To think therapy culture is turning self-reflection into self-obsession?

[MirrorFatigueJay]

It feels like we’ve gone from under-feeling to over-analysing everything. Not every discomfort is a trauma. AIBU to think constant introspection can actually make people unhappier?

You have zero evidence for any of that.

So what’s the answer then? Because 6 sessions of CBT ain’t it.

I had to look him up 😂 "Dame Katy is a proud TransBiPanLesbian, crowned Ms Grimsby in 1982" Yes, that is DEFINITELY me!! Claim your £5 😂

Rewatching the peep show and ordering enough naan breads to keep those feelings buried deep down in your stomach.

Take my advice with a pinch of salt. I'm not a therapist, and I'm still figuring out whether it actually works.

Call it life experience.
We obviously live very different lives, different experiences on the situation

Yes, I think "therapy culture" has gone too far and ultimately isn't helping anyone. You can't pathologise everything in life to the 'nth degree. Ironically I think it leads to an unhealthy view of what sadness, setbacks, real trauma and even happiness actually are. I also believe that constant self introspection is the path to selfishness. If you are constantly analysing your own insecurities, you cannot possibly develop the tools to recognise the pain in others. You will basically be a perpetual "victim".

Clearly. I have generations in my family that struggle with it including myself and my children. I also have many years experience of working with children who have the condition .

“ If you are constantly analysing your own insecurities, you cannot possibly develop the tools to recognise the pain in others. You will basically be a perpetual "victim".

That is complete rubbish. Analysing your own insecurities makes you much better equipped to recognise pain in others .

Therapy does facilitate self-awareness and self-care in some people, which they can extend to others.

For other people, therapy seems to encourage ruminating introspection and self-absorption that perpetuates a victim mentality, which doesn't leave them with enough bandwidth to think about others.

Both of those are separate from TikTok trash.

I don't think it does. The very word "introspection" means to look inward. When individuals are overly focused on their own thoughts, feelings and problems, they struggle to see situations from another person's perspective or tune in to social and emotional cues, which are necessary for empathy. As I said in my first post, pathologising everything that life throws at us can induce a constant state of victimhood, and victimhood is rarely compatible with empathy.

🤣That is just ridiculous.Its the opposite,individuals learn how the human mind works and thus how others will be be thinking and processing , it’s healthy.

Not when it is self serving
Everyone is different. Some will learn how to be empathic and others will stay with a victim mentality. They lose their loved ones, not because they're a victim but their negativity and self loathing is hard to be around.
You see things in very black and white, individuals have different emotional responses to situations.

I think this is where things can get a bit murky. I agree with you but I also agree a bit with the poster you've quoted because you need both validation and accountability for introspection to be meaningful.

My experience with therapy and my experience of friends and family who have had therapy is that there's a huge onus on validation, but accountability can only come from within, and it's painful to hold yourself accountable a lot of the time.

Without accountability, it can just lead to selfishness.

And on another note, to all the posters defending “real” therapists, psychologists and counsellors and saying they are on a completely different level of professionalism and training from the tik tok and instagram swill, please remember that their professional bodies have gone uncritically full in with the gender woo cult affirmation model.

Absolutely no respect for these people. They aren’t as independent, curious and educated as they think they are. Apologies to the minority of professional psychologists and therapists who haven't been sucked in to this arrant nonsense.

Is an epitome of this the declamation by some women that they deserve to be treated like a princess? WTF, lol.

Therapy is known to work. Rather that than drugs or suicide.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/20/mental-health-lessons-school-dont-work-mindfulness

this is quite interesting

Yes! So sick of listening to generation Z being "traumatized" because of a break up and "have boundaries" meaning being self absorbed and selfish. Therapy speak is so tiring outside the therapy room, especially by people who have no idea what they are talking about.

I think recording yourself crying is the most cringe worthy act of self-pity ever discovered.
Nobody looks good when they ugly cry.
I enjoy good news, positive news, not sobbing like a loon.
We can't even blame gen z they were raised by adults who used FB like it was oxygen.

But the author who is an academic and clearly not living in the real world illustrates a complete lack of understanding of reality.

“My view is that the only information we should teach en masse is where a young person should get help, both inside and outside school, if they’re struggling. That’s it. Then we should focus the time, energy and money on supporting the smaller group of young people who are actually unwell.”

There is no help to be had. Zilch. Nothing. Children and adults with treatable mental illnesses are now being left to simply get worse. Schools barely bother referring kids to CAMHs now as the waiting lists ( if they’re lucky enough to get on them)are so long. So much so the extreme tertiary end of the mental health sector are now struggling to cope.

There is a new initiative between CAMHs and schools for mild to moderate mental health issues called Mental Health Support Teams . It’s far too early to be dismissed as it’s still be rolled out. It has to work as sadly there is nothing else and far too many children and adults with mild to moderate difficulties are being left to become extremely unwell.Mental Health devices are completely broken and it’s frankly a national disgrace.

You mean she had an affair with the therapist? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding!

Carla786

Oh god yeah I worded that wrong! No, she’d just had a moment in therapy where she felt everything had clicked into place (I think) and went home and told her dh she knew she liked women. He was upset

Mental Health Support teams in schools are not new initiatives, and they don’t focus on teaching mental health/cbt/psychoed classes. They provide 1-1 therapy for at-risk students and provide systemic support for the wider team working with students from qualified psychologists. Some programs have EMHPs, who are trained in guided self-help CBT but are not fully qualified CBT therapists.

There is plenty of peer reviewed evidence that teaching these types of classes to children doesn’t work, as I pointed out when you asked “what is the evidence” and then “well what are the harms”, but you chose not to reply when this was shared presumably because you don’t want to acknowledge it doesn’t work, similar to here.

The efficacy of school based psycho-ed programs and the chronic underfunding of mental health services are two separate issues. Just because services are underfunded and inaccessible (which they are), doesn’t mean CBT classes are helpful (which evidence suggests they aren’t).

You haven’t posted clear and wide evidence that they don’t. A opinion piece written by an academic with zero experience of the real world is not that. The new MHST in schools partnership is focusing on CAMHS running classes and doing 121 for a few children alongside supporting staff. Surely it’s far too early to completely disregard this as sone schools are only just getting it.

There is a MH crisis amongst children. Staff have to support and work with these children regardless of the lack of provision outside of school. The MH sector for adults and children is completely broken and pretty much non existent. There is no magic money tree or anybody in government or anywhere that seems to be planning to fix it.

What exactly do you expect schools to do as ignoring these children is not an option?

I posted a peer reviewed academic systematic review and quoted the findings when you asked? That’s clearly not an opinion piece from an academic.

MHST have been in place since 2018 and, as I said, don’t focus on teaching. The focus is definitely on 1-1 and systemic working with professionals.