No Longer Wanting to Die • Hacker News Board

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#11

Post by japhyr » Sun, May 17, 2015, 2:50 PM UTC

zkhalique wrote: post #9

rquantz wrote: post #3

As someone who has suffered from moderate but not debilitating depression for much of my adulthood, one thing that has always stood in the way of getting treatment has been finding a damn therapist. Back when I was a broke, insurance-less musician, I went to inexpensive sessions with a student therapist who listened to me talk for a semester but offered very little in the way of help. Shortly after getting insurance…

Was your second session your last because the prayer suggestion made you not want to go again?

Being told to pray is pretty much the antithesis of good therapy.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#12

Post by shanusmagnus » Sun, May 17, 2015, 2:57 PM UTC

rquantz wrote: post #3

As someone who has suffered from moderate but not debilitating depression for much of my adulthood, one thing that has always stood in the way of getting treatment has been finding a damn therapist. Back when I was a broke, insurance-less musician, I went to inexpensive sessions with a student therapist who listened to me talk for a semester but offered very little in the way of help. Shortly after getting insurance…

I think this is a general problem with the health care system. Finding somebody that's worth a shit is basically impossible to do in any sensible way, even for something as straightforward as orthopedics -- my journey towards shoulder surgery has been ridiculous to the point of farce.

If it's this bad for ortho it must be unimaginably awful for anything touching mental health. What does one do? Get personal recommendations from trusted friends who've done their own searches? Are online communities any use?

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#13

Post by stegosaurus » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:07 PM UTC

Treatment for depression is badly handled almost universally... It seems as if people still don't generally understand that it's more than 'feeling a bit sad'.

If you break your knee, you will (99.9% chance) go and see a doctor. If the first doctor doesn't fix it, you'll see another. Your knee is broken, unusable, painful and you have a drive to fix it.

A more serious injury will generally result in a friend/family member/passer by getting you to a doctor.

If you suddenly enter a depression... even getting to the stage of seeing a doctor can fail, because suddenly everything is 'pointless' (bad wording. sorry.). And if you see them and they give bad advice, you maybe can't be bothered to see the next one. Or you miss the appointment because getting out of bed was too hard. Etc.

It's more severe than most physical injuries because it affects your ability to seek help.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#14

Post by AnkhMorporkian » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:07 PM UTC

rquantz wrote: post #10

zkhalique wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was your second session your last because the prayer suggestion made you not want to go again?

It was a little more than that - he was talking about the HAARP conspiracy theory as well. It just became clear he didn't approach the world rationally. I'm sure for some people he would be a great therapist, but not a good match for me.

Wow, that's and extremely weird thing to come up from the therapist in a therapy session.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#15

Post by Dylan16807 » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:18 PM UTC

japhyr wrote: post #11

zkhalique wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was your second session your last because the prayer suggestion made you not want to go again?

Being told to pray is pretty much the antithesis of good therapy.

How so? Seriously praying is an involved, focused mental state. It's not flippantly wishing.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#16

Post by mattmanser » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:24 PM UTC

wcummings wrote: post #6

DanBC wrote: post #4

In England DBT is patchily available. You'd usually have to be very ill, or persistant, to get it, and wait times can be too long. There has been a focus on CBT. That's great because for most people CBT is effective and short, but as this article says it doesn't work for everyone. Very recently there is a lot of work to improve access to other talking therapies. Patients now have more choice about where to get their…

Having done CBT, I found the complaints in the article really puzzling. Glad the author found something that worked for him, though.

Especially as what he describes sounds like CBT anyway.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#17

Post by grrrando » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:29 PM UTC

rquantz wrote: post #3

As someone who has suffered from moderate but not debilitating depression for much of my adulthood, one thing that has always stood in the way of getting treatment has been finding a damn therapist. Back when I was a broke, insurance-less musician, I went to inexpensive sessions with a student therapist who listened to me talk for a semester but offered very little in the way of help. Shortly after getting insurance…

If you can, I suggest finding a Psychotherapy institute (this is not the "institute" of "institutionalized"). They have many therapists on "staff", and you begin your treatment with an interview that's designed to match you to a therapist that works well for you. The interview asks about why you're seeking therapy and if you have any preferences for your therapist (male, female, young, old, religious, non-religious, etc.). And if you wind up not liking the therapist they recommend, you can ask for another without any fuss.

There are a number of these offices in NYC and I'm sure there are some in other cities as well. I hope you find somebody that works for you.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#18

Post by learnstats2 » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:32 PM UTC

japhyr wrote: post #11

zkhalique wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was your second session your last because the prayer suggestion made you not want to go again?

Being told to pray is pretty much the antithesis of good therapy.

I am not religious but I can see the value of prayer.

In this case, the therapist could have understood that prayer was not a helpful suggestion - but in general, it's a valuable tool.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#19

Post by colund » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:32 PM UTC

Hacker News unfortunately seems to be more and more about depression/psychology and less and less about positive entrepreneurship and tech/programming. I want to be inspired.

Re: No Longer Wanting to Die

#20

Post by eropple » Sun, May 17, 2015, 3:34 PM UTC

rquantz wrote: post #10

zkhalique wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was your second session your last because the prayer suggestion made you not want to go again?

It was a little more than that - he was talking about the HAARP conspiracy theory as well. It just became clear he didn't approach the world rationally. I'm sure for some people he would be a great therapist, but not a good match for me.

So I'm a sucker for conspiracy theories, and this one's a new one on me:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frequency_Active_Auroral_R...