Hi OP,
I have read the whole thread and wanted to contribute. At first, I'll be honest, I read your post because I felt a little anger at the title and your OP. Then as I've read the rest I can see you have been honest about some stuff and I think there have been some interesting and positive contributions made, so thank you.
I would like to share with you my personal experience as I think it could shed light on some of your questions about the time, cost and 'need' element of your question. You said that although you would like to try therapy you haven't got the time. My response is that for some people there really isn't a choice. I'm my case, I had what I imagine they'd call a breakdown of some kind. I didn't see it coming but had lived in a completely unaware state for decades since my childhood. What I mean by "unaware" is that I wasn't living life consciously or in tune with my own self. I just did things robotically, and 'found' myself in situations, relationships, jobs, which were deeply unhealthy. I was a teacher and was putting on a front at work, being very efficient, whilst at home I was essentially dead inside. During one Easter holiday from school I sat for a week and just cried. I couldn't articulate why as I had no awareness of my own self or my psychology. In the end I took myself to the GP and thank goodness I did. The therapy quickly got me talking about my upbringing, and for the first few months the sessions were spent with me sobbing my heart out with my therapist. The client / therapist relationship is critical here. She sat there and didn't judge me as I cried and revealed my deepest vulnerabilities - things I'd not consciously thought to myself before. In my life I had NEVER experienced this before. I always kept a guard up and was never completely 100% "me" (or vulnerable) with anyone. The consistency of these sessions and of her objective, non-judgemental listening gradually enabled me to trust her. I slowly stopped needing to cry and started making sense of my behaviour, with her guidance. Having thought my upbringing was normal I learned to look at it objectively and see the child me as if it was a child standing right there in front of me. This helped me to look at my parents upbringing of me through a more objective stance learn where I had been let down by my parents. I won't go into the full details but there had been neglect and abuses I had never identified as happening to myself. And yet, in my work as a teacher I had worked with many pupils who had been abused and could identify it a mile off! But when it happens to you, you simply don't have the objectivity to know, and you need that objective therapist relationship to help you open your eyes to your own life experiences and to make sense of them. There was of course a clear pattern of me as a child being disregarded, and then me as an adult seeking out relationships where I felt disregarded- as that was my comfort zone and the only think I knew.
Anyway, I'm much better now. (7 years later). I went from having abusive relationships with men to loving myself, finding a job I love, and even meeting an amazing and mentally-healthy man to whom I'm now married! Therapy helped me get to this place, and now it's helping me to move forward and live the life I should have had when I was a younger woman.
Regarding your points about cost- at first I was referred via NHS. Then, I moved home and was told that in my new local area I was no longer entitled to NHS. I searched around and found a new therapist (psychotherapy) who offered low cost therapy. There was no means-testing- they just took my word for it that I couldn't afford full fees. (These places are available but it's not standardised as they are private practices). For the first three years I paid £5 a session. Then my therapist moved to set up her own practice and gave me advance warning that she would be increasing her rates, but she still offered me half price. So for the last few years I've attended fortnightly and paid £35 a session. Though that's a lot of money I believe it's saved my life. I don't pay gym membership for example- I workout at home instead, and just about find the money for therapy. But even if I was rock bottom broke (as I have been in the past) I would still do anything to pay for these sessions. It is an absolute priority for me, after mortgage and electricity. I'd eat baked beans all week if I needed to. So I think when you say you'd like to but can't afford to, to me it sounds like you don't really feel the need outweighs the sacrifice, (which is fine, and your choice to make), and not that it's "a luxury"....
Yeah- the main thing I am passionate about is that it is NOT a luxury. The comparison with physio is a good one. If someone had a back problem which hindered their daily life and made life very difficult, most people wouldn't begrudge them seeking physio. I would hope they would access NHS physio in this situation, but if they weren't able to for whatever reason that person would have to make a judgement call about whether to find the money to pay. This might mean sacrificing other actual luxuries if they felt that it was more important to become fully well and healthy.
I think your "friends" on Instagram are clouding the issue. Like many people on social media they are over simplifying something and making themselves come across as more into "self care" than they actually are- the same thing happens with gym, clean eating, home, fashion, etc. It's like when someone is super serious about physical fitness they exercise daily but don't shout about it- versus the people who only go to the gym to take selfies. These people are not reflecting the reality. Therapy itself is definitely NOT a fad and I urge you to look past the shallowness of these people and just ignore these posts.
If I was PM I would find the money to put therapy on NHS for everyone. When people say "everyone should have therapy" I think there's a truth in that actually- it's not realistic because it's not universally free, but if it was then I would recommend everyone go and learn about their own psychology and patterns of behaviour. Even if you were lucky enough to have a stable upbringing, you would no doubt learn something useful to live your life better.
If you are genuinely interested in educating yourself about this OP then I recommend a short 100 page book called "Counselling for Toads". It's written through the characters of Wind in the Willows and explains the therapeutic process simply and clearly.
I hope you have some sense about the value of therapy after starting this post OP. x