A new issue of the The Mental Hardcore Health Newsletter
The problem with regular therapy is that therapists don't know shit. For example, a person with severe social anxiety comes to them, and they go: "Oh, I'm sure there are some social groups or activities that you could join. You just need to go there, and if you do that, you will overcome your social isolation".
Or: "You got crippling anxiety and panic attacks? Gradually expose yourself to situations that cause anxiety, and it will go away".
As if it ever were that easy!
The thing is... mental health trouble is heavy stuff. It's not easy. It's hard to deal with. Most of the time, it doesn't just go away. And it cannot be overcome by sheer will power or focusing on "positive thinking".
People who are "mentally ill" (I dislike that term, though) usually have good reasons why they are in this state, why they stay in this state, and why they *want* to stay in that state.
For example, a person who lives in social isolation might have gone through extreme childhood bullying. Exposed to such horror, it's easy to create a belief system where every human being is against you.
And if that were the case, it *would be* rational to just hide in your home, away from the rest of humanity, forever.
Or you got panic attacks. And every time you try a certain thing, the panic takes hold. And you seemingly cannot do anything about this.
If that's the case, it *would be* rational to 'cave in' and to just avoid doing the thing you wanted to do - forever.
In the end, these are all illusions. Because there are always true alternatives, and ways to truly solve the problem.
But the person with these problems might not see it this way, and within their "worldview", these decisions of avoidance, "giving up", giving in to isolation and fear and decline, might actually be a very rational choice (mind you, just *within* this faulty view of things - not truly rational in the wider world).
And the therapists then fail to realize why the troubled folk cling to these half-true, half-fake rationalities...
So, in the end, there are a lot of illusions, there is a lot of deceit, a lot of deluding yourself in the most negative way while honestly believing you would make a positive decision by staying in your world of mental illness.
And all of this is hard work and not easy to overcome.
So, I think it's important to realize - it takes time.
Mental problems don't just go away overnight (or by *willing them away*, like the therapists seem to believe).
Try to do a few steps, maybe even the smallest of steps, that could improve your situation.
You might really be in a situation where trying to tackle and handle *everything at once* is just too much (Btw: I'm merely saying *it might be*... it could be different for you, I'm not your therapist and won't give you direct advice).
And if you took a few steps, it might actually happen that you slide down the ladder again and feel like everything was in waste and you hit rock bottom once more...
But that's not the case, take a break, and then walk on and try a few more minor steps...
It's a tough and long task to untangle all of this. So be forgiving and patient with yourself and your mental process.
There is a good, healthy, positive way out.
But it may take some time to travel this way.
You can read other issues of the Mental Hardcore Health Newsletter here:
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/p/the-mental-hardcore-health-newsletter.html
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