Do psychogogists actually help?

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A few months ago the GP said I tested high for depression and anxiety. I didn't even think I had anxiety at the time but now I sort of see it. Anyway, I'd been holding onto this referral for months and this afternoon I finally decided to bite the bullet and make an appointment to see a psychologist.

I'm still not sure about it. I don't know if it will help and since I have no experience with psychology I'm not sure if it's something I should be skeptical of or not. Even if it is a valid science I feel like getting a good psychologist is kind of a crapshoot. There may be good ones but I have to choose one almost at random.

So has anyone been helped or hindered by a psychologist?

Hindered, but all of the therapists I saw were pre-AS diagnosis. Since I wasn't able to properly communicate to them about things, it left a lot of room for assumptions and I usually left feeling invalidated and, at worst, dehumanized.

I have diagnosis so I can tell them but there are very few in town with training in AS and even then, they all say they deal with AS children and adolescents. I really hate it when people, even psychologists act as though AS is something that only affects children...

How can they make such a mistake? Do psychologists actually understand psychology?

Helped. But then, my psychologist was a specialist in ASD and (as I requested) he first assessed and diagnosed me with AS before going on to deal with the anxiety, stress and sensory sensitivity issues I had.

The psychologist will probably try to teach you ways to deal with the anxiety like breathing exercises and muscle relaxation and for depression s/he will teach you how to control your thinking so as not to focus on the negative thoughts that come with depression.
This is my experience anyway and it was not particularly helpful. Psychology is like putting a band-aid on a deep cut. It covers it up, but the cause is left to fester.

in my experince, psychologists onlly help if you are wiling/able to help yoursellf - if not, they cant realy do much of anything othre than give you advice that you arent taking and in generall wasting your and their time. after my short experince with it, i realised that if it all depends ultimatelly on me helping myself, what the hell do i needd a psychologist for then, especialy since because i am not good at comunication, the sessions were extremly awkward. gues their only real use is to help qualify you for assistance programms but i dont use those. feel the ultimate failing of psychology is that it views the person as the problem, when nothing evre happens in a vacuum - the person is usualy struggling because their immediate social environmentt is dysfunctional and unaccomdating or their society in genrerall is, and instead of fixing the sick society, focus onlly on trying to make the individual adapt to the sick society. like androbot said, thats a bandage on cancer.

If only I could have one like that. I don't need diagnosis but I'd still like one who knows about AS who ISN'T a child psychologist.

Most psychologists want a specific referral but I had a general one. Saw my GP again today. He gave me a list of twelve psychologists to choose from. Maybe if I pushed it with my GP I could've got him to refer me to a specific one but many psychologists are booked out and the awful receptionists won't even tell me if they're booked out 'till after I have a referral written up.

I rang the first on the list. He was booked up. The receptionist made an appointment with the second on the list (same office). Not sure about her. I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to see a female psychologist. Women are good at emphasizing but I'm not sure if they're good at understanding guy stuff. I'd rather have understanding than empathy.

I wonder if this whole thing was a good idea. I spoke to this guy on a help line a few times (not the suicide helpline) and I sort of froze up. All the problems I wanted to tell him about, it was too embarrassing to admit to having them.

Speaking of phone calls the internet chatline said when choosing a psychologist I should speak to a few on the phone to suss out which one I like. They don't do that. The receptionist just makes the appointment.

Some of these psychologists seem to have very unscientific ideas. The one in town who specializes in depressed adults and AS kids (but not depressed AS adults?) His website says he takes a "unique approach. He had some fancy sounding technique called Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy whereas the rest only had the plainer sounding cognitive behavior therapy. I thought that sounded pretty good until I found out Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is based on Buddhism. That's too unscientific for me.

Or the one I've got the appointment for? She does cognitive behavior therapy and hypnotherapy. Anyone who practices hypnotism must be really unscientific. I don't want any kind of unscientific mumbo-jumbo.

The only good one was the one who's receptionist wouldn't let me have an appointment. Maybe if I push it with my GP I could get in. This guy doesn't specialize in AS but he specializes in the rehabilitation of people with mental or psychical disabilities into the workplace and is also a life coach as well as a psychologist. That sounds great because it could solve one of the major causes of my depression at the root.

Last year I nearly got a life coach but I passed her up in favour off another life coach but he sort off dissipated so I should've kept with the first one. I could afford it at the time. I had a lot of money back then but at the moment I can't afford much of anything so if I had a life coach who was a psychologist I could claim him on medicare as a psychologist.

For a while I thought a psychologist might be the magic bullet then I thought maybe I could figure it out by myself. Then I had to chastise myself for thinking such a thing but maybe I was better off with the plan to fix it myself. I'd at least like a diagnosis of any other problems I might have besides AS.

Unfortunately Adelaide isn't as large a city as Sydney so my choices might be more limited. If therapy doesn't do much I might be better off with antidepressants but I think the prescription pad is something that should be used very lightly. With the drugs I've been prescribed, some have helped me and some have hindered me. That sounds like a topic for another thread.

