Forums > Therapy?

Anyone find these forums better than therapy? Certainly cheaper. I find a lot of people are drawn to online forums these days. Probably lonely and you can talk about your interests. I'm not sure it's a good substitute for face to face interaction but it's better than nothing.

I think therapy plus forums would offer the best results. Though I'm not one to talk I just now started going to a therapist again and my parents are paying for it so what do I know lol.

I actually came to this site when I had skype taken away from me in the court systems over a crime I committed. I needed a support group. My therapist is a busy man, and he's also a 45 minute drive, one way. When he moved away, he told me that these forums are a good support group to have, and that a lot of his patients use online forums for the exact same reason. At that point, I had been seeing him for four years, at least, and he said he felt that my therapy was complete, but that I could seek out another therapist if I felt like I needed it.

Overall, I feel that these forums are good, depending on what's wrong with you and how active the forum is. Yes yes.

I have therapy every week, and that's very helpful. But for me, these forums are great for emotional support in my times of crisis. (Shout outs to quietgirl and Ennui - you guys are great, thank you. Hugs to you both!)

No. This place is nothing like therapy.
Although the matter probably depends on your personal problem areas. Your mind is built so, without a qualified therapist you'll just find a few simple shortcuts.

Jellybeanery wrote:I have therapy every week, and that's very helpful. But for me, these forums are great for emotional support in my times of crisis. (Shout outs to quietgirl and Ennui - you guys are great, thank you. Hugs to you both!)

Hey JB! Sending hugs back!

I found that I had therapy for important issues. Some things couldn't have been resolved here but when it came to bipolar, I found a "sharing" and feeling of being with like-minded people. I could express my bipolar symptoms and others could relate so I didn't feel so alone. No one in my life "gets it." What bipolar is. Their eyes say it all. They act like I'm just "so sick" or like they don't want to talk about such a topic and dismiss it. Let's just say it, people who do not have bipolar have no idea what it means to be in our shoes. Just one person's opinion, anyhow.

Jellybeanery wrote:I have therapy every week, and that's very helpful. But for me, these forums are great for emotional support in my times of crisis. (Shout outs to quietgirl and Ennui - you guys are great, thank you. Hugs to you both!)

Thanks so much for the shout out, Jellybeanery! Very much appreciated. Huge hugs back to you!

As for the original question, I've had therapy in the past (18 months of CBT and about the same amount of counselling, spread over a few years), and it was helpful to some extent, mainly in terms of modifying some maladaptive behaviour, such as my tendency to overwork myself, through CBT, and talking through my dysfunctional childhood in counselling.

However, I've found the forums invaluable when it comes to communicating with others who have lived experience of the disorders I suffer from (bipolar and generalised anxiety disorder), and the face to face support groups I've attended have had similar benefits.

If possible, I'd say combining therapy with support groups such as these forums would probably yield the best results, as others have said.

Basically roughly the same as most everyone said. I've done CBT every week for 11 months now. It's gotten me to try to do things that I know would make myself feel better (and did!) but on my own I'd not have done it.

Therapy is definitely more useful for helping me work through my issues, but the forum is nice in reading that I'm not alone.

Though there are bipolar support groups in my area, there aren't any during times of day that I can attend. If there's ever a question bugging me at three am I'm more likely to get the answer by posting here rather than hoping to remember it for a meeting with others (assuming I could find a time to attend)

I've never stuck to therapy. I usually find rehashing old personal files very exhausting. I'm lucky to have friends who are always there to listen. They're all on some kind of spectrum, too. So they get it.

I joined this forum to sift through a larger body of people with various intersections of experiences. Just scrolling through new threads has been informative (and therapeutic) for me. There's always a point in IRL friend chat where due to a lack of experience, even my fellow mandeps say, effectively, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and here a simple forum search yields so many more responses that are relevant to my concerns.

Anyway, I've always been attracted by forums and have been active in them since I was a teenager. But of course, as I used to tell my younger self carousing bluelight and reddit for advice on drug combos, everyone's bodies (and brains) are different and most of us are neither doctors nor lawyers

ive been on multiple specific condition forums over the years and i find they are great for peer support but not to the same degree as a shrink.
i see a intellectual disability specialized shrink for my bp and other stuff once every two weeks-its supposed to be once every week but i cant process and move on from what was said in one week.
its a CLDT therapy i think called something like amber light therapy designed for people with ID who are very close to being put into a higher level of care,ie sectioned for example.

he is really understanding,gives me lots of time to put translate my thoughts into words and adapts CBT and his pysch language to my level of understanding, however i do not get that on a forum,most users either ignore me for some reason [so im shocked when someone speaks to me] or assume im very capable as they dont see the time it takes me to compile a post nor do they see how much i struggle with language,i constantly use a dictionary and thesaurus app to help compile posts and understand others.

i will always use support forums,but i was groomed and then bullied across multiple autism and general disability forums because the bully knew i was non verbal and therefor an easy target,i ended up having a massive pyschosis and bipolar crisis as well as extreme challenging behavior-was locked up in a specialist hospital for people with ID and i lost my long time placement at the best residential home ive ever lived in.
i mention this because this is what scares me about using support forums,my bully would copy my blog; pretending to be severely autistic to look similar and thus groom me and she would use my exact words to get attention and pity from parents on disability forums-whilst attacking me resentfully because i get high support for my high care needs,i do not like my life being used for pity nor do i like being bullied and lied to.
so.... i do not like forums no way near as much as my shrink,at least i know him and he is who he says he is.