Argentines & psychologists

[deeve007]

There is a natural conflict of interest in a psychologist "curing" his/her patients...
When one looks at much of the way business is run here..I would not be surprised if that conflict has been accepted by the "care" giver... in return for continuing visits ($) With the argument that the client/patient...seems to be happy to keep coming back..so he is offering a service..

Hmm, interesting (and no doubt controversial) view... but makes some logical sense from the "anything for money" point of view.

 

[rihornos]

Yes I know of cases like that for my experience I know that therapies must be short to avoid going for years without results but it all depends on the person, one with serious problems to socialize (work and live and interact with others) will take longer and will probably need medicine for the first time, Iam not speaking about people who like going to a therapist just for going and without a real purpose of making any changes, because when someone goes to a therapist is because is very unhappy and this is one of the last things or chances he has to try.

 

[rihornos]

Here I see people speak about the cost of going to a therapist, for me it was the best spent money and my budget has never been huge, I had to make an effort to pay for it but my life worths more than what I payed for a year of therapy. I mean that when a person needs therapy this must be the first and not the second thing to do and I invested part of my salary but I changed so many things that I would do it again if it was necessary.
Reina

 

[deeve007]

Iam not speaking about people who like going to a therapist just for going and without a real purpose of making any changes

But I think many of us think that maybe many, maybe most, who do go don't really need to. Or else they either don't get or don't want to "change", but just keep going because it's "cool" or trendy or similar. A badge of honour? "Look, I can afford to go to a psychologist, hence I must be high society!"

If Buenos Aires was full of the most balanced, logical, rational, happy people on earth I would throw my hands up and realise they have discovered the secret to true happiness: visiting a psychologist. But I don't see any difference from many other countries I've lived in on those terms, hence looking for other reasons for the high therapy ratio here.

 

[Santiago F]

"...in some cases, with our psychologists"

But it seems it's not "some", it's "many" people who see a psychologist. It would seem that Argentina - maybe in particular Buenos Aires - has the highest rates of people who see psychologists in the world. Do you have an explanation for why this is so?

It's also been suggested in this thread that many see the same psychologist for years and years, which may suggest they're not actually getting much benefit out of it, since surely a psychologist's aim should be to solve a mental health issue, no?

Well, I said "some", but it's true, "many" is a better term. In my particluar case, I went to a psychologist for over 12 years (actually, a psychoanalist = Freudian psychologist). I didn't consider myself special because I had a psychologist, mainly because many others had one too. I just viewed it as someone with whom I could talk about personal matters from " the outside". I usually talk about these matters with friends, but having the opinion of someone supposedly "qualified" is different, it gives you another perspective, which a friend of yours cannot. Of course, many people here told me "Hahah, well, if you paid me I can also give you another perspective"... but again, it's different.

Having said that, I now recognize that I didn't have any objective/aim/purpose for going to the shrink. When the time came when I really needed qualified therapy, my psychologist didn't solve my problems, so I had to change for a cognitive-behaviorist psychologist, which helped much more.

So, in conclusion, I would say that most Argentines go to a therapist with no real purpose other than having someone listen to you. For some people it could be a bit narcissistic, for others a bit "gossipy", for me it was more a question of "qualified and different perspective" (I mean, the Freudian therapist). The reason why I started therapy in the first place was because a teacher in secondary school advised it. (I didn't feel the need so much really, but then I ended up liking it).

 

[rihornos]

I speak for myself only I went to therapy when I needed and when I was ready to end with the therapy I did it. Why many people go for fashion or snobism I don`t know, besides it is expensive to afford a really good therapist and the time to go and the effort one has to make for both, money and time.
Reina

 

[rihornos]

I'm not arguing just curious. What do you believe it helped, the neutrality of a place to talk to a seemingly "well put together" human being offline, or the fact that the human being in question is certified psychologist, or maybe just chance (or recommendations) on the "analyst" you get.

