Why do people avoid mental health therapy?
As an interesting aside, let's start by mentioning that, according to the 2022 survey conducted by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation, nine out of 10 adults in the United States felt that there was a mental health crisis in the country in both children and adolescents as well as adults. When rating, by relevance, how serious some specific mental health-related problems were, respondents ranked opioid use at the top of the list.
There were 2,000 respondents nationwide, who based their judgment not only on their personal experience but also on national trends. Approximately half of these participants reported having experienced a mental health crisis in their family.
We know that the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed numerous social stressors that have increased mental illness and substance abuse risk. In fact, the number of overdose deaths has reached record highs since 2021, as have suicide rates.
Moreover, one in five respondents described their own mental health as dismal or fair, many of these under the age of 30, or identifying as LGBT or with less than $40,000 as income per year. In addition, the majority of respondents claimed to have felt anxiety or depression during these past few years.
Thus, the key stressors for these individuals were current events related to social issues, politics, personal finances, work and personal relationships. The survey also showed that nearly one in five adults sought mental health services in the past year.
However, despite the alarming figures and the recognition of these stress factors, many of the adults who feel that their mental health is inadequate said that they would not feel comfortable expressing their feelings to family members or acquaintances. Some do so out of reserve, others to avoid embarrassment and the social implications of mental health problems, so they prefer to keep their problems quiet.
This is related to information revealed by studies of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), according to which one in five Americans of adult age suffers from a mental illness, or is going through some suffering or emotional discomfort, and most of these people do not seek help.
What are the reasons?
There are other reasons behind this fact, which we will mention below:
1. Judgments of others
Some specialists in the subject affirm that one of the reasons that lead people not to seek professional help is the fear of being judged by others, especially because they do not want to be perceived as weak. However, they do not realize that creating a more positive mentality represents the opposite, being a proactive way of acting in life.
2. Doubts, mistrust
Another factor that holds people back from seeking professional help for their mental health is doubt that therapy will work. This may be because they have had negative experiences with it before or have heard it from someone else.
3. Vanity
Sometimes, vanity represents an interesting challenge, because there are those who do not accept that they need help. Many believe that their problems can be solved by themselves without the help of any professional. This is because there is a certain predisposition or false myth about mental illness. Other people believe that reliving past situations can be painful and disturbing. However, it makes much more sense to deal with the past in order to analyze whether it has a negative influence on the present and to provide a solution to any problem.
4. Fear
Fear of going to therapy is another major reason. Many people are afraid of change, of feeling vulnerable, of overcoming situations with others, or of overcoming emotions, because they have felt for a long time in that "comfort zone", of opening their emotional world with the therapist, of being honest, of accepting. However, then they often feel comfortable some time after starting therapy, claiming that it is a different and very helpful experience.
5. Lack of information
Information is crucial to seeking mental health treatment. People who are misinformed about its relevance are likely to refuse help. They simply do not know what therapy entails, and continue to hold the false belief that the person who attends therapy is suffering from some kind of insanity, which is totally untrue.
6. Not allowing time.
Similarly, some people who go to therapy stop before they make real progress, for whatever reason. This usually happens if they find it too difficult to deal with their emotional world, because they are impatient to get results too soon, because they claim not to have connected with the therapist, or because they give up. The truth is that therapy is not the same for everyone, sometimes it requires more time than for others, it is a process in which it may also be necessary to test with which therapist we feel better, but it is very helpful once we feel good and listened to.
7- Feeling of incapacity
This incapacity is due to the fact that the individual does not feel capable of making an objective analysis of the facts or of acting intelligently. They tend to have negative, disturbing, suicidal thoughts, or develop fixations that affect their daily life, to the point of believing that nothing makes sense.
In summary, we know that in recent times there have been major problems linked to people's mental health. But while many of us recognize the existence of this phenomenon, we also know that not everyone is aware of how serious it is to live with some emotional or other type of discomfort that compromises our mental health without seeking professional help.
How do we know if we need psychological help?
Some signs that may indicate if we need psychological help are:
- Presence of permanent mood swings.
- Constant depression.
- Anxiety.
- Inability to have control of emotions and to reason.
Are there any benefits of going to psychological therapy?
Many! Not only will we feel better emotionally, but we will improve our overall well-being. A psychologist is someone we can talk to with confidence without fear of being judged, and will always give us guidance and different perspectives, suggest strategies for dealing with situations and make us feel more relieved and listened to.
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