Do psychogogists actually help?

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That's one of the things I'm worried about. They might just want to push religion or other unscientific ideas like hypnosis.

I'm not sure if my depression has a psychological cause. Maybe I'm depressed because I have a genuinely bad life. Or maybe I just think I have a bad life due to depression. Maybe I have a great life but I can't see it. I don't really trust my own judgement anymore. I'm not sure if I'm biased for myself or against myself. I'd prefer to have neither.

Hmmm. My anxiety isn't caused by sensory problems like yours but I wonder... I didn't even think I had anxiety before because I'm not a social recluse but then my GP said I did. Maybe he was right. I keep on worrying about the future. I keep on worrying that I'm going to make the wrong decision. I'm supposed to pick a community college course for next year (must get career to reduce self-loathing) but now I'm having a hard time picking one.

Maybe some anti anxiety pill or anti depressant or cognitive behavioral therapy or something could cure me but... even if I'm cured of depression I'll still be depressed about about not having been cured earlier. I'll still be anxious about all the years I wasted. All the years I didn't do anything. I feel like I'm 16 going on 27.

Voice acting and podcasts? That sounds pretty cool. How'd you get into that?

OK I'll try to tell her everything. Even the really embarrassing stuff. I thought it might be better to get a guy but the public healthcare in my country is pretty bad. Maybe she can at least tell me whether or not I have cyclothymia like I think I do. Having an official diagnosis would make me feel more certain about stuff.

It's better than doing nothing, and it depends on your issues you need help with. I think psychiatrists are useless unless you have a genuine chemical inbalance, but I feel they'll just throw pills at anyone. Pills don't cure self-esteem issues and pills don't release one from a f****d up past. I'm pretty confident I don't suffer from depression so much as it's just anxiety & self-esteem issues, and pills aren't going to fix that. Several doctors I've seen fail to recognize that.

It's really hit and miss. You can meet some great therapists who can change your life. As far as the religion barrier goes, I live in Utah. Every therapist here graduated from the U of U or BYU. Naturally, they're from a rich family to put them through school from Utah, and, naturally they're Mormon. It's important to disclose you're not religious and don't have the desire to be religious, generally they'll respect that and the conversation about "have you tried praying/i'll pray for you" won't come up.

Yeah, but talking about it is not going to help either. Sometimes a f****d up past damages your brain and the only way to repair it is with medication.

I don't know if this counts but I'm currently seeing an AS specialist and I'd say she's really helping with my problems at the moment.

I don't know enough about brain chemistry to give an honest reply to that, but that's a good point. I spoke on my own experiences, sorry if you (or any lurker) found it distasteful. Either way, bottling it up and ignoring it is the worst.

I don't mean talking about it here - I think it helps to be able to talk to people with similar experiences. I mean talking to a doctor about it - they don't have much to offer as they generally don't have a clue about our experience. Should have been more clear - my bad.