Thanks

Neutrality helps but what most helps is a good professional, a talented one, the one who is a step forward, of course he/she must be certified, we are not speaking to a friend, we are seeking professional help and we are seeking help for a change of life, so this professional is going to be responsible for what he advises, the medicines he gives, etc, as an example one of my kids has tantrums, the doctor didn`t want to give him medicine but asked to the kid and to us all a compromise because he is responsible as a p schiatrist of the family so if there is a second time he will probably will have to give medicine to him so what I say is "he is responsible" for....... hope this help to understand this process, we go to him if there is no other chance and before things get worse, fortunately we only went twice this year. And it looks like my son understood what a pschiatrist`s medicine means
regards
REina

 

[deeve007]

Wanted to say thanks for the locals who have posted here, it's been enlightening.

Cheers.

 

[Amargo]

I just viewed it as someone with whom I could talk about personal matters from " the outside". I usually talk about these matters with friends, but having the opinion of someone supposedly "qualified" is different, it gives you another perspective, which a friend of yours cannot.

Someone who does that it is called a 'coach' in Europe (also in the US?) and earns thrillions of Euros, even more than a psychologist. I believe the name 'coach' is just a means of marketing the same thing.
And probably that's why the statistics show that the percentage of Argentines going to the psychologist is one of the higher in the World...in Europe probably 'coaches' don't count as psychologist.
In the parts of Argentina where I regularly reside, psychologists are almost unheard of,,,only in some severe cases. Probably a big town thing?

 

[Matt84]

Neutrality helps but what most helps is a good professional, a talented one, the one who is a step forward, of course he/she must be certified, we are not speaking to a friend, we are seeking professional help and we are seeking help for a change of life, so this professional is going to be responsible for what he advises, the medicines he gives, etc, as an example one of my kids has tantrums, the doctor didn`t want to give him medicine but asked to the kid and to us all a compromise because he is responsible as a p schiatrist of the family so if there is a second time he will probably will have to give medicine to him so what I say is "he is responsible" for....... hope this help to understand this process, we go to him if there is no other chance and before things get worse, fortunately we only went twice this year. And it looks like my son understood what a pschiatrist`s medicine means
regards
REina

Thanks Reina. Obviously your case was not what i was referring, to. With all the respect I can gather, do you even know what a psichiatrist's medicine means? Does the psychiatrist....
sorry i don't wanna get all Tom Cruise on it, but the brain is not fully studied, just a few years ago and maybe some to this day, psychiatrists didn't know how addictive and destructive (permanent memory loss0 benzos were. Back in the 60s they were prescribing Thorazine, a chemical shock equivalent to a electro convulsive "therapy", to children with tantrums.

From Geriatric Profanity Disorder to nausea, thorazine is the cure for all symptoms

Hmm, interesting idea. So along the lines of it being a personal choice rather than any overt "issue" they need to deal with?

Before I started this thread, I emailed a local Porteno friend of mine with the same question, his response: "Yeah is quite common for people with no friends and with no alcohol issues like me."
(He's a drinker, hence why he makes a good drinking buddy for an Aussie!)

Which, while said half jokingly, may have a hint of something along similar lines: That many of us can get drunk with some friends and we end up laughing about or moving on from some personal issue that way. In some cases maybe not in the right way, and we should seek professional help for some things, but for the majority of minor issues this style of exorcism is adequate.

But maybe in a culture where "getting drunk" isn't so accepted (and yes, we are generalising here, just to get some ideas), then maybe visiting a psychologist is needed even for the most minor of "issues"?

(sorry for a bit of verbal diarrhea on that one...)

that's kinda what i meant by, only it seems to be a cultural rather than individual choice. it happens in NYC as well. I know what you mean, in Brazil they go to the beach rather than spend almost an hour with dr katz.

honestly it's the first time i see this correlated to beer, but yeah, i guess people who voluntarily undergo years long psychotherapy probably don't go on drinking binges with buddies, as that would be seen as some sort of symptom. wine however is acceptable.

Of course not everybody is as fortunate as I am for having the best mental health professional listening to my problems, Dr Methodius Isaac Bonkers, founder of the Institute for Nearly Genuine Research.

DONATE, your donations to the IfNGR indirectly finance my mental health and my brilliant posts in this forum.