To think therapy culture has gone too far?

Agree.

It's rare that an internal narrative of victimhood helps anyone. Resilience and recognising that the 'obstacle is the way' would be far more beneficial.

My child's school asks them to start the day reflecting on their current emotional state. I feel like this can become a self fulfilling prophecy and shouldn't be encouraged in such a willy nilly way!

But the problem isn’t therapists going around telling people the people in their life are narcissistic. And good therapists do challenge things. The problem is nothing to do with actual therapists, it’s people using language they don’t understand that they have picked up online.

I think it's much better than everyone being on tranquilisers like in the 80s.

You can see it from this old Yes Minister clip, where his wife has run out of cigarettes and tranquilisers. I think it's much better that we can have an understanding of social stress now and talk out our problems.

Are you new here, then?

Seems a strange post of you are dipping your toe in.

That absolutely isn’t the case. A diagnosis doesn’t get you anything.

Again, that’s nothing to do with therapy, though. No therapist is going to ‘diagnose’ you with something — they’re not qualified to, and that’s not what you’re there for. It’s just self-help buzzwords from pop psychology, the kind of nonsense you get on fridge magnets.

i’ve met quite a few people recently who have given me a diagnosis of something or other on first meeting. It is not my responsibility to manage that.

Yeah, this seems to be more and more a thing, people are feeling very free to use a diagnosis to demand special considerations or privileges, or to excuse inappropriate behaviour.

I think it's always the case that certain people will look for any leverage that is available to get what they want, and right now, claiming a diagnosis is an effective way to do that.

So your working hypothesis is, anyone who thinks that has never dealt with mental illness or trauma?

Yeah, I think that's not true. For one thing, almost everyone has or knows someone well who has.

Personally, I have within my immediate family people who have been in a mental institution, various cases of addiction, a person who was treated with electroshock therapy, and two cases of PTSD from being in a war, among other things. And I don't think I'm an outlier, plenty of people with experiences of these kinds would agree with the OP.

Tbf this happens everytime there’s more awareness about things and naming the issue. There’s always backlash from various groups or society in general and this outrage that “it’s everywhere now” , “you can’t say anything anymore” etc.

Agree. My original post comes from me being an intense over-thinker myself. I love to read and swim, as they are the only times my busy mind is quieter. It’s definitely easier said than done.

I think there is a big issue of confirmation bias in therapy which just isnt discussed (at least with clients). I believe, and and I am not sure quite how, this should be addressed as a bias at the start of therapy. It's quite complex as of course a therapist can't just constantly challenge someone's feelings or memories, they are there to process and be listened to. But it's (loosely) how I think half the world is now interchangeably a narcissist according to the other half.

I agree with this point, not so much with the original post's wording.

I know someone who never mentioned issues with parents....went to a psychotherapist and poof...guess what their latest 'issue' is.

It’s a disaster that people use therapy speak and are clueless about what they are saying.its also a disaster that so many mentally unstable people find online platforms and attract their mirror images and form communities of nutters. As if there were truth in numbers of deluded people speaking loudly. It’s a terrible mess that ignorance has claimed itself as psychologically aware,and it talks really loudly.

I agree to an extent.

I think on one hand we are better at recognising and providing support for those who need it and that’s a good thing.

OTOH natural worry has turned into “anxiety” and not only do people use it because they think the word is Teflon it dilutes the real life affecting difficulties propel with actual anxiety face on a daily basis.

I agree with this and I do it. I can be my own worst enemy by trying to make sense of shit. Just need to crack on with my life and live in the moment. Easier said than done, I know.

YANBU. When we were easing back into office life after COVID we had some well being type (now left the company thank goodness) talk to us about how we were all traumatised. Oh yes, I thought, I bet there are several people who have lost loved ones
No, he meant it was traumatic to see people over Zoom.

You seem agitated about this, also a bit defensive. Some posts seem manic. Have you considered therapy?

I agree OP.

In every day life (real life) I think it is a positive thing that people know more and accept more about mh/ mh problems and are more able to spot and call out bad behaviour that used to be ignored/ tolerated. It does tip over sometimes with some people but all in all, still a good thing.
The things you mentioned are buzz words/ phrases. Every generation, every culture will have some in its lexicon. The difference these days is we are all exposed to a lot of different media that repeat these buzz words and phrases ad nauseum. If you are fed up of them, spend less time online.

This!
I think what children, teens and young adults have experienced and are going through is a ticking time bomb that we ignore at our peril. I suspect a huge number have seen and are managing things many parents don’t know about. I suspect far more have suffered abuse particularly online that goes unrecorded as it’s so common. The government cares more about keeping big tech happy than protecting children and teens or giving those struggling the care they need.

As I said it’s a ticking time bomb. You can’t ignore
or bully people well.

This!

I'm a former therapist, I agree. I also am not a therapist any more because I think the whole system is messed up and not all that helpful as it is.

I agree, and I speak as someone who has struggled with grief, PTSD, anxiety and depression. I’ve had therapy on and off for years, and medication. My DS also had a therapist.

But all of those things are tools and supports to help me live in the world and move forward. People often use them as excuses for not doing things, or demanding things from others.

i’ve met quite a few people recently who have given me a diagnosis of something or other on first meeting. It is not my responsibility to manage that.

boundaries are great, as long as they are not drawn so tightly you no longer tolerate being uncomfortable or challenged.

We have an organisation called 1 in 4 where I live it estimates the instance of child abuse here as being 25% so no I actually think the opposite is true that toxic behaviour is absolutely rife, porn, VAWG, bullying, war, narcissistic behaviour aka Putin and Trump captivating their respective populations, the list is endless

The human capacity for darkness is underestimated by our ability to cope with some seriously dark behaviour using survival mechanisms of denial, turning blind eyes, minimisations. I think people are high adaptive, highly resilient and all that is happening now is a massive wake up to how shocking uncontrolled human behaviour can be.