Well, it was mentioned earlier that he's worried about how much therapy might cost. That's a fair concern. It isn't cold-hearted to worry about money...it can be quite the contrary. Nor is skepticism about mental health treatment always a bad thing. It's all relative.
But as others have pointed out, therapists are trained - they are health care professionals, they're doctors. They deal with the mind, not the body. But the mind can be sick too.
Society has, I think, a strange duality here.
There's people who obsess over getting medical explanations for everything. "My kid isn't badly behaved, he's just mildly autistic". Asperger syndrome gets...worryingly overused as a label, nowadays. Perhaps a way of avoiding responsibility, to some degree. Many people do, indeed, turn to therapy for no good reason. Or to feel good about themselves, to be assured that it's not their fault. Hell, I don't know. I'm a politics geek, sociology is just a side field of study. But I will say that anxiousness seems to be the defining emotion of our age. Perhaps your boyfriend is thinking in these terms.
At the same TIME though, there's reluctance among many folks to admit that they might have a problem, or they might need help. That's equally unhealthy.
I think it's a good thing that you've at least tried the therapy route. It's evident that you have stuff you're wrestling with. It's not like you're making crap up. And rather than deny that it's a problem, you're taking steps to come to terms with it.
That's admirable.
-- Acyl
But as others have pointed out, therapists are trained - they are health care professionals, they're doctors. They deal with the mind, not the body. But the mind can be sick too.
Society has, I think, a strange duality here.
There's people who obsess over getting medical explanations for everything. "My kid isn't badly behaved, he's just mildly autistic". Asperger syndrome gets...worryingly overused as a label, nowadays. Perhaps a way of avoiding responsibility, to some degree. Many people do, indeed, turn to therapy for no good reason. Or to feel good about themselves, to be assured that it's not their fault. Hell, I don't know. I'm a politics geek, sociology is just a side field of study. But I will say that anxiousness seems to be the defining emotion of our age. Perhaps your boyfriend is thinking in these terms.
At the same TIME though, there's reluctance among many folks to admit that they might have a problem, or they might need help. That's equally unhealthy.
I think it's a good thing that you've at least tried the therapy route. It's evident that you have stuff you're wrestling with. It's not like you're making crap up. And rather than deny that it's a problem, you're taking steps to come to terms with it.
That's admirable.
-- Acyl