves. Like yeah your life matters but make sure you're not late for your 996 wage slave job where you have no time to invest in yourself and have a life that's worth living

I genuinely don't understand pro-life people because suicide would practically be a rare occurrence in society if life simply wasn't so shit. I just hate how they treat it like an illness when I think some of the most logical people suffer from mental health issues.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

God these posters were everywhere at my (former) psychiatrist's clinic, it drove me up the wall. Not only due to everything you mentioned, but also the fact that even if you were honest about being suicidal, 99% of people have absolutely no idea how to handle it.

So if you responded to "u good?" with "I'm actually in so much pain and despair that I want to kill myself," a great many people will do one of the following:

1) Call emergency services on you, leading to involuntary hospitalization/being locked up in a psych ward, potentially causing more trauma.
2) Spout off unthoughtful, unhelpful platitudes like "It gets better" or "Help is out there."
3) Get spooked and cut you off or become distant as a self-protective mechanism.

In my experience it's futile to talk to others about suicidal ideation; I have yet to receive a genuinely helpful response.

 

[nattys5thtoenail]

God these posters were everywhere at my (former) psychiatrist's clinic, it drove me up the wall. Not only due to everything you mentioned, but also the fact that even if you were honest about being suicidal, 99% of people have absolutely no idea how to handle it.

So if you responded to "u good?" with "I'm actually in so much pain and despair that I want to kill myself," a great many people will do one of the following:

1) Call emergency services on you, leading to involuntary hospitalization/being locked up in a psych ward, potentially causing more trauma.
2) Spout off unthoughtful, unhelpful platitudes like "It gets better" or "Help is out there."
3) Get spooked and cut you off or become distant as a self-protective mechanism.

In my experience it's futile to talk to others about suicidal ideation; I have yet to receive a genuinely helpful response.

Tbh I don't even blame anyone who gets uncomfortable with venting, when I was 12 I had this creepy online friend on amino (who was 16 by the way) who would use me as their emotional dumping ground and would guilt trip me when I wouldn't respond and they pretended to CTB and I was bawling like crazy and blowing up their phone and they didn't even apologize afterwards. It's wrong to put that emotional burden on people and I hate how pro-life society promotes that bc it can easily turn into a toxic dynamic. Even worse if I tell this to someone in the mainstream they'll gaslight me with some shit like "iMaGiNe hOw ThEy FeEl"

 

[vanillamilkshakes]

100% agree, talking with CAHMS when I was younger was useless. Not to mention how long their waiting list was, I can only imagine what it's like now

 

[Leiot]

I have a suicide attempt and a few hospitalizations, so now at the VA EVERY SINGLE TIME I see someone I get asked "Are you having thoughts of harming yourself?" I am so tired of that question.

But, in case anyone's wondering, I'm good, bro!

 

[qualityOV3Rquantity]

God these posters were everywhere at my (former) psychiatrist's clinic, it drove me up the wall. Not only due to everything you mentioned, but also the fact that even if you were honest about being suicidal, 99% of people have absolutely no idea how to handle it.

So if you responded to "u good?" with "I'm actually in so much pain and despair that I want to kill myself," a great many people will do one of the following:

1) Call emergency services on you, leading to involuntary hospitalization/being locked up in a psych ward, potentially causing more trauma.
2) Spout off unthoughtful, unhelpful platitudes like "It gets better" or "Help is out there."
3) Get spooked and cut you off or become distant as a self-protective mechanism.

In my experience it's futile to talk to others about suicidal ideation; I have yet to receive a genuinely helpful response.

Exactly, it's like they have this idea that everyone who's struggling is just one doctor visit or even just one venting session away from being fine. Like someone asks "u good?" and then you say "no, actually..." and then vent for a bit, but then you're fine, because that's all you really need to do. But it isn't like that, at all.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

Exactly, it's like they have this idea that everyone who's struggling is just one doctor visit or even just one venting session away from being fine. Like someone asks "u good?" and then you say "no, actually..." and then vent for a bit, but then you're fine, because that's all you really need to do. But it isn't like that, at all.

Right, they often fail to appreciate that suicidality can persist for years. You can't just support someone through a venting session or two and be done with it.

 

[Leiot]

Venting gets you past the immediate threat but in itself doesn't fix anything.

 

[iwantmycatback]

The common misconception that suicide can be cured by "reaching out" (ie. a friend sending a quick text message and then getting back to gaming). Lmao like thanks dude, being an afterthought to your gaming session really solved all of the problems in my life that have led me to believe death is the only answer.

 

[sickboy55]

I also hate people (including phsychiatrists) who think depression is a "biochemical imbalance" in the brain that just emerges from nowhere and can be cured by a pill in a few weeks.

 

[ghost-shock]

I also hate people (including phsychiatrists) who think depression is a "biochemical imbalance" in the brain that just emerges from nowhere and can be cured by a pill in a few weeks.

If its not a chemical imbalance then what is it?

 

[TAW122]

I agree with your post and a lot of mainstream "mental health" perceptions are rather presumptuous, ignorant, and even just downright sadistic (especially the part about involuntary commitment, being locked up for one's own good (tyrannical and paternalistic) as if doing that was gonna solve all the person's problems! /s). I too, get really fed up seeing how 'useless platitudes' get thrown around like gospel, the gaslighting and shame tactics that common people spew. I think if I had my way, it would be too awful to even mention what I would do (won't say it here to not be in violation of SaSu rules) to those scumbags. But yes, back on topic and on a serious note, the attitudes, perception, and approach towards these "mental health issues" are in need of serious reform. It is ironic how they seek to destigmatize while in fact it has never been more stigmatized than before as not only does these mainstream groups and normies control the narrative, do the opposite (create more stigma and make it riskier - more paternalistic measures and draconian policies on CTB prevention), while pedaling non-sense to the people who are truly suffering; all the while getting praises and 1ups from their fellow peers.

 

[Leiot]

If its not a chemical imbalance then what is it?

Well, it could be a chemical imbalance, but the brain is pretty plastic and can be molded by experiences. So who's to say that there may be some imbalance but it was caused by something, not just some random genetic roll of the dice.

 

[shootingsweetrolls]

Related to this: Medication and therapy only help so much. If you have no friends nor family to speak of, you'll most likely relapse back into being unwell. I've seen so many therapists and psychiatrists and psychologists encourage me to spend time with friends and family and let them know how I'm doing and to allow them to get on you about continually taking your meds and going to therapy. But what they often forget is that many people don't have friends or family.

 

[kunikuzushi]

If its not a chemical imbalance then what is it?

I say it's a pretty reasonable response to going through the suffering life brings

 

[Zanmato]

Yeah, this is hilarious.
As if things will really change if someone asks "how are you?".
Now, seriously, how many time we answer to this question?
Made by a friend, a family member, a coworker, a schoolmate?
And what if we honestly answer to that?
"Yeah, I'm not that good, whenever I see that bridge I think if it's tall enough, or if I would survive".
"I barely have the strenght to take a shower".
What would people answer to this?
How can a "How are you?" help?
This people think is so easy to leave our situation behind.
It really proves that they don't know anything, about how we really feel.

 

[ChronicAnamnesis]

I also hate people (including phsychiatrists) who think depression is a "biochemical imbalance" in the brain that just emerges from nowhere and can be cured by a pill in a few weeks.

Lol, that reminds me literally everytime i did try to reach out i was always given the, "you have a chemical imbalance."

Great, so what do we do now? Stuff me full of artificial crap? i'm good.