No, I started going to therapy when I was 8 and have been on and off medications since then (over 30 years now). Nothing a therapist has ever said to me has helped me one iota, venting my frustrations at them kind of helps but I can do that with my wife and she doesn’t seem to mind. I can’t give specifics on what I did or didn’t like as I have a terribly short memory but that was part of it, therapists are always trying to find a trigger in your past that can be addressed and worked through, I can’t remember if I had one or not.

No. But I actually put it down to my therapist being a fucking idiot.

Ive lived a wild life, Ive had guns and knives pulled on me regularly while I was bouncing, there was drugs, street racing, casual sex, severe alcoholism… and he kept wanting to talk about “the trauma” and never once listened to the fact that I actually miss that life.

Its working a government job for the next 30 years to pay a mortgage on an overpriced suburban house so my daughter doesnt grow up next to crackheads that scares the shit out of me. When you’re pinballing from one insane crazy situation to another you dont have much time to dwell on your bullshit.

I’ve tried 3 therapists and even online ones like betterhelp, and I got nothing out of them. Mostly pop-psych level interpretations of my concerns and uselessly generic advice. None accepted insurance and the reimbursement process was stressful enough that I just gave up.

Somewhat, while the therapy itself was only moderately helpful it did give me cause to get diagnosed with adhd and a depressive episode.

Having that diagnosis has been a big relief, knowing that it’s not me who can’t deal with the demands of real life, but an actual disorder that impairs my ability to function in that way. I’ve also been prescribed appropriate medication, in time I will know if that helps.

I had CBT for a while but didn’t really gain anything positive from it, it wasn’t necessarily a negative experience either, it just felt like a waste of my time.

I find exercising a lot has had more benefits to my overall mental wellbeing than talking to anyone, “professional” or otherwise, ever has.

Maybe I could benefit from opening up to people more but it has never really lead to positive outcomes when I have tried it in the past so I’ll stick to exercise especially kickboxing to “work through” issues.

Yeah it has, I just ended my therapy after about 2 years of in person weekly sessions. Combined with antidepressants at my lowest it formed an important part of me overcoming my depression. I had a lot of guilt about inflicting my depression on those around me so having an outlet for my thoughts and feelings that wasn’t connected to the rest of my life was very valuable.

Its made me more resilient in terms of handling my anxieties - I can now deal with thoughts and situations that would have spiralled me into a deep depression before and can recognise and derail oncoming panic attacks before they happen.

It also made me realise how I was feeling guilty when perceived people close to me to be suffering emotionally (both real but often imagined) out of a desire to fix everything, even when they didn’t ask or need me too, which was very unhealthy for me. Learning to stop that has decreased my stress significantly.

I recognise that some people really don’t find therapy helpful, but I’d definitely recommend trying it with a few different therapists first before giving up. So much of it is down to your individual rapport with your therapist. There’s also other options like group therapy, which I’ve also found helpful for coming to realizations about myself but less good for working through my issues.

I’ve had a few therapists, but in the last few years I’ve kept up with it. It has been tremendously helpful. My biggest advice is that it’s okay to change shrinks if it isn’t a good fit. My last therapist turned out to be an amazing doctor, but she just wasn’t a good fit as my doctor. We got along too well, we’d end up on tangents and talking like friends. It was a very awkward conversation, but I moved to a different doctor, and I’m much better off. Me and the last doctor are now actually just straight up friends.

Be honest about your needs, with the doctor, and with yourself. If you don’t know why you’re going or what it is you need, that’s a good starting point for your conversation. Like most things, you get out what you put in. If you’re not honest, you won’t get honest help.

Yes. I started during the pandemic when a significant portion of the people I respected suddenly deemed me as expendable.

I have a lung condition that put me at high risk, especially during the early days when there was no treatment available. Everyone I know with the same condition who got covid during the first ~8 months either is dead or has pretty severe long term damage that has left them practically bed ridden.

So when people I respected said they would not wear masks around me or even just stay the fuck away, I was the problem because sUrVivAl Of ThE FiTtEsT. I was unable to telework due to having a hardware specific job, and apparently it was too much to expect them to just keep their distance and/or wear a mask. Instead they would cough in my direction, literally say “I hope people like you die soon so this can all be over and we can go out to eat again” (ironically that same person still has a cough from their three months bout with covid in 2021). Yes I told them I had a lung condition, that only made the harassment worse.

I went to therapy for specific issues, how to handle the direct harassment and how to deal with having all the respect for a large amount of people disappear in about a month. I went through two different therapists on betterhelp. The first one was good at helping me through it, but they took more than a week to respond to messages. The second one was really good though. They really helped me just write off those people entirely, even if we used to be friendly those times are over and they made their choices. They also gave me some advice on how to convince my manager to provide reasonable accommodations and gave me a different office on the other side of the building.

I’ve been debating going back for some advice on some lingering health anxiety I still have from those days.

I have seen I think 5 different therapists. There were times I thought it might be helping a little, but I actually ended up feeling more often like the therapist didn’t listen very well and I would often eventually conclude that they simply didn’t care.

One of the therapists reacted terribly when I told them I had to stop seeing them due to financial concerns. He actually suggested I take out a loan, get a credit card, or ask my parents for money. I made it clear how important staying out of debt was to me but he persisted with those ideas. At that point I felt like a walking paycheck…

The other part I found difficult with a lot of the therapists is that they tended to ask boring questions and give very generic advice. I don’t know what I expected exactly, but it felt less than what a professional should provide. I know the right therapist can be amazing but it’s expensive so I keep saying I may try again but it’s honestly a daunting task trying to find one who is worth the time and money.

You really have to get lucky with your therapist, many of them are worthless.

Personally, it didnt help me much. It was nice to just vent, but I can do that without paying some guy.