Exactly. You can have suicidal thoughts and know of general ways to go about it and not be reported. It’s when you start making plans and having intentions to go about it that outpatient help is not enough.
Sadly there’s no cure for just a plain bad therapist and there are a LOT of them out there. Whether they’re more concerned with covering themselves or so determined to get you to fit into a niche diagnosis that they’re not actually listening it can be hard to find a therapist right for you…and sometimes an expensive search. Therapist or no, I hope good feelings come your way somehow. Sorry you went through that.
I do a group therapy. We meet every friday. They admire my ability to express my emotions and problems. What they don’t know is the Hell you go through each time even just barely scratching on the surface of things. But only spoken thoughts get a shape and body you can touch and work with.
See, the problem with therapy is that it takes the form of another social interaction through which you have to fake your way. By the time you realize you need therapy, you’ve become a skilled enough liar to either convince even the therapist that there’s some improvement or this is one of those “up days”, because faking your way through social interactions has just become routine. Then, the therapist can’t help you because they don’t have all the information they need, you convince yourself that therapy’s not working and nothing can be done, and you miss appointments and sink back in to that bog.
Oh hell yes. My spouse has mentioned how much I scare her because of that skill. I’ll be going through a bad episode then get up and instantly shift my tone and body language to answer the door and have a five minute conversation with the pizza delivery guy as if we were old friends. Then the moment I shut the door I’m instantly back to being horrible but now I’m exhausted from the interaction.
I specifically told my therapist during a pre-interview over the phone “I go to Toastmasters. I know how to talk. I know how to bullshit. I’m going to therapy I’m probably going to talk and bullshit my way through. You need to be probing AF when we meet. You can’t take what I say as face value most of the time. It’s not that I’m actively trying to lie, it’s that I actively hide behind social interactions.”
I have learned I have to do the same. And I’ll admit, sometimes therapy sessions STILL end up going like above. But at least then I know it’s just not the right therapist/client fit and I had to move on.
OP – I do this and know it happens but had never thought of it quite that way. Very accurate and a nice way of noting it is not either person’s FAULT so much as the ‘nature of the beast’ sort of thing.
When I went to therapy, I always faked it when I went there and she always believed me… or well it seemed like that. I have the bad habit to smile when lying and once she asked me if I was really okay and I smiled and said yes.. so I guess she kinda believed me more because I smiled. I just didn’t trust her from the beginning on. She said the wrong things in the wrong times.
This comic strip is so true though.. well for me..
Naturally. Therapists report suicidal people to the authorities, causing one to be forcibly committed. One cannot trust anyone these days….
They only report if you pose an immediate threat to yourself (or others, but in this situation yourself). You can trust them
Exactly. You can have suicidal thoughts and know of general ways to go about it and not be reported. It’s when you start making plans and having intentions to go about it that outpatient help is not enough.
I had thoughts and I was still admitted for 13 days. I said I’d never do it but they still admitted me.
Sadly there’s no cure for just a plain bad therapist and there are a LOT of them out there. Whether they’re more concerned with covering themselves or so determined to get you to fit into a niche diagnosis that they’re not actually listening it can be hard to find a therapist right for you…and sometimes an expensive search. Therapist or no, I hope good feelings come your way somehow. Sorry you went through that.
I go through this every month… But it’s not like saying “I’m depressed and I don’t know why” does anything different. I tried that first.
Yup. Yup. and Yup.
I do a group therapy. We meet every friday. They admire my ability to express my emotions and problems.
What they don’t know is the Hell you go through each time even just barely scratching on the surface of things. But only spoken thoughts get a shape and body you can touch and work with.
I read in a book that the more you open up, the easier it is for the helper \ therapist to help you. It does bring better results.
See, the problem with therapy is that it takes the form of another social interaction through which you have to fake your way. By the time you realize you need therapy, you’ve become a skilled enough liar to either convince even the therapist that there’s some improvement or this is one of those “up days”, because faking your way through social interactions has just become routine. Then, the therapist can’t help you because they don’t have all the information they need, you convince yourself that therapy’s not working and nothing can be done, and you miss appointments and sink back in to that bog.
Oh hell yes. My spouse has mentioned how much I scare her because of that skill. I’ll be going through a bad episode then get up and instantly shift my tone and body language to answer the door and have a five minute conversation with the pizza delivery guy as if we were old friends. Then the moment I shut the door I’m instantly back to being horrible but now I’m exhausted from the interaction.
I specifically told my therapist during a pre-interview over the phone “I go to Toastmasters. I know how to talk. I know how to bullshit. I’m going to therapy I’m probably going to talk and bullshit my way through. You need to be probing AF when we meet. You can’t take what I say as face value most of the time. It’s not that I’m actively trying to lie, it’s that I actively hide behind social interactions.”
I have learned I have to do the same. And I’ll admit, sometimes therapy sessions STILL end up going like above. But at least then I know it’s just not the right therapist/client fit and I had to move on.
OP – I do this and know it happens but had never thought of it quite that way. Very accurate and a nice way of noting it is not either person’s FAULT so much as the ‘nature of the beast’ sort of thing.
When I went to therapy, I always faked it when I went there and she always believed me… or well it seemed like that. I have the bad habit to smile when lying and once she asked me if I was really okay and I smiled and said yes.. so I guess she kinda believed me more because I smiled.
I just didn’t trust her from the beginning on. She said the wrong things in the wrong times.
This comic strip is so true though.. well for me..
Just started going to therapy this month and I’m 13 and I feel like this. I don’t know how to tell her anything but I haven’t been going that long so.