Hopefully, we all realize by now that while the majority of people in the world try their best to be kind and to do the right thing, there are bad apples out there – and they fall off the tree and land in all sorts of professions.
Even ones, it turns out, that are normally populated by people who go the extra mile to serve those who need it the most.
These 12 people signed up for mental healthcare because they needed help and a kind, understanding ear – and they got total jerks who should have their licenses revoked, honestly.
12. So much cringe.
Had to go to the hospital because I had cut myself about 4 years ago, I sat in the room where there are multiple different people and cases going on so there wasn’t any walls in between patients. And what does the head nurse do?
“We got a cutter! We got a cutter!” To the whole damn room, you could see how uncomfortable the other nurses were and even some police men looking after someone else looked upset she decided to yell it to everyone. Made me feel like complete garbage on top of how I already felt at the time.
11. Not the best parenting.
tl;dr: cheap parents ‘hired’ a therapist they knew would give them info, i got suspicious and confirmation after i told a ridiculous lie and my parents sat me down to talk about it when i had never told them anything. since it was a lie. it took YEARS to trust any adult after that. (of which i still struggle with as a 34 yo)
in high school i was pretty difficult because of some real intense shit happening in my life. i wasnt on drugs or violent or flunking out. HOWEVER, i had a super rough family home life as well as some sexual assault stuff and i withdrew because of it. my parents were very “sunday christian” meaning while at church theyre the best christians but the teachings did NOT make it home. (they still dont understand why only 1 of their 6 kids talk to them etc etc kinda thing).
anyway they gave us NO Privacy ever, always in our phones, our bags, our rooms, just in every aspect of our life if it offered them control and i knew it would be no different when they “found me a counselor and you know her”. guys, they sent me to therapy with the PASTOR’S WIFE. it became super clear she was telling them things immediately but i held out hope until i couldn’t anymore, because i didnt have proof really.
i ended up telling her i got in a fender bender but there was no damage so it was all good. well, she told my parents right when i left i guess because when i showed up home my dad demanded to see my bumpers.
they wont admit what happened to this day, but they never made me go again. so there’s that, at least. also i guess this turned out mostly about my parents but fuck them and that ‘counselor’ too.
10. I have secondhand anger.
I was having panic attacks daily and the med he gave me made my anxiety worse. Turned out I just have bad reactions to SSRIs and that was all he kept trying like a moron.
Anyway I’m in his office and he seems to be taking it personally that all the SSRIs he has put me on are giving me seriously bad side effects.
“Have you just given up then?” the f*cker asks. “Do you just want to be like this the rest of your life?”
Obviously f*cking not that is why I’m in this office trying new medications. I was so angry and yet also having a panic attack at the same time. I ended up just walking out and finding a new psychiatrist later.
9. Yikes.
That there was no point in continuing therapy because I was ‘emotionally devoid’ and was wasting her time.
It was a licensed therapist that I was referred to by my doctor after an emotional breakdown (ironic much?).
Her comment came on our third appointment, we had never ‘clicked’ and she had made judgemental comments about my parenting choices in the first session so there wasn’t any trust there.
I’ve since found a new therapist who was amazing and now, five years on I have left a toxic marriage, dropped two of the three meds I was taking and am loving a genuinely happy life. While her comment initially stalled me and left me feeling that there was no hope, I’m now genuinely happy and loving life
I’m also halfway through studies to be a counsellor myself.
8. How about neither?
“You need to find religion and also buy this self help book series that I wrote.”
7. Just drink like everyone else.
I use my creativity with art and craft as both a coping skill and as something that gives me extra purpose in life.
A psychologist told me that doing so is maladaptive.
I didn’t go back.
6. That’s not a joke.
For this it’s important to know that I live in Germany.
I saw a psychologist once who treats and diagnoses adults with Asperger’s. I was there for my second diagnostic interview, and my mother was with me to be interviewed as well. She told the doctor about my sensory issues, especially with noise, because I would occasionally scream and punch walls and throw stuff around if I was too overloaded with a sound. The psychologist just said something along the lines of “Well, 100 years ago people like this would have been treated rather differently around here, eh?” and laughed in our faces.
Even if he wasn’t talking about the National Socialist euthanasia, which took place not quite 100 years ago, I still felt incredibly disgusted and angry. The entire interview with him was a disaster, but this was clearly the worst thing he did.
5. Not her problem.
Ok, this is actually my mums story but it’s relevant. 1980’s in the UK. My mum is pregnant with me and my dad is, well, not a good person. My dad called my mum when she was out asking her to come home. Mum thought he sounded odd so asked a friend to come with her.
Daddy dearest is drunk which has brought out all of his angry, violent tendencies and he fires a gun that god knows where he got it at my mum. Missed, thankfully. Police are called, a standoff happens and it’s hours before he’s finally taken down.
The psychiatrist who treats him after tells my mum who was bracing herself for a good old fashioned divorce not to leave him as he wouldn’t cope.
F*ck. That. Noise.
Unfortunately, they did succeed in guilting mum into staying but she got out a few years later and gave me the best childhood. She passed a few years ago now but damn she was awesome.
4. Lucky you?
Had a therapist tell me that my soul, long before I was born, chose my parents and subsequent childhood abuse so that I could learn from it.
By this logic, of course, the abused person is always in control and the abuser is helpless.
Argue with that logic.
Needless to say I never saw her again.
3. To. A. Child.
“You’ll never do an important job like doctor, veterinarian, firefighter, lawyer, counselor…You’ll probably end up in a Walmart for your whole life.”
I was 8 years old and still remember how mad my parents were lol.
2. No excuses.
The whole, “trauma makes you stronger, trauma teaches you something, there’s a silver lining to your trauma,” schtick makes my skin crawl. People only say that when:
They’ve never experienced serious trauma or abuse themselves,
They are trying desperately to find a reason or why that doesn’t lay blame on themselves or their abuser. It’s nobody’s fault if it was destined by God, right?
I always tell people (and myself), “Children shouldn’t have to be strong, children shouldn’t have to be resilient, children should just be safe.
Trauma is just trauma, not a f*cking learning experience.”
1. Beyond not ok.
“You’re taking up someone else’s space, and they’re probably dealing with worse” veterans mental health recovery program when I was suicidal and reaching out✌️
I’m a F vet in Australia, so negative to those asking if this was through the American VA system. Though, I’m sorry to hear that the resources are just as turbulent overseas.
Veteran mental health is a complicated area, and not every vet went to war, or served overseas. It creates an internal hierarchy in the way we think about ‘who has it worse’ and how we view the way we fit into the structure of Defence.
I hope those of you who had similar experiences were able to find the support that you needed, and if you haven’t yet – please DM me – though may take me a while to respond.
And for the friends and family of vets who have been supporting and suffering with them; what you go through is also valid. You signed up with them and it’s a pain that can be hard for others to understand. That doesn’t mean it matters any more or less.
I would walk right out of these appointments. Or at the very least, refuse to go back.
Has something like this ever happened to you? Share the story with us in the comments!
