Despite the amount of mental anguish some experience, they hesitate to see a therapist for fear of stigma. Fear of stigma is so prevalent that one would think that there is an unwritten understanding in our society that to see a therapist one must have lost his or her sanity. It is sad, but the truth of the matter is that people hold on to what is bothering them if only to put on a brave face and not let the next door neighbor know that something is wrong.
The result: at the low end of the spectrum (although “low” not because they bring less mental stress to the individual and the family, but “low” because of the lesser social “stigma” they represent) are the family conflicts that can result in divorce and parent-child conflict resulting in youths joining gangs, drug or alcohol use, legal troubles, and teen pregnancy. On the other side of the spectrum are the mental illness ranging from from mild to major depression, panic attacks (a member of a family of disorders known as anxiety disorder and includes obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), phobia, and specific phobia), to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Even if they did not begin there, all mental distress results in lower self esteem and/or confidence. This further exacerbates the person suffering from the mental anguish’s ability to cope with the current stressor. This is where a psychotherapist or, as some would call them, therapist or counselor or psychologist, comes in. A psychotherapist helps a client (those seeking therapy services are called “clients” and not “patients” because the term “patients” denotes that there is something wrong with the person. Therapists do not believe that the person is flawed physically or mentally, but needs help to deal with and to assess current problems and that the client is the expert in the client’s situation) draw from the client’s forgotten inner strengths and resilience to help the client cope with and overcome current problems.
On the more extreme cases, e.g., bipolar, schizophrenia, the help of a psychiatrist may be deemed necessary by the therapist to stabilize the client’s thought processes through medication. In these cases, the psychiatrist only sees the client once every month to three months. It is then up to the psychotherapist to stabilize the client’s behavior through behavioral modification interventions on an as often-as-necessary basis.
The stigma of seeing a therapist in our culture is overwhelming. But the price one who is suffering from mental distress must pay may be significantly more. See a therapist. He or she may just be what the doctor orders.
