The stigma of counseling
There is a social stigma and shame in seeing a psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist or counselor that is not experienced in a visit to the doctor or dentist.
When things go wrong in our bodies, like catching a cold or having a bad toothache, we are not usually embarrassed to seek professional aid in dealing with the problem. But when it comes to admitting that there is something wrong with our mind, we feel ashamed.
Many counselors, like the therapist at http://houstontherapist.com/tonys-interactive-therapy-faq/, feel the need to defend their existence by answering questions like: Don't only weak or really messed up people go to therapy? How is talking to a therapist different from talking to my friends?
I would like to take a look at how we form these stigmas about getting professional help for mental issues. What parts of our culture contribute to this reluctance?
The largest part of people's aversion to therapy can be explained, I believe, by looking at the stereotypes of psychologists perpetuated in movies and TV. Films in which psychologists play a major role, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Couples Retreat, and Analyze That all contribute to these ideas.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, psychologists are portrayed as cruel and inhumane; the main character pretends to be insane in order to avoid jail but his plan backfires and he ends up in an asylum where the medical professionals are portrayed as the movie's bad guys.
In Couple's Retreat, a couple is having marriage trouble so they ask three other couples they are close with to go on a special cruise, and it turns out that it is mandatory for all four couples to go through the marriage counseling. While this movie portrays the psychologist as a nice person, it characterizes him as detached from reality and overly eccentric.
In Analyze That, Billy Crystal plays an unhappy hypocrite who loves to give advice to his clients but can never successfully apply it to his own life.
These movies are not the exception but the norm when it comes to portraying psychologists inaccurately, and myths are just prevalent in movies where psychologists play minor roles. For people who have never actually seen a psychologist, these are the source of information from which they get their first impressions, and sustain the idea that the entire field of psychology and psychiatry consists only of therapists and counselors who practice Freud's "talking cure," and not only that but these counselors are generally not portrayed as people with morals or professionalism or either.
Most of the stereotypes I've elaborated on are based on ignorance. If people went to see a psychologist for regular check ups as they do with doctors or dentists, they would gain a better understanding of what it is that they do.
The biggest myth perpetuated by the media is that psychology is only for people who are extremely mentally ill. The most publicized cases of psychology tend to be about the patients with the most "shock factor," truly psychotic people. In truth, the idea of seeing a psychologist for regular checkups is not a bad one - it would increase the chance of catching early symptoms of mental impairment like dementia, and could help people be proactive in their fight with depression, or attention disorders. Then people wouldn't wait until they were on the brink of self-destruction to see a psychologist; they could prevent things from getting that far. Practices like these would help psychologists to be seen as more of a desirable luxury and a benefit of our affluent society. Asking advice from experts, through counseling, is the same as asking a doctor to approve a new diet plan, or hiring a gym trainer to help with physical fitness.
Most of the stereotypes I've elaborated on are based on ignorance. If people went to see a psychologist for regular check ups as they do with doctors or dentists, they would gain a better understanding of what it is that they do.
The biggest myth perpetuated by the media is that psychology is only for people who are extremely mentally ill. The most publicized cases of psychology tend to be about the patients with the most "shock factor," truly psychotic people. In truth, the idea of seeing a psychologist for regular checkups is not a bad one - it would increase the chance of catching early symptoms of mental impairment like dementia, and could help people be proactive in their fight with depression, or attention disorders. Then people wouldn't wait until they were on the brink of self-destruction to see a psychologist; they could prevent things from getting that far. Practices like these would help psychologists to be seen as more of a desirable luxury and a benefit of our affluent society. Asking advice from experts, through counseling, is the same as asking a doctor to approve a new diet plan, or hiring a gym trainer to help with physical fitness.
Once people begin to come to terms with the fact that psychology is a very broad field that is not only concerned with mental disorders but that includes many, many other job tracks besides counseling, hopefully the social stigma of seeing a psychologist will begin to abate. Seeking improvement is not something people should be ashamed of.
