Ms. Cappuccino I was at lunch with three of my friends, and they were all on some form of medication for anxiety or depression. Were they the odd man out, or was I?
In high school, none of my friends were on prescription pills, but when I went to college, I felt like every conversation began with, "Well, my shrink suggested..."
Did all my friends really need shrinks?
With the exception of one person, I don't think any of them did.
Then why did they all go to see someone? Wasn't talking about their problems with their friends enough?
I kind of see it as a sign of being over-privileged. Again, I think we straddle a fine line between toughening up and taking a pill. I'm a big proponent for toughening up. I find I'm better when I just deal.
I mean, what happened between high school and college that made their problems so unbearable?
Have you ever seen a psychiatrist? Did it help? Do you think all the people who see shrinks actually need to?
Comments (67)
I've only been to a shrink once (for free at college) because my friend had been shot and killed. I have many other problems, but none that I feel like needed professional attention.
i do. because this way i have someone to talk to rather than fall back into old habits. and i know that everything i say won't be repeated. i refuse pills, though i could easily get them. some people do go just to get meds and it's stupid, but i go just to have someone to tell everything to.
It's not as much about pills for most people unless they are really extremely depressed. Most people can't deal with their own decisions and life stress. Counseling can help a lot of people, without pills. I've done both. Sometimes I really did need pills, but others I just needed a good, solid perspective.
I've seen a couple of psychologists for anxiety issues I'd been dealing with since I was about 12 years old. Neither one really helped, but I'd like to see another.
There is a large percentage of people who seek mental health services that do not really need them. I have never been to a shrink or felt the need to. I try to deal with my problems on my own. It makes me stronger. Should my problems ever be more than I can handle I will seek help.
Not everyone needs pills and I think they are prescribed far too much. People need an outlet and most don't have a friend then can talk to.
i think there is good cause for both.
medication is a huge help for those who really need it, but i also think that we have lost the intimacy with good friends who are willing to not only agree with us, but disagree and point us in the right direction.
we're in such a hurry that many of us don't put in the time needed to get to a place with a spouse or friend that will bring about that level of safety needed to really see change in our lives. the place to truly say what we're feeling without fear of judgement or rejection. i think that shrinks have filled that void for many people, and become a listening ear...
we all need one... a listening ear that is.
I think they all may have needed someone to talk to, but not all of them needed pills. I think pills are more for people with chronic problems that inhibit their everyday functioning. They should be available to people who need them, but I think they are over-prescribed. I started having mild respiratory issues in college, and when I went to see the campus doctor about them, he made me fill out a questionaire, barely looked me over, and filled out a prescription for Zoloft. No suggestion that I lessen my courseload or talk to a counselor. No more thorough medical exam. Just a prescription for Zoloft. Is it just me or is that a bit scary? I never filled the prescription and I was just fine.
Sometimes it's easier to talk to a professional, because I sometimes feel like my friends and family just tell me what I want to hear rather than dealing with the issues. And also, if it was a difficult thing to hear, it would be easier to take from a therapist than from someone I knew personally.
I think the majority of the population would benefit from counseling of some sort. Not medication, though. I think medication is useful when one stops being able to cope, or to do so in a healthy way, at least.
But I'm a psych major, so y'know. ;)
yes. i jsut wrote a blog about this. something in your life has messed you up, though your degree of "messed up ness" may be slight.
if you think you need to talk to a shrink, then you do.
A very interesting question. Everything, when taken to the extreme, becomes negative, or can be abused. @MyGodSavesTheDay@xanga - has a good point, therapy (psychologist) is useful for practically everyone, since not everyone has access to a friend with enough knowledge/time/emotional strength to support them and help them understand the roller coaster that is life.
I'm on the fence about psychiatry. There is a certain stigma associated with prescription anti-anxiety/depressants, whether we admit it or not. With no doubt in my mind, there is a great necessity for them in many cases. In others... what do they really do? To the best of my knowledge they help balance your body chemically, to make you the most 'you' you can be. Theoretically, if a 'normal' person took them, does that mean it would have NO effect? If that's true, then I'd say, who cares? Either it helps balance them out, and if not, it does nothing (but maybe, like a placebo, gives them some peace of mind?). I'll have to ask a pharmacist friend of mine what would be the effect of anti-anxiety/depressants on someone who completely did not need them...
I think psychology and therapy is far more useful for most people than straight out psychiatry. But not even everybody needs a psychologist. Just a friend to talk to. I think we can all muster up a couple of those.
I use to see a shrink, because my parents didn’t know how to deal with me. In my family of bulls I was the giraffe. But he did uncover a problem I had, it became more apparent the older I got. I don’t like using medications because I seem to get the worse of the side effects. I am not super crazy & I do control it somewhat.
Counseling/therapy is no longer just for "crazy people" --it can be very helpful to people who may not have that friend available when they need them. As far as psychiatry goes --of course you'll see an increase in medications, especially if those medications weren't available in the past. In many cases, it really can make a difference. People are rarely just given meds though; it's usually a combination of medication and therapy.
