oh BB, don't get me wrong..... my experience wasn't with my own issues, it's more I was on the sidelines looking in, with close friends and family. It just was worse than useless, and I don't say that flippantly, I do mean their actual mental state deteriorated. Two years of at least one (1 on 1) session weekly, 20 odd weeks of group therapy, umpteen emergency appointments.... it was an expensive flop. I won't say they are totally cured now, but they're not as low as they were in the two years of therapy.
I would like to have a positive opinion of psychology, as it interests me greatly and I have benefited from the many books I have read on various MH issues. It's just the caliber of the people are not anywhere near where I think they should be. I wouldn't go to my GP to treat a heart condition or a neurological disorder, I'd of course want to see a specialist in that field, but we're happy enough having "jack of all trades, master of none" approach in psychology. I don't get that.
I followed a tv series recently about teenagers and young adults with extreme OCD type issues.... I was horrified at the advice the families were given, by psychologists, when these issues first presented. No wonder years down the line their once mild OCD, is now extremely debilitating OCD. Any one with common sense would see the kind of advice given is bound to make matters worse instead of better.
It reminds me of a family member who is bipolar, but also a functioning alcoholic. They're not the best at taking their meds as they're supposed to, because it interferes with their drinking. The psych was more than happy to wave them off after about 3 or 4 years of therapy without barely addressing the alcohol issues. We're all sat on the sidelines for years thinking "well, when the depression has been addressed they''ll finally get around to the addiction". But it never came. Even the family member was disappointed as the alcohol issues were what brought him to the psych in the first place.
I know there are success stories out there, I'm not denying that. But I just find the MH provisions woefully inadequate (UK and NL).