Venting Psychiatrists are told to tell mantras to sufferers, it's almost creepy to hear them repeat the exact same lines

[KillingPain267]

The first time I sought help for depression, and they deemed it severe, the psychiatrists told me "just remember, it can get better". Since then I have heard this same line, almost like a pre-recorded soundtrack from video game NPCs, told by every other mental health professional despiite them not knowing each other. Even my parents have said something similar and repeated it over and over again. It's almost creepy, like whole humanity is in a cult. Well guess what, after all the help I've been offered and tried for almost 3 years now, it never fully "got better".

The only thing that made things better is self-medicating, but that is frowned upon, punished and also seen as a form of suicide. And it is, but a much slower one than other methods (but aren't they all about extending life as long as possible? Or does that only count for trying to live a productive/profitable life as long as possible)?

Why can't humanity break free from the pro-life cult and finally face reality that some lives are simply too painful to continue and it WON'T "get better"?

 

[Dejected 55]

I feel like in life that if you are lucky enough to find someone who truly cares and does want to help, they are going to be unable to help because it is impossible... while all the other people, therapists included, will pretend to want to help because they get something out of it. In the case of therapists they not only get the "buzz" of being able to say they "help people" but they make lots of money doing it.

IF mental health could truly be easily and permanently addressed, it would not because there's no money in cures... only in perpetual treatments.

 

[Seiba]

For me when I went she went "So, what would it take for you have a life worth living? Let's work towards that." as if it was super linear and easy to do

 

[CumbriaCTB]

The NPC thing is spot on.

A couple of years ago during a night out, I was in the toilets brushing my hair in the mirror when somebody suddenly bursts into the room, locks herself in one of the stalls, and just goes absolutely mental in there.

Here's where it gets uncanny: you know in Skyrim when you accidentally steal a cheese wheel and the whole town comes after you all at once while yelling generic combat lines like "NEVER SHOULD'VE COME HERE" and "I'LL MOUNT YOUR HEAD ON MY WALL"? Yep. This woman in the toilet stall essentially stole the cheese wheel. Everybody else just suddenly reacts by yelling generic platitudes like "IT GETS BETTER" and "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" while trying to pathfind their way into the toilet stall. Absolutely surreal experience.

I obviously just kept nonchalantly brushing my hair because I knew that, glancing at my day-old cut scars in the mirror, that I was most certainly not in any position to help her and trying to intervene at all would just make everything worse. Normies seem to lack this level of self-awareness.

 

[_Gollum_]

For me when I went she went "So, what would it take for you have a life worth living? Let's work towards that." as if it was super linear and easy to do

And as if everyone had an ideal life that they think would be worth living. Some of us don't want a life regardless of its quality.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Presumably, they're taught similar curriculums at school and, read similar books, so it doesn't really surprise me that they say the same sort of things. They're surely taught to do their job a certain way. There may even be penalties if they stray too far off script.

Imagine what would happen if they had a similiar conversation to people here. Where they wallowed in misery alongside the patient and put up no opposition to suicide. If the person then does kill themselves- I imagine the families would be after their blood! I imagine in many ways, their hands are tied. I think their behaviour has as much to do with the culture of blame we're in.

Plus, they probably assume that if we are going to see them, we are displaying a commitment to 'recover'. Maybe their techniques to achieve that aren't suitable though.

What I'd be curious about is- do those things work for the majority? Do they monitor everyone's health to see if their treatments are working? Do they then alter their 'style' or technique if the patient isn't responding?

Did you ever tell them that you've heard those mantras for years and, they aren't working for you? Why are they so different to doctors? If a doctor prescribes something that doesn't work, you don't just keep taking it. You tell them- surely?

Maybe they won't like being challenged. Maybe they'll just drop the patient for being too obstructive. I suppose that's one issue I have in their favour. I don't think it's like physical illness where they do a procedure and (hopefully) our body heals. I think 'fixing' or adjusting our thought patterns must require the majority of effort from us. Are we willing to put in that effort?

How much of it is that the things they say are ridiculous and, how much is it that we don't have the energy to try what they say? That we're too stuck maybe to even attempt to move.

I know myself that I'm not willing to put in that effort. I won't do things I don't believe in. I probably won't even do things that are too difficult. So- it would be a waste of both their and my time to see a therapist. Because- deep down, I'm not committed to recovery.

It's not meaning to victim blame but I suppose if we won't even give their methods a chance, how do either of us know they will or won't work?

I wonder what could be done as an alternative. I definitely think listening to the person/ patient is important. To fully grasp what's going on with them so that at least the response is tailored, rather than just broad platitudes. What do you think though? What would work better?