I hope that doesn’t catch on. It takes away all agency from the person. Some people kill themselves because of horrible life circumstances that they cannot escape. No illness killed them.

I’m not sure why you needed to make a link between that vague list of traits I listed and borderline personality. That’s quite a leap....

Yes I think those are reasons and a few more off the top of my head, some of which overlap yours:

I can relate. It’s totally natural to have some qualms about the financial transaction aspect. A good therapist understands that and does not take it personally.

I think the letter is expressing “I don’t know if I can be helped” not “I don’t want to be helped.” If, like me, you believe the therapist and the fit of the therapist and patient together make a difference—i.e. it’s not all about the patient’s “effort”— then she could try again. (Not that I would if I were her). I…

Thanks for your support! I pretty much never post here and I was afraid to, but I’m glad I did. Feels good to get this off my chest.

Yeah therapists are very prideful and sensitive about their field. Besides experiencing this with most of my own therapists, I also was raised by one and have seen it first hand. He cannot tolerate any critique of the mental health professions, thinks any media depiction of therapists gets it wrong, and in every…

Haha I know! It made me feel worse to make a list of all the ways I think wrong and be forced to pretend I am learning to think right.

Yes! Most are not good. Even if they’re good, it sucks if you don’t have a good vibe with them. Even if they are good and you have a good vibe, you may not actually get any improvement out of it (that was true for me). If someone still has the motivation to try, I think the answer is to explore types you haven’t tried…

I see nothing in her letter signifying that she believes “the work needs to be done by the therapist.” But anyway, it’s not wrong for her to expect results from therapy. It’s really convenient to claim that whenever therapy doesn’t work, it’s because the patient didn’t put in the effort/work. But really, sometimes it…

Totally depends on what typeof person you are. I hated CBT. I already knew exactly what those worksheets and books would tell me were “wrong thoughts” and “right thoughts” and hated torturing myself with those kinds of lessons. If any of the above apply to you I would not recommend CBT: analytical, overthinker,…

Yeah why is it not even acknowledged that many women know they will choose not to carry a fetus to term if they do get pregnant??!? If I know I will have an abortion if I were to get pregnant, why the hell would I worry about damaging the fetus?

I just want to say I get it. I always had the same deal with myself about age 30, except now I’m 32. But my life is worse than ever and I will probably end it in the next few years. (Besides being depressed, I have chronic pain and fatigue and feel like I have the worst hangover every day of my life. I’m pretty much…

It was so wonderful to see your comment here! I completely agree with you. And you are right you will get pounced on but I’m glad you said it. There is a very strong pro-medication bias on a lot of “feminist” blogs, I have noticed. People really cannot even hear the other side.