Yeah - I have bipolar disorder, and this is why people with mental illness don't speak up, because we're afraid of this attitude. When you have to be on mood stabilizers and go through a lot of therapy to begin to not blame yourself for everything that your illness caused just because it's invisible it can be a real setback to tell people and have them say "Well you don't look sick..."
Same thing, ironically, happens to people with other chronic and non-visible illnesses: lupus, fibromyalgia, etc. "You don't look sick - get off your ass" - meanwhile their immune system is eating them from the inside out.
Anyways - to the original point - therapy can be very effective in treating anxiety and depression, but we should also not completely eliminate the possibility of SSRIs, MAOIs and related drugs for controlling depression. The reality is that depression is often multifaceted and the biological and psychological components of it are mixed in ways we don't entirely understand. I know a lot of people that have required an antidepressant to be able to _deal_ with therapy, and then were able to discontinue slowly after they went through therapy.
People with more serious mental illnesses (waves) can be helped through counseling, but often will be dependent on medication for the rest of their lives - but counseling for these people can still result in a net benefit for society, as often we can contribute quite a bit (and many of us are very high functioning!) if we are given the opportunity.
Anyways - to parent - thanks for illustrating everything that is wrong with our society's thinking about mental illness. I will literally link people to your comment when I have to explain in the future :). In all seriousness though, please get educated on this or study it more, I am hoping you're just ignorant on this topic and not malicious or mean.
Same thing, ironically, happens to people with other chronic and non-visible illnesses: lupus, fibromyalgia, etc. "You don't look sick - get off your ass" - meanwhile their immune system is eating them from the inside out.
Anyways - to the original point - therapy can be very effective in treating anxiety and depression, but we should also not completely eliminate the possibility of SSRIs, MAOIs and related drugs for controlling depression. The reality is that depression is often multifaceted and the biological and psychological components of it are mixed in ways we don't entirely understand. I know a lot of people that have required an antidepressant to be able to _deal_ with therapy, and then were able to discontinue slowly after they went through therapy.
People with more serious mental illnesses (waves) can be helped through counseling, but often will be dependent on medication for the rest of their lives - but counseling for these people can still result in a net benefit for society, as often we can contribute quite a bit (and many of us are very high functioning!) if we are given the opportunity.
Anyways - to parent - thanks for illustrating everything that is wrong with our society's thinking about mental illness. I will literally link people to your comment when I have to explain in the future :). In all seriousness though, please get educated on this or study it more, I am hoping you're just ignorant on this topic and not malicious or mean.