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[Vector]

I'd kill for an hour or two of therapy, I've always wanted to know how it works.

Depends on who you're talking to.  In my case, it ended up with "we talk about your problems, diagnose you with something you probably don't have, and then try to make you feel warm and fuzzy about it because we don't actually understand your 'disorder.'"  She did end up having some interesting insights into inter-personal relations, though.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I'm guessing you don't have a choice in the matter? Then be as unhelpful as you can.

... How about no?  That's kind of immature, don't you think?

Not if they're forcing Schilcote to go there out of their own ignorance or just trying turn a profit, which is not always the case, but very well could be. I mostly say this because therapists, and the whole psychological health industry in general, are a personal berserk button. Even more so when forced treatment is involved.

[scriver]

Not if they're forcing Schilcote to go there out of their own ignorance or just trying turn a profit, which is not always the case, but very well could be. I mostly say this because therapists, and the whole psychological health industry in general, are a personal berserk button. Even more so when forced treatment is involved.

How come?

[Vector]

Not if they're forcing Schilcote to go there out of their own ignorance or just trying turn a profit, which is not always the case, but very well could be. I mostly say this because therapists, and the whole psychological health industry in general, are a personal berserk button. Even more so when forced treatment is involved.

I understand what you mean about forced treatment--my parents were threatening to throw me in a mental institution at one point.  That said, if his parents are making him go to therapy for his obvious issues with depression and lack of self-help skills, it might be better for him to go and at least try to get some help.  He knows he has problems.  He's pretty much asked for help from all of us with them.  Given my personal experiences of both therapy and complaining at anonymous people on the internet, I've gotta say that the former ended up more effective in general than the latter--even though the therapy I went to really wasn't that helpful.

Well, whatever.  Opinions, opinions.

[ILikePie]

People don't usually go to therapy because they just want to do so. I've yet to see someone just wake up in the morning and decide to go visit a shrink. Usually someone decides you need the therapy for you, like a doctor, parents or a teacher at school.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

How come?

Random, horrible experiences for myself and those I know over the years. Granted, my only personal experiance was not from real mental health professionals, but rather from a couple of deluded quacks at my previous school who downloaded some analysis forms from somewhere off the internet and convinced my teachers to fill them out on me in secret. Despite this course of action being very illegal, they still had the gall to try and convince my parents to have me medicated over their (As I see it in retrospect) personal grudge.

Then there was the case of one of my friends in elementary school, who was diagnosed with ADHD on the orders of our psycotic teacher, and given a ritalin treatment-or-expulsion ultimatium by the school. I didn't buy this for a second, being that my friend was one of the most calm and focused kids around at that age. This very quality was why we got along so well. Regardless, his change in disposition after being put on ritalin was a sharp contrast indeed. That being dead-on-the-inside high octane nightmare fuel. But hey, it made the state happy, so who fucking cares, right!?

EDIT: I should clarify that over the years I have become quite soured to mental health professionals of any type, despite my experiances only being with drug-related treatments. Sue me.

[Vector]

... Aren't those all bad experiences with uneducated teachers and mental health, though?  What does that have to do with therapists or the mental health industry at large?

I'm not exactly pro-psychiatry, just FYI.  But I haven't had any real troubles with therapists or anyone trying to throw drugs at me, save a bastard friend and his family.

[Aklyon]

I'd say people are too prescription-happy when it comes to kids.
There are some people who do have ADHD and other stuff, but some kids are just really energetic, just because you think they're too hyper for your class doesn't mean they have anything.

[dragnar]

Yeah, one of my old chemistry teachers liked to say that ALL students highschool and lower had ADD.

Also, ADHD medication is not supposed to change your personality too much. If it does it's a larger dose than that person should have. I took some medicine like that a few years back. I was apparently really really quiet and boring while on it(and I'm pretty quiet to begin with, so it's bad that someone noticed), so the doctors reduced the dosage and I was fine after that.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I never said the mental health industry was all complete lies and moneygrabbing. Just some of it. But that some can still ruin lives. I hold personal freedom in very high regard, so somthing like forcing a child on medication with heavy side-effects "for their own good" at the defince of everyone else (child included) is abhorrent in the extreme.

We understand so very little about the human mind that psychiatry sometimes acts as soft science, and even pseudoscience. This stems from the natural ignorance and greed of people invoved. Those who wish to help or just to make more money, at all costs, even when proper knowlage of what they are dealing with does not yet exist. They attempt to help everyone with such speed that they end up sucking in everyone they can and declaring them mentaly ill. Instead of assuming everyone to be fine unless proven otherwise, they assume everyone to be ill unless they can prove otherwise.

[scriver]

There's no reason to just assume "they" are gonna force some drug on you/him (Schilcote, that is) just because he goes to see a therapist, though. I mean, it took me half a year of hardly making any progress at all before my therapist even suggested anti depressants.

[Vector]

They attempt to help everyone with such speed that they end up sucking in everyone they can and declaring them mentaly ill. Instead of assuming everyone to be fine unless proven otherwise, they assume everyone to be ill unless they can prove otherwise.

Fair enough.  I think we have similar viewpoints, in the end, though I may be somewhat less... angry about them.

[scriver]

They attempt to help everyone with such speed that they end up sucking in everyone they can and declaring them mentaly ill. Instead of assuming everyone to be fine unless proven otherwise, they assume everyone to be ill unless they can prove otherwise.

Thing is, most people have issues. Most people would feel much better if they got rid of said issues, and they can't do it on their own. And that is what therapy is about.
Though yes, I agree, sometimes people are too quick to bring in medication (as a comparison, you don't treat colds with Antibiotics), but I really can't stress enough that that's far from all of what mental health therapy's made up of.

[Solifuge]

I personally would like to attend a few therapy sessions... but I can neither afford it or find a local clinic that provides it to the uninsured.

The job of a therapist is to help people understand how they are as people, and provide them with the tools and tricks to get them where they want to be. If someone has crippling social anxiety, or is sabotaging themselves, or so on, their job is to dig for the root of the behavior, make people aware of it, and then provide them with ways to get around it. Medication is not a first resort, and you can specify that you don't want to look into medications. My last roommate had a really bad anxiety disorder, and he went to therapy to learn exercises to do that would help him overcome it... and between the time I met him and now he's gotten it under control, and without any medication.

So in short, when presented with therapy you might as well try to get what you can out of it, even if it's something that's being forced on you. Don't transfer anger towards someone else (the people forcing you into it, etc) onto the Therapist. If you can't stand to benefit from therapy, they'll let you know. Honestly though, most people have hurdles to overcome... and if you're somehow in a position where you can't benefit whatsoever from better self-understanding, then call me up. You may be the next Buddha.

[Cthulhu]

Argh, I'm still playing Temple of Elemental Evil.  This game violates some unwritten rules about DMing, like "Don't coup de grace PCs when the rest of the party is still up and fighting."

It also likes to have its guys run through three or four attacks of opportunity to the back of your party and cleave two of your squishies in one round.  That's another dick move, what's the point of having a fighter if the bad guys just run past him?

Also, don't you think it's a little irresponsible to tell Schilcote to disregard medical advice because you've had some bad experiences?