Psych question for the old farts

[Quiksilver]

Do you believe it's possible for someone to become psychologically broken? If so, would seeing a psychologist help?

I've had a pretty emotionally and psychologically rough past(much more than the average joe), and I believe it's caused me to lose motivation to really do anything... at all.

You lads have any experience to share?

 

[KarmaSutra]

I recently found out that my younger brother has had to go to a Psychiatrist for help dealing with issues from his past. What those are I don't know and are not my business. If he felt it an issue I could have helped him with he would have asked me.

Quik, if you feel you have burdens to get off of your chest go and seek out some help. It can do nothing but good to alleviate those issues so you can resolve them and move past them.

Good luck to you my friend.

 

[penkitten]

i believe that there are times in your life that you feel that your plate is full and that you are about to bust, and just as your cup runneth over, life just keeps pouring more.
at that point, you feel as if you are some broken toy on a shelf that people just keep returning, and you pray that one day, they will take you off the market and send you back to the warehouse to be repaired or disposed of.

some people choose to repair themselves, and others choose to dispose of themselves, and yet others still just continue to be broken and complain forever about it.

i am all for repair.
we continually must evaluate ourselves to find out what needs to be fixed.

if you feel that paying a professional is the best way to go, do it.
in some ways, i feel this is the only way to correct a problem because they are trained to help, but in some ways i feel that they tend to make you feel like you have more issues than you do, to milk your money (after all how they bring home the bacon).

quick, you have so many friends here at this site, that any of us would try our best to help you through a rough time if you needed us. we don't want you to feel as if you have no one to talk to or vent to, because we would all like to see you healthy and happy

 

[KontrollerX]

Yes its very possible.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the common culprit of this and its something that just doesn't go away with time you actually do need to get therapy to recover from it because it makes certain kinds of changes to your brain and pleasure receptors that can only start to be healed with therapy.

What could be holding you back is this, depression or both and they need professional treatment to combat.

PTSD can either appear right away after a devastating traumatizing event or appear months, weeks or years later.

 

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Psssstttt... The majority of licensed psychologist providing social services have therapist of their own; wonder why.....

 

[joekerr31]

Do you believe it's possible for someone to become psychologically broken? If so, would seeing a psychologist help?

I've had a pretty emotionally and psychologically rough past(much more than the average joe), and I believe it's caused me to lose motivation to really do anything... at all.

You lads have any experience to share?

most people ARE broken. its the norm, not the abnormal.

 

[reset]

Yes its very possible.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the common culprit of this and its something that just doesn't go away with time you actually do need to get therapy to recover from it because it makes certain kinds of changes to your brain and pleasure receptors that can only start to be healed with therapy.

What could be holding you back is this, depression or both and they need professional treatment to combat.

PTSD can either appear right away after a devastating traumatizing event or appear months, weeks or years later.

I've been thinking about this. Thing is I don't WANT to go to therapy. I was in therapy before the BPD girl...maybe it helped, maybe not. It's been about a year. When she left I was ecstatic. Now while it was happening I was in the twilight zone, I couldn't concentrate, sleep, I was going nuts.

Now I still don't sleep very well, but at the same time I don't have much anger towards her anymore. I'm thinking about the book you recommended, but I hate to think that the only way I'm going to recover from something like that is through therapy.

Nothing against therapy of course.

 

[KontrollerX]

Its possible that you didn't get that from your experience reset.

We all react differently to these events.

Some people do recover on their own with time but others develop PTSD and there are clear symptoms for it.

Getting the book I recommended may be able to help you rule it out or use it as a self treatment since thats kind of what its intended for when people don't want to go the professional therapy route yet are absolutely convinced they have this.

"Psssstttt... The majority of licensed psychologist providing social services have therapist of their own; wonder why..... "

It doesn't mean the therapists themselves are sick that just means they need an external outlet to help them keep themselves clear headed and sane from dealing with so many different people's problems.

 

[reset]

Thanks man.

