Just want to say, yes. A thousand times yes. Therapy is worth it a million times over. If you don’t find the therapist you mesh with immediately, don’t lose hope. Trust your gut and keep looking.

Once I found the right therapist, things really improved in my life and I was able to make sense of things that I had previously been unaware of.

Good luck!

In my case it’s unaffordable. It’s just $15 per visit, but it’s a lot in my country. And I’m not particularly rich either

Sounds like it is worth exploring, at the very least. When I found the right therapist it was like scratching an itch I didn’t knowI had.

Good luck to you, friend-o.

My last therapist disappeared into the redwoods after doing a hit of acid laced with DMT. Seeing as he’d been growling like a tiger all night as part of some Hindu shaman thing he’d picked up on the streets of New Delhi, it was kind of a relief. All that was left behind was his kilt. Sometimes I wonder where he is and whether or not the Hell’s Angels were really hunting him.

True story. Oregon can get wild in the backwoods.

That being said, you probably could do without my advice on finding therapists.

Therapy is kind of like college. You go into it, to try and know what you’d like to do. Only in therapy’s case, you’re going into therapy to narrow down exactly what you think is wrong with you and finding that confirmation on whether or not you truly have something.

Talking to online friends and close ones are limited because they cannot give you medical advice. They’re there to weather your mental storms until you do manage to get to a therapist that can at least gauge the forecast.

And if I had to give one tip about therapy, try to make a series of bullet points and prioritize what you want to figure out the most from top to bottom. Things like “Why is it do I randomly snap or cry around people?” are things you probably should have on the top to talk about, as opposed to “why do I randomly make mayo sandwiches every other hour?” being the very bottom.

While it wasn’t for me, therapy is worth for the most people. You can learn new strategies and explore the cause of your problems and how to tackle them. Most people really benefit from it.

I am completely therapy resistant, several tried and gave up on me. This can be the case for you, but that is very unlikely. I am just a psychopath who doesn’t accept authority, that makes it impossible to do any therapy.

If you think you need it, likely yes but finding the right therapist who meshes with you is absolutely crucial. You have to do your research and also understand that with the world essentially on fire that lots of therapists are booked up. I’ve spoken to people who have just not worked with me personality wise and others who I’ve thought were just shitty.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us is a good start. You can sort by what you’re looking for and who might take your insuance. A tip: create a spreadsheet with who you’ve contacted, their response and whether they offered a referral. Treat it like job hunting. You’re going to need to reach out to a lot of people. Most will get back to you within a business day, but it’s been my experience that nearly 3/4ths of therapists on that site who say they have openings do not in fact have openings. Be picky and trust your gut on your initial consult.

Best of luck

I can see how for some people it might be, but I tried therapy for a few weeks, but I didn’t find it helpful. I have plenty of people I can talk to about various issues. I think therapy might work for me, but I would need someone really talented and spend a fortune.

I have found it to be marginally useful. Somewhat. Basically it’s a chance to express myself and somewhat vent to someone who gives (ideally) useful feedback. If they’re not actually good at their job, sometimes the feedback is useless or even harmful, so talking to them worse than not.

Yeah, you should totally go. It’s like unwinding a very complex knot of thoughts and emotions. It’s always nice to have a non bias view on your life.

Long story short - it depends. But, with a therapist you vibe with - abso-fucking-1000x-lutely!

To share my experience concerning your questions.

Has therapy helped you enough to be worth the time?

Definitely, but with very varying results, and also with the caveat that my time in phases of deep depression is almost worthless because I can’t really use it for myself or even productively for others either. The varying results part leads to

Is it very difficult to find a therapist you mesh with?

Yes, I’ve been in all kinds of therapies, from analytic to purely psychiatric, have gotten a ton of different diagnoses since my early teens, and results have been sometimes disheartening and sometimes lifechanging in positive ways. My advice is: Don’t be afraid to switch therapists if after a few sessions you notice it’s not working out, and try to in advance research as well as possible if there are any specialised in cases like your own (seeing as you already have some diagnosis to work with).

With the last point, I can’t really help you much, no idea how it is in the US. Here, you can usually get lists with regional therapists that are covered from your insurance. Also there are more and more online platforms, although I couldn’t help you with US-based ones.

Here’s hoping you will find someone that can help you, and even if that doesn’t happen, that you will be able to manage to get through the curret tough times. Be well and take care.

Can take a few tries to find the right one.

Best place to start is with a doctors visit.

Several physical ailments can affect mood/mental health so your GP will check those first.

Good luck.

It depends. Talk therapy works for a lot of people, but not all. But, it’s almost always a good starting place. If you feel like you aren’t making any progress with your therapist, you can always tell them that, and they can help you explore other options outside of psychotherapy. They could recommend a psychiatrist who can try medical therapy options with you. From there, if you still feel that you aren’t making progress, your psychiatrist can possibly recommend medical operations such as ECT if you’re still having trouble.

It doesn’t always have to take this path, though. But I can absolutely recommend therapy as a launch pad.

For my own anecdote, I went to a therapist for several months, and after a while I felt like I was reaching a brick wall. And not due to any trouble with the therapist, but because I felt like I had milked therapy for all I could. He was able to refer me to a psychiatrist who then worked with me on finding an appropriate medication and we explored other venues from there. While I basically maxed out the gains I could get from therapy, I was still able to learn a lot of really useful things during that process anyway, which are still helpful to me today. So don’t go into it with the expectation that you’ll find yourself cured, but go into it with an open mind.

I can help a bit. The short answers are yes, yes, and it’s complicated.

Therapy absolutely can work. It’s very circumstantial. It depends on what kind of problems you have, and whether you’re prepared to work on them. I don’t say this in a judgement sense, but it’s important to understand that most work takes place between sessions. If they’re good, they give advice on things to practice when you’re in a situation and then you try it and report back. That sort of thing.

Is it hard to find a therapist? God, I wish I could tell you “no!”, but in my experience, it is. Part of it is the challenge of getting an appointment with anyone, and then after that is the challenge of finding someone capable with whom you’re compatible. My best advice is to think of it a bit like dating or interviewing someone for a job. If they don’t seem to get you, move on, and keep doing so until you find a match that is at least good enough.

How do you find one? If you have insurance, you call them or email and they email you a list of in-network people or direct you to a list on their website. Then you call each during your lunch hour and a bunch are disconnected or require you to go through a long phone tree before you learn that they do physical therapy, not the head kind, or they have no availability for new patients. Eventually, you get a call back from leaving a message on a bunch of voicemails, and the direct you to complete an intake questionnaire, then schedule a first session.

I advice trying to get into a clinic with multiple providers instead of a solo practitioner, because if the first person you talk to isn’t a match, they can connect you with a different shrink at the same clinic if they’ve got several. Otherwise, you have to keep looking again and fill out the new patient questionnaires again.

It really sucks how many barriers are there, and I advise getting help from a supportive friend or partner if possible. If you get access or end up signing up for BetterHelp with a podcast code, eventually it can make life-changing difference. Good luck.