If you get, say, depressed because of your life being constant shit, how will going to a mental institution help? How does therapy help?
It’s not like therapy is going to solve the problems you face in life, like lack of money, friends, bad job, etc? I guess I’m asking what is the purpose of therapy and mental institutions?
While they will definitely not have the answers or advice on how to solve all the issues you encounter, they do have insight into helping people deal with issues that often feel insurmountable because of mental illness. i.e. if you are depressed, and that is preventing you from finding a good job or performing adequately in your current one, they might be able to help you understand why you are depressed and what’s keeping you from doing anything about it. They can help you reveal things about yourself that you didn’t realize, which can help you then move forward with things that you’ve been avoiding or deal with things that you’ve been holding onto for the wrong reasons.
I see. I have been considering going to a therapist. I find myself staying in bed most days and feel tired all the time, I can’t really motivate myself to get out and do stuff. Today’s a good day though, I actually managed to make some food and turn on my computer to do some work.
My friends and family just keep saying there’s nothing wrong with me, and I’m just lazy. Maybe they’re right, who knows? I only know I haven’t always been like this. I also live in Singapore, where they don’t really care too much about people’s mental health, just their productivity, so maybe that’s contributing to their opinion.
Thanks for the answer though, it helps a lot. 😁
If it helps, “unintentionally lazy” is kind of not a real thing. There’s always a cause if you want to be doing something but can’t bring yourself to do it. Lazy is choosing to do nothing with your time on purpose. You don’t sound lazy, you sound as though something is preventing you from doing what you want to do.
I’ve been to a bunch of therapists in my time.
They’re not just people to talk to about your problems. Find a friend or family member or write a journal or something for that.
Basically, if you have a harmful behavior, a therapist can help you understand what’s causing it and maybe correct it. For example, in my case I worry constantly about my work. The the point where it’s more or less paralysing and I’m afraid to leave my house. Therapy can kind of help me dig into the underlying misconceptions which cause the worry.
For me, personally, 100s of hours of therapy was nowhere as beneficial as reading a few books about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). Learning about these therapies isn’t enough, you have to put them into practice which is hard work.
That said, feeling tired and unmotivated can be caused by a plethora of different physical and mental ailments. Honestly I think step 1 would be to talk to a GP. Here in Australia you can get a full panel of bloods that will show if you’re deficient in any vitamins.
A mental institution is not the right place for you. We are all of us a bit messed up in the head. If you’re 20% messed up and I’m 40% messed up, being somewhere surrounded by people who are 80% or 90% messed up would not be a nice place for either of us to recuperate. Institutions are usually for people who are at risk of harming themselves or others. Another commenter said that’s only for involuntary patients but honestly, you’d only volunteer to be in a place like that if you acknowledged that you were at risk of harming yourself or others.
“Can’t get out of bed and tired all the time” are hallmarks of depression. I’m not saying you’re depressed, don’t let someone on the internet diagnose you. But a therapist can really help you understand what’s going on. Meds can be a life changer in a lot of situations.
You should know that depression usually doesn’t feel like “super sadness” and crying all the time. It’s more of a numbness, a disconnection from life. Things don’t make depressed people happy, everything is just turned down.
Talk to your doctor asap. Staying in bed all day, feeling tired, and not daring to do anything looks like a depression (or may be some other disease)
Being lazy is stuff like, staying 30 minutes more in bed, taking the car instead of the bicycles, leaving work early to chill at home.
Your ‘friends’ behaviour is my mental health professional are useful, unlike your friend they won’t make you feel guilty and adress the psychological mechanisms behind it, with or without medications depending on your specific case