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

Don't confuse a 'psychologist' with a 'therapist'. It really depends on what your issues are and what the therapist's expertise is. Psychologists get a bad rap because therapists have a reputation of being self-prepetuating, touchy-feely, "talk to me and it's all be better" for $75 an hour stereotypes. Psychology covers a very broad spectrum and there are many approaches that are more or less valid. For instance my area of study was behaviorism and personality studies. I wouldn't pretend to know how to address child psychology beyond what I know of behaviorsim and early development of personality relating to childhood. I had to take child psych as part of my course work, but it's just not my area. Likewise, I subscribe to behaviorism as my primary school, but most professional therapists fall into a humanistic, cognitive school since it "feels" better to most people and it keeps 'em coming back for more. Thus it lends itself to that enterprise.

I'm not going to say that therapy is valueless. Plenty of people benefit from it and move on in life. Just do your homework a bit before you decide if you need it and then who you're going to see by finding out what their approach is to psychology. People think psychologists are a one-size-fits-all arrangement and nothing could be further from the truth. I had a real eye opening experience with this when my brother-in-law commited suicide. I happened to be at UNR in the psych program as my minor (later becoming a second major) and I had access to free 'therapy' from a variety of psychologists all using differing methods and approaches. Look into it, you'll be better off and save time and money.

 

[mrRuckus]

Do you believe it's possible for someone to become psychologically broken? If so, would seeing a psychologist help?

I've had a pretty emotionally and psychologically rough past(much more than the average joe), and I believe it's caused me to lose motivation to really do anything... at all.

You lads have any experience to share?

Rationalize your way out of it. Whatever position you're in now, won't last forever. So you might as well not screw your future self.


I had a depression for 6ish months back when i was about 20 where I didn't want to do anything or see people or anything like that. "What's the point" and all that nonsense. Then the more I knew about depression i just realized it couldn't last forever and most people get over it so i'm not going to screw myself over and "not care" because that makes no sense. So I went back to studying and talking to people and all that and soon enough i didn't even think of the depression anymore. I guess it depends on just how bad it is.

Lots of times nowadays i think "i don't care" but i rationalize i don't care RIGHT NOW but usually I do so I do it (with the value of "it" being whatever i think i need motivation to do) anyway. Like I know you lift. Lots of days I don't want to and think "who gives a sh1t if i don't get stronger?" but usually I do care and tomorrow mrRuckus is gonna be mad at today mrRuckus so i rationalize that way and go lift.

But i'm just a straight no bullsh1t thinker like that and don't get too wrapped up in the emotional side of things. I don't get people who do. Like girls and pro-lifers. Damn them.

 

[evelsteve]

Man, let go of that past,dude. If you linger in it forever, it's going to affect your future, even though it's technically over. Move on, brotha.

 

[Señor Fingers]

I'm no shrink, but I do come from a very screwed up background and know exactly how you feel.

• Absentee Dad
• Working Mom
• Ghetto Lifestyle
• Brother committed suicide
• Sister attempted suicide
• Many, many toxic relationships
• Many, many betrayals
• Death of best friend

For years I felt sorry for myself until I realized that I was a victim of my own devices.

You can only blame your experiences for so much because ultimately you are responsible for where you are. Life dealt you a certain hand, but you are in the exact spot where you are because of how you are playing that hand.

The first and most difficult part of this process is recognizing your part in your own suffering.

The second phase is not easy either...its learning to say goodbye to your pain, which has become such a familiar part of your life that it's actually hard to let go of.

Once you let go, the healing process can actually begin.

Times like this it's really important to have good friends to lift you up or just listen. Sometimes no matter how strong we think we are, we do need some support and the occasional fire under our asses. I think this is why most people pay for shrinks, they lack the support that true friends are supposed to provide free of charge.

I remember at one point being so lost, and having NO ONE to talk to, that I would record myself talking about my problems. Just emotionally vomit on tape... the real catharsis for me was listening to these tapes again the next day, and realizing how ridiculous I was being.

I definitely feel your pain bro, but in order to get past the darkness, sometimes you have to plow right through it.

Hit me up on PM if you need to vent.

 

[evelsteve]

Actually, for me the best form of "therapy" (of course it doesn't replace professional help) is to go out and sarge. When done effectively, and you see positive results, it makes you feel better, and reinforces your being a successful Alpha-Male. This, in turn, teaches you how to cope with the things you can do on your own. Let the professional therapist work on the things you can't. However, when the therapist hears how you're trying to positively work on your self, he/she will only encourage you more. This is a win-win situation for all parties involved. Fight the good fight.