Tag Archive - stigma

Depression: Christians and Medication

July 24, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Therapy-Psychology with 10 Comments

“you may have questions about whether Christians should take this or that. You get in that state, I assure you, you will take rat dung.” Pastor Tommy Nelson on his depression

Why the Stigma?
Let me start this post by saying this. When it comes to the issue of taking medication for depression…there are some Christians who believe in it, and those that do not.

I believe in them. And I’m not trying to convince you otherwise. That will require circumstances, experiences convincing beyond my control.

I have worked long enough in the ministry and therapeutic setting to see the amazing and beneficial results that they have had in the lives of the co-workers, students and clients that I have journeyed through life with.

I believe God has given scientists/doctors/researchers amazing minds to create some medications that can help.

As one friend says, “If someone is diabetic, they are going to take insulin…aren’t they?”

Or I tell my friends, “If you have a heart condition, you are going to the cardiologist, right?”

So what’s the stigma around mental health and medications in the Christian life? I’m not completely sure. There is some disconnect it seems. Or rather than disconnect, there is some inconsistency in how we pick and choose what areas of our lives we seek help on, and what areas we think we should be able to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps.

Continue Reading…

Can Community and Openness De-Stigmatize Therapy?

June 26, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media with 7 Comments

This is Post 2/100 in my 100 posts in 100 days series.

2221841522_54f6359cf1
[image by tboard]


Yesterday I asked the question, Is There a Therapy Stigma? If you haven’t had a chance to answer that question…please take a moment to do so, as I’m interested in your opinion on this important subject.

One of the things that has been on my mind for the last couple of years is the question: Can the stigma be taken out of therapy if there was more openness and transparency in the process, rather than anonymity and secretness?

I have received various feedback on this subject…usually about 50/50. There are many who hold to the more traditional methods of anonymity and secretiveness in the therapy process (note: I’m not talking about client confidentiality here–obviously that is super important and must be upheld). While many, especially those raised in the internet age, are more prone to see the necessity of a more open therapeutic process. Wherever you fall on this question, I think the reality is that many things are changing in the field of therapy…and so it’s something we should be thinking about.

Two months ago I came across an interesting conference that I blogged about, Taking the Stigma Out of Mental Health with the Help of Social Media. I won’t spend this post talking about social media (because I will devote plenty of time to that soon), but I do want to mention some of the questions they were asking at the Mental Health Camp–a Conference about Mental Health and Social Media. The specific interest of the camp was “Erasing Stigma and Exploring Possibilities with Social Media.” And some of the questions they were asking were as follows:

* How can blogging help decrease the stigma of mental health?
* How does someone with a mental illness navigate the waters of anonymity in the transparent world of social media?
* How is the journaling that happens in blogging similar to or different from journaling for healing?
* How can social media participants with mental health issues help each other?

What’s interesting to me is that they were not only asking these questions, but they were getting at the idea that openness in mental health can de-stigmatize it. And more importantly, as we live more and more in an open society, especially with our reliance upon the internet…will therapy head more in that direction?

So I have been pondering various ideas in regards to my practice. And just a few questions come to mind that you might have some thoughts on.

What would it look like to have an office in a more public, highly visible and busy area? Say for example, in an office above retail shopping, or next to a coffee shop. Would you be attracted to that, or is that to open for you?

Do you think therapy should remain more anonymous and secretive?

If you were to see a therapist, would you keep it confidential, or is it something you would share with some people?

Do you think that therapy can be more beneficial if the client has a community of supportive people that are aware of the therapeutic process, and are able to lend support in and out of the office?

Is There a Therapy Stigma?

June 25, 2009 in Marriage-Family with 14 Comments

This is Post 1/100 in my 100 posts in 100 days series.

