142

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by flyoverthis@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

72 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello,

Lately I have been overwhelmed with my schedule, finances and social life. I am always trying to improve my mental health. With all of this stress I am considering therapy, mainly for someone to talk, to process all my thoughts, and maybe help me develop ideas or come up with strategies to cope better. I have ADHD, Autism, and some other things if that helps anyone relate.

I have three main questions:

Has therapy helped you enough to be worth the time?

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

How do I find a therapist? From a doctor's referral? Online service? Through insurance? (I live in the United States.)

Any experience or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: I just wanted to thank everyone for your help and support! I hope everyone is doing well and has seen positive changes. And I hope all these replies help other people besides myself. I'm feeling more positive and hopeful toward finding the right therapist. Your kindness is appreciated!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

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.

[-] flyoverthis@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks! This helps me paint a better picture of searching for one. I will try to do my research. I definitely have more diagnoses I forgot to mention in this post. I've spent a long time working on all of them. At least the initial shock is over with and I've had time to work on all of them to an extent. I just need to take the next steps now.

Thanks for your help and your kind words. I will figure things out regardless, but I am very hopeful now that I might receive some help.

this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023

142 points (99.3% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26749 readers

466 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.