> But therapy? If there is a problem and therapy is treatment, of course. But where does this desire in the western world come from to just by default having to go to some kind of psychotherapy?
I suspect you're exactly the kind of person I'm talking to when I say therapy is a valuable thing for everyone. You will experience stressors, grief, loss, and strife in your life, being psychologically healthy and having your coping skills in order is absolutely something you want to do in advance, and is something everyday people can and should do before they actively have any specific disorder or problem.
It's one thing to say therapy is helpful. It's another thing to say it's just what you need to get over yourself in life. I have friends that cannot just "be psychologically healthy". They had sexual abuse and emotional abuse for decades of their early life. Every would-be friend betrayed them. They have too many illnesses and disorders to count. They're disabled, unimaginably neurodivergent, and impossibly complex. Therapy is not the solution to this. This is not as simple as "being psychologically healthy". Life for people in these sorts of situations is a life of such difficult tradeoffs that there simply is no right answer. Everything they do just digs them deeper into some hole, even if it was supposed to get them help. I did encourage one to try therapy, but the therapist spilled everything from their sessions to abusers. Their living situation became measurably worse and has not improved since. It is not their fault. They've been emotionally beaten to a pulp, and it's not their choices that brought them here. They arrived here by process of elimination, where everything else they've ever tried was met with extreme punishment. External assistance is often the only possible out for them. Not external assistance from a professional or therapist. External assistance from someone who knows them and their situation better than anyone else ever could, who's seen too much of their life day-in and day-out for years. You can't select for that. You can't even hope for that. You certainly can't choose that.
To think one's own choices can impact matters like this is such a disgusting level of privilege I can't even imagine. There are too many people that can't simply choose to escape their situation, and it's not their own fault. It's not something you can fix by sprinkling on a little therapy or some self-help books. It's something they'll be fighting for the rest of their entire life, whether they escape or not. You can't just choose to be free of that. No one can.
I suspect you're exactly the kind of person I'm talking to when I say therapy is a valuable thing for everyone. You will experience stressors, grief, loss, and strife in your life, being psychologically healthy and having your coping skills in order is absolutely something you want to do in advance, and is something everyday people can and should do before they actively have any specific disorder or problem.