3604856550_04e122eaa7
[image by Vali]


There is a lot to talk about in the next 100 days. Lots. So I thought it would be appropriate to start from the beginning. And by beginning I mean…the idea of going to therapy itself. If you haven’t noticed, there is often a stigma when it comes to one going to therapy. The stigma may be culturally…it could be religious…maybe it’s a social stigma.  Or it could be that the stigma is created and influenced by your friends and family. Whatever the case may be, many have talked with me about their fears of just walking out the door and going to therapy.  And I understand that.

Some of you may be reading this and saying, “Stigma, what stigma. I tell everyone about my therapist. He/She is so great!” Growing up in Arizona therapy was talked about openly. And having lived in California the last eight years, all I can say is that having a therapist was often a popular trend, as fashionable as the parties one attended or the private yoga instructor someone met with. It was not unusual to come across a group of people where all of them were seeing the same therapist and openly sharing stories with one another about their sessions.  But Texas is different, and it has its own stigmas about therapy, though I find that most people are pretty open about seeing a therapist.

So what is the stigma about?

  1. Feeling like you are not in control if it’s come to the point of needing/wanting to see a therapist.
  2. Fear of having to reach out to someone for help.
  3. Is the stigma created by being known by others that you see a therapist…or being seen in THAT office.
  4. Or maybe the stigma lies in the fact that things are better left untouch/unsaid…don’t stir up stuff.  Don’t rock the boat.
  5. Maybe the stigma is religious/church…says that all you need is God, not any help from a human.
  6. Or maybe the stigma is that people think only “crazy” people go to therapy.

These are just some thoughts.

I’m curious.  In your opinion, what is the stigma about?

Would you…or have you ever gone to a therapist/counselor?

Was it beneficial?  Why or why not?

What would it take you to walk through that door to see a therapist?

Taking the Stigma Out of Mental Health with the Help of Social Media

April 21, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media with 0 Comments

3336971302_613f580637The other day I received an @reply from Mikey Ames on Twitter with the message,

@rhetter SM mental health, Vancouver- http://tinyurl.com/dhd2y4

When I opened up the link I read this,

Mental Health Camp – a Conference about Mental Health and Social Media

with the following synopsis,

MentalHealthCamp is a conference about the intersection of social media and mental health. What is social media? Social media is the online practice of sharing personal opinions, insight and content (of text, images, and music). Examples of social media are blogs, Facebook, YouTube, flickr, and Twitter. And mental health? For the purposes of this conference, mental health is the wide spectrum between mental wellbeing (e.g. experiencing a minimum of stress, anxiety and interpersonal problems) and serious mental illness (e.g. heroin addiction, schizophrenia or anorexia). We are also including issues such as ADD. After very positive feedback to a panel discussion about social media and the stigma of mental illness at the 2009 Northern Voice blogging conference, a spontaneous decision was made by some of the attending bloggers that this topic is something that cries out for more attention. We are asking questions such as * How can blogging help decrease the stigma of mental health? * How does someone with a mental illness navigate the waters of anonymity in the transparent world of social media? * How is the journaling that happens in blogging similar to or different from journaling for healing? * How can social media participants with mental health issues help each other?I absolutely love this concept, and my only regret is that I can’t get there on such short notice. But I have been using social media for a long time and have been trying ways to connect it in the mental health, therapy and counseling settings. If you look at my blog I am attempting to use some social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed to bridge the often isolated world of therapy, with the community of social media.

Though the field of psychology and the practice of therapy is rooted in a long and rich historical tradition, I have always tried to push against the stigma that is often associated with mental health…or with someone going to see a therapist. Maybe I see less of a stigma because I have gone and do go to therapy myself, or maybe it was living in California all those years where having a therapist is right up there with having a physical fitness trainer.

I think there are a lot of things that can be done to slowly erode away the stigma of therapy and mental health, and I think this generation is ripe to break down many of those stigmas that have kept so many people for so long from getting help. I will be interested to see what comes of this gathering, and I hope that we can put one together here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex in the coming year as well. But for now I will have to follow the work of Raul from Hummingbird 604 and Isabella from Change Therapy. And hopefully I will get a chance to connect with them via social media.

[image from publik15]