This trigger is REALLY making things difficult for me

[sam145]

I got triggered again today by people making casual jokes about therapy and had nowhere else to turn. To be completely honest, I haven't felt safe posting here at all since this thread. I have literally nowhere else to turn though so I'm basically feeling hopeless and at the end of my rope.

[Three Roses]

There is a stubborn stigma surrounding mental health and therapy. It's pure ignorance. It seems to me the people who make the most fun of it need it the most and are in the deepest denial about it!

[sam145]

Therapy is a legitimate trigger for me and I’m tired of the assumption that it’s always a good thing. People making fun of it isn’t the problem. It’s the fact that people are talking about it so casually and I feel like no one takes my trigger seriously.

Like honestly it’s really triggering when people just casually say that someone needs therapy... people don’t know how horrible a bad therapist can be and I’m sick of it being put on such a pedestal.

[marta1234]

True, therapy experience can be bad and actually worsen a person's situation and mental health. And those people that casually just say that "this person needs therapy" don't really mean it or care, because therapy is a serious and personal thing in a person's life.
In my opinion, the base of therapy is to "open up" and "face emotions, events, etc. that have been buried" over time. So for me this calls for trust with a therapist and vulnerability. However, if this trust or vulnerability is abused, then it just has very bad consequences on the person who has opened up.
So yes, as you said, some people (myself included) don't know how horrible a therapist can be. But I think that why most people see therapy as a positive is because it (in most cases) shows the person is seeking for help, that this person wants to somehow get better, or just understand what is going on. Or what happened. And in my opinion, that is the most important part: being open to change.
But I do somewhat agree with you, that the "bad experience" of therapy should be talked about, maybe more to therapists as to guilt trip them, so they wouldn't be inclined to do it?

I hope I made some sense, and I'm sorry that therapy was a horrible experience for you. Hope you still stick around to share more of your thoughts.

[Three Roses]

I apologize for not understanding your trigger more clearly. I'm returning from an absence from the forum and have not read where you said how you felt about therapy. Please forgive me for not understanding. 

I had one person (I won't call him a therapist) tell me all my problems were caused by my not being submissive enough. This was back in the late 80s. My interaction with him kept me out of therapy for decades.

I totally understand your distaste for people's assumptions about therapy. And there are many others here at our forum who have experienced the negative side of therapy. I think in the future, people will look back on our current understanding of psychiatry and psychotherapy with bewildered confusion; like we now regard blood letting and other medieval medical interventions.

Best wishes for your peace and healing.

[tek]

I can relate to this topic. A bad therapist can really be harsh to deal with. Don't we have enough issues? And looking around for a new after a bad one...? Not an easy thing to ponder, much less do. Just as bad are those with an agenda. Their agenda prevents them from being as helpful as they could have been. I've had these types and they are very much triggering. So, yeah, therapy might not be the answer if there are no good therapists around. I've even been to places where the turnover is also prohibitive. So that begs the question how do you find a decent therapist without having to go through all the triggering aspects first? And further not all therapists actually comprehend, though they may think they do, cPTSD.

Nonetheless in our drive to heal, we still search....

Yes, there are people here who can totally understand!