Therapy, does it help?

Over 100 years ago Sigmund Freud founded a new way of treating patients dealing with severe metal discomfot called psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a process designed to uncover patients' unconcios thoughts by encouraging them to discus their background, felings, and experiences with a trained psychologist. Besically, he believed he could cure a patient's mind simply by talking to them. Well, many more theories have come up in the world of psychology but the option of talking things out with a psychiatrist still remians predominant in today's society.
But what I am intrested to know is if this process actually works. How much does it help, if at all? Does going to therapy really make it better, does it lighten the load so to speak? I wanted to know from the people who have actually been there. I was encouraged by a friend to go to one and try it out but I am not convinced it will help me in any way. So I don't know..but it's hard going through it alone. I've always been one to believe that friends are better than any psychiatrist out there. People who know you and have actually been there to see you go through it all. My friend, however, says that a trained professional might be able to give you more answers because well, they have the experience and knowledge that I suppose a regular person (or teenager for that matter) doesnt. I don't know..

Any opinions?

Wow good question. Well i've never actually been to a psychologist either as i to am sceptical and i'm not sure it would really help me much. i prefer talking to my close friends and parents about difficult situations, i guess some people are able to just open up like that,like writing poetry also helps. however my best friend visited a psychologist after a partically bad time in her life on a regular basis. we've had many discussions about it and for her this method worked she found it useful to talk to a stranger about her feelings becuase she din't feel judged like she did when she talked to people close to her. the sessions she had the psychologist was able to offer her different ways of looking at her problems and solutions that herself and others she had spoken too could not. she has not been for around 2 years now and she is happier then she's ever been she claimed it was the best thing she ever did. so i guess for some people it works and for others it dosn't it depends on your personality.

It all depends on the doc you get. While yes friends know you better, it is nice to have someone outside of your own little box who can be objective. Therapy may not work for everyone, but it works for many.

Therapy does help (surprisingly). Up until now I've always been against it. That is until a few months ago when I was called in for something. It wasn't that big a deal. We talked about my -failing- grades, how I'm always sick, cutting, a bunch of things like that. At first I was angry and I would keep my mouth shut and glare at the wall but once she got me talking...it felt GOOD. Like a whole load of bricks had been lifted from my shoulders. After that I kept going back every once and a while and know I feel great. The therapist taught me techniques to deal with stress and family issues and they work.

Therapists DO HELP, but only if it's one you like. If you don't like him/her then you won't talk, nothing will get resolved. Find a therapist you do like and it will do wonders.

It helped me not be suicidal anymore. Though I still have an anxiety disorder.

Thanks guys.

Majority of people who see therapists don't receive the proper/correct attention they need to function properly, especially in the cases of teenagers. Teenagers just want to feel like their values, opinions, feelings, thoughts, dreams mean something and when they are unable to express them they pent up their emotions and become emotional wrecks. Talking it out with a therapist allows you to discuss some of these areas of your life with someone who at least fakes interest in your life. Since that is the missing component from the said patients life. I 'd say that it lightens the load. I doubt it's curable because the patient needs these connections with his loved ones not a stranger to be able to fully recover from his emotional withdrawals. But that only discusses one time of mental abnormality and I don't have the time, brain capacity, or experience with every type of dysfunction of the human brain. I can't properly answer your question other than giving a personal experience that it lightens the load but doesn't fully fix the problem. I'm currently studying to become a psychologist/psychiatrist so I have a biased answer and thus makes the rest of this unusable statistic for your question. Sorry.

Well. I went to therapy for a while. So i got some things i think.

The bellow is boring untill the next dotted lines
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Well, you can usually completly trust friends to the extrent where in very close friendships you'd put your whole trust into them. Although you also keep little things from your friends that won't upset them, like 'white lies' to gossip lies, to lying if your okay or not. Although with a therapist, they are binded by law to be confinditial and can't tell parents information (unless they feel you in mortal danger, eg, telling them that you plan to kill yourself or you putting someone eles in danger eg, you're going to kill someone), this includes most drugs illegal stuff, you know.

And sometimes friends don't know the answers (this sounds so not real but-) therapists are trained to deal with people in whatever condition you may be in or stuff you may be experiancing/experianced.

I assume your a teen (LIKE ME! lol ANYways) so you may be able to get some free or even discounted therapy if thats an issue making you uneasy.
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the following is my experiance

OKAY well, i went through some pretty annoyying deppression/anxitiy and honestly if i hadn't gone to therapy i probably would be on drugs/rebeling to the MAX/ be dead. Therapy is not an instant fix or anything, but really quite strangly it really helps. You can move around therapists boy/girl if you don't feel comfortable talking to your particular therapist. Therapists also come up with ways to deal with stuff like really strange stuff like behavior-feeling redirection, but it varies i guese, but sreiously its good.

hope you decide what you thinks best

I've been to numerous psychologists cos
i had a pretty rough time growing up.
the majority of them did not help me in anyway but
then when I was in rehab
I spoke to one who was amazing and really did help me a lot

The best i've ever had, was a psychiatrist, that practiced psychotherapy. i got sooooooo much out of that, i did we a world of good, and i progressed...unfortunatlely, doctors who practice that way are a dying breed, most psychiatrists are just there for "med checks", 10 minutes in/out, have a nice day, hope you dont die...
and the therapists and psychologists i've seen at least from my experience, i don't get much out of, i'm more introverted, and need a litttle more "nudging"...and i got that from the doctor i talked about at the start of this, who retired, and now i am regressing, and i hate it!...best advice, it works wonders if you find the right doctor...but thats just my opinion, for what it's worth...

I really do think that psychotherapy really works. Everyday, people come of that kind of stuff and they are a new person. I really, truly believe it works.

I think you are right.

I was asked to get help after something (i wont say what) happened to me, never went and iv been asked to go to see someone about my anger and every time iv turned it down but thats just me i prefere not to talk about presonal stuff, for me that stuff belongs in your mind and no-were else.I'v learned to control my anger by myself although i havnt been angry at someone for years so we'll see what happens when the time comes :P
I myself wouldnt go to see someone who i have to pay just to talk to so they can evaluate me, seems like a waste of money that could be put to better use elsewere.
Anyway thats just me if you feel it will help you personaly then go for it maybe it will work

I put this up in March which to me seems like a long time ago because a lot has happened and a lot has changed. I appreciate people's advice though and your different points of view. I'll consider it.