how does therapy actually help?

Question

Edit: so please also help me understand this- if a person doesn’t have family and friends to support, sounds like therapy won’t really help this person unless they change their living conditions, or they relapse?

In: 68

Answer 1

Hi, my source is my last 8 years of mental health including long periods where I wasn’t allowed medication and thus relied on therapy (and other stuff) to stay alive. I also answered a similar question a while ago using my favorite analogy so I’m copying it here:

Here’s the thing, depression is different for everyone, and depending on what kind of depression you have will determine what you need to cope with it.

My go to analogy is this: your brain is a lamp that only lights up when you are pushing the button. There are lots of ways to push the button, including tried and true methods (eating right, getting adequate sleep, etc), and more exciting methods (doing fun things, accomplishments, doing sexy stuff). But sometimes we don’t do things that push the button, or some methods don’t push the button like they used to. This is where we utilize therapy. Therapy is for identifying and changing self destructive behavior, which can be really big stuff like binge eating or really small stuff like procrastination. This helps us find new ways to push the button or helps things that stopped pushing to start pushing again.

Sometimes though, you push the button but the lamp doesn’t light up. You can find 10,000 ways to push the button, but you aren’t getting the benefits because the connection isn’t there. Sometimes you need to change the lightbulb or make sure the lamp is plugged in. This is medication. Notice, that even if you fix the connection you must still push the button to turn the light on. Medication does not push the button all the time, it just makes it so when you do push the button the light is able to turn on. There is absolutely no shame in taking medication, it is just restoring the function that would otherwise be lost, similar to wearing contact lenses or taking insulin injections.

No matter what, I hope you seek out a medical professional and listen to them. Definitely see a therapist, and possibly see a psychiatrist. Best of luck!