I wouldn't rule out someone based on their gender. I'm a woman and I've seen plenty of male support professionals. Some good some bad.



What is the root of your depression? Unemployment? It's hard to remain positive when facing rejection in the job market.

In my limited experience, there are very, very few who can be of any help at all.

as one conservationist put it, science by itsellf doesnt do anything - its a type of knowledge, plain and simple. how you want to apply that knowldge, whether thruogh a western rationalism or thruogh more holistic, humanistic approaches, is up to the individual. the psychologists (if they are certified) are prety much guaranteed to be trained in the knowledge and the typicall practices of their field - what they want to do with it from there, such as devising their own method incorporating mental health practices from certain philosophies, is up to them.

there is a reason why buddhists, other spiritualists, and peoplle from less advanced cultures are typically overall more happy with themsellves and their life - and part of it is their "unscientific mumbo-jumbo" which, putting aside the elaboration of any rituals etc., is obviouslly capable of bringing them some internal peace and peace with the worlld around them, which is apparentlly more than what modern psychology can say, as wherever it is primarily found (mainlly in westernised world) there is an abundance of mental misery such as depression, anxiety, etc. i would guess that the psychologists who are trying to incorporate those "unscientific" methods saw some value in them psychologically. i myself only really got much of any handle on my life by trading psychology for an intense spirituality. guess my point is dont buck something untill you know more about it or have tried it yourself because there is definitely things of worth in the "mumbo-jumbo."

It's more complicated than that. Unemployment is only a component of it. Other components include regret, envy, self-loathing, loneliness, indecisiveness, anxiety and cognitive-dissonance, e.g. I want to work yet I don't want to work.

I suspect I could have something like bipolar disorder or cyclothymia but I'm not qualified to make that diagnoses. I hope that shrink can diagnosis that and not just play word games. I'm not sure if the cure is better than the disease. Before I was on some mood stabilizers that made me lose all motivation in a way that really scares me now. When I stopped taking them it was like waking up from a pleasant dream and then finding out the house is on fire.

It would be easier for me to go back to that pleasant dream but that wouldn't solve any of my practical problems. When the house is on fire, you don't want to go back to sleep.

Last edited by RetroGamer87 on 08 Oct 2014, 5:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well keep trying - all it takes is one good doctor to set you on the right course. Try to get one who can make these diagnoses - I think psychiatrists are better than psychologists - they have more tools at their disposal. But you never know.

Hmmm. I wonder if they'd let me see a psychologist. The medicare in my country is kind of crappy. I hope they don't think I'm a lost cause.

In my experience, the effects of the Psychologists really depend on the Psychologists themselves.

Just like any other profession out there, there are people who are good at it, and people who are bad at it. There are people who are capable of making the most of it and make it look easy, and then there are people out there who you want to shake your head at and ask aloud to them "How did you ever think you'd be good at this?"

You'll have to look at this situation from the standpoint of a critic. Is this Psychologist really interested in helping you? Does s/he seem like s/he's confident in the treatment that they're giving you, or do they look like they're making shots in the dark? Do they seem more intent on stalling on treatments or repeating treatments that aren't working so you'll spend more money to keep visiting them, or are they genuinely trying to help you find, treat, and eventually learn to live with your diagnosis?

I've seen several Psychologists in my life, ever since I was little. I'm twenty one years old now, and only recently have they made the connection that I have Aspergers. I've been through diagnosis' such as ADD, ADHD, Social Anxiety, general Autism, Depression... The list goes on.

I've had Psychologists who would let me vent about things like bullying at my school and offer real advice on how to deal with it. I've also had Psychologists who'd just roll their eyes at me about my "trivial" problems and say "Is THAT really why you're seeing me?"

My point is, Psychologists can work. So can medication, and counselors, and Psychiatrists, and therapy, and many other medicinal practices. The key to all of that is to find the right one for YOU. Not every person with Aspergers or Autism will be the same, so general cookie cutter treatments won't work. It might work for some, but not all. Heck, my Psychologist said that I have seemed to learn how to be able to cope with my condition very well, to the point where most other therapists were stumped on why I was seeing them. Then again, having one of my Aspie Interests being things like Voice Acting and Podcasts probably helped in me learning how to talk in a way that is appealing to others.

The only advice I can offer? Go see the Psychologist. Tell him EVERYTHING that you're worried about, or that you think is wrong with you. Ask him for a treatment plan, and then ask how many sessions or weeks he thinks it might take. If he says that it should take no more than a few weeks, and you're still visiting him after several months (speaking from personal experience here) with no progress, then it's probably time to go see someone else.

i had experience with them

the lady wanted to promote her religion

and the guy wanted to get me into bed

i would beware of visiting this shrinks
they take advantage of our weakness

A psychologist who fits your personality CAN be very helpful, IF your problems are psychological in nature. Not all anxiety and depression has psychological causes, though. For example, I get anxiety from sensory overstimulation and no amount of talk therapy is going to help that, although I've found that anti-anxiety medication (prescribed to me by my GP) helps a lot.

Good luck!