main stigmas and reasons for not going to counseling

chprt

What would be the main reasons that some one wouldnt go to a counsellor or psychotherapist, even if they really need to go the they still dont go.

And also in this new age of Ireland why do people still not openly admit to going to psychotherapy or in fact are afraid to go even thought they are in deep turmoil


cheers paddy

Torakx

Honestly, when I had a nervous breakdown and couldn't function back in my mid twenties, I went to a doctor, because I had no psychological issues that could have caused such cronic depression.
So I took the pills and said thanks but no thanks to the counseling suggestion by the doctor.
Pills didn't help in my situation.
I personally feel that a large amount of cases of depression are physiological and being treated incorrectly.
And a good portion if not a majority of those needing psychological care know they need it.
My guess is of those who know they need it a portion of them make it into therapy.
Just my thoughts and from experience as a person who decided to go without counseling 5 - 7 odd years ago.

Pokiedots

I remember when I started my trainng as a psychotherapist and personal therapy was a requirement, If I was saying I was going to therapy to someone I more often than not followed it with, saying that It was a requirement of my course. I was giving reasons for why I was attending, for me I found that I was hyper aware of my percieved sense of others speculating why I would be going to therapy coupled with the stigma of being in therapy which I believe still exists.

As a therapist i have had people tell me they didnt feel they were "bad enough" for therapy as they were managing everyday life, and others said it was like by starting to attend they were admitting something was wrong and they found it hard to let go of the option of denial.
I work with children, who by the very nature of being a child, cannot self refer so this adds a dynamic where parents can feel they have failed their child or that they should be able to "fix" their child themselves.

There is also the very real practical element that it can be expensive to be in therapy and not everyone can afford it.

Valmont

I don't think people necessarily want to hide the fact they are looking for help with certain problems, or are simply trying to sort their lives out and gain some perspective. I think people are afraid of the inseparable stigma that comes with being seen as 'mentally ill'. Think about it, if someone knows I have a mental illness the assumption is that I have a brain disease which literally takes hold of my volition and makes me do certain things and behave in certain negative ways over which I have no control. Is it any surprise then that there is a stigmas associated with mental illness?

That said, I would like to see people being a bit more accepting of people willing to go to CBT or to a psychoanalytic therapist. We can only applaud someone willing to make the time and effort to change their lives in a positive way.