There are some things that shouldn't be "toughed out" once medicine finds a way to treat them -- I mean, that'd be kinda like telling people not to get vaccinated because people used to just "tough it out" when they got sick.
I do agree that we need to be careful about overdoing it though. Therapy doesn't hurt anyone, but medications can have many bad side effects and shouldn't be prescribed casually. Problem is that many people would rather just take a pill instead of working through therapy. Also, medication might be covered by insurance more than a therapist, and that can make a difference too.
yess i have. for my eating disorder. Never again. I may build up the courage to write about my experience. but not today, not for a while
Most people just need to get over themselves and live life without relying on others.
Is it just me, or are we getting wimpier and less able to rely on ourselves...? Seriously, grow up and do what (most) everyone else has done before you! >.<
No. I don't think people need a shrink. Being someone who went to a shrink throughout my entire high school life. I didn't' see the point of it. All they freaking said is "how did that make you feel?" Hello, if I freaking knew I wouldn't be here. All they do is just sign pills to people and for me even that didn't work. I was the one who had to control my emotions, RLS, and ADD. Without pills or without help. Americans are wussies now and wants to not be responsible for their actions. And all this BS floating out from Shrinks doesn't help.
I kind of think people just want someone to be able to tell ANYTHING, and like... you can mostly do that with friends and so on, but there are simply some things that might be deemed inappropriate... Plus friends or whatever don't have any written rule that they can't share your secrets with other people... so that's why people want to see psychiatrists.
My mom actually wants me to see a psychiatrist, for various reasons. I'm kind of against the idea, but it's more of an intuition sort of against-ness... I don't really have a good reason for it >.<
My shrink actually helped my condition a lot, and I haven't been taking any medication.
I do think that too many people just take pills instead of trying to deal with their problems.Sometimes medication is necessary, but it's so overused.
in the US, our modern society has become much more fractured and less community based than in the past, especially for people who live in the metro areas of big cities. this has produced widespread psychological dis-ease (not disease, but a lack of ease) among the populace. as a result, many people lack the buffer of a strong social group to deal with personal crisis or problems. so yeah, most people will have a use for a therapist/counselor/psychologist/psychiatrist at some point in their lives.
i went once, a few months ago. i get crazy mood swings sometimes. but it's probably hormonal (even though it doesn't line up with the cycle) and i decided that i can work things through myself.
i don't have many friends that do go to a shrink, but those who do i feel as though they actually need it.
I have a psychiatrist, and I see him twice a week, and have been in treatment since I was 17. I don't think that everyone who sees one *needs* one (though for myself, I think it's *essential* or I'll literally fall apart, LOL)...I agree with the "sign of being over-privileged," though. I'm definitely not one of those "lucky ones" who can afford to see a psychiatrist. I get all the Residents, all "psychiatrists-in-training," because it's free...
I could really use one sometimes. I think. I'll admit that when I'm by myself, I tend to think aloud to try and sort out my feelings about a certain topic. Or I blog. I'm my own psychiatrist, in a way.
I think that most people in this life (such as life is for most people) most people just need to be able to go and talk with a person who is at least experienced in (if not trained & qualified in guidance) in listening to peoples various issues & daily life problems, and advising them in ways of coping with those issues, and perhaps if things are too serious, to then direct or refer them on to a proper councilor for more involved discussions, but still not on a medical basis, the only reason a person should be seeing a medically qualified person such as a trick cyclist (psychiatrist) (or shrink as you say) and have their marbles played around with, is if they really are having more serious psychological problems and not just run-of-the-mill day to day life problems, and I too think that far too many people are being plain lazy when it comes to dealing with their own shit, and just running to the local quack and pleading for help with tablets & therapy, which is just a load of lazy ass bullshit, Bluekiller2025 above said many people have become wussies, meaning that many have now become dependent upon medical services to deal with their weaknesses and general laziness to deal with things in life, people have become addicted to the idea that no sooner does a does a small domestic situation arise that they go running to the quack for some tablets to cope, whereas all they probably need is just some moral support from the people around them, and some friendly advice & guidance. But of course there are people in the world who genuinely are mentally ill and do in fact need to be referred to the psychiatric services, but generally I feel that the majority of people definitely do not need a shrink at all.
Me personally, I have had enough shit in my life, but I have never wanted to be directed to anybody who would play around with things inside of my head, no frelling way, I've always been against it and always avoided the shrinks &
so called councilors, and have discovered mechanisms methods/means by which I was able to cope with my own agony, and sort out my own shit, deal with my own problems, etc. I'm not saying that's easy, it's not, it's really hard work, but a whole lot better than surrendering to the quacks and their bottles of mind blowing pills.
Ciao...........Angelo
My friend suggested that I go see a psychiatrist cause I was so depress over a long period of time
But I just sucked it up, cry it out and blog