Technology has opened up a lot of opportunities as far as getting help is concerned. There are a lot of resources out there that didn't exist 15 years ago when I was having my (pretty terrible) experience with therapy.
** This is a continuation of this post: Commercialized mental health
Previously I covered a lot of the dark side of the mental health industry...
Here I intend to go over 3 of my favorite offerings in the mental health realm available right now, in reverse order.
All of these things are available remotely (IE. you don't have to go anywhere in particular to use them), and are available through the use of technology. These might have a bit of a skew towards business/career fulfillment as well, which is kind of a side effect of our careers being a big part of our lives and general fulfillment.
Anyways, without further ado... Let's dive right into it.
#3 - BetterHelp (or other)
This is an app usable through either mobile (playstore/presumably ios) or website. It is basically the same idea as the mobile doctor apps that are out there, and are a remote version of traditional therapy. The benefit of this is that you can kind of set your own terms and easily get into contact with the type of therapist that would be beneficial for you.
You can be in constant contact with your therapist this way, and also have video/phone sessions with them that are basically the same as you would in person.
You also have the option to switch therapists pretty readily if for whatever reason you're unhappy with them. i.e. you run into one of the problems from my last post, or there is something about the way that they operate that doesn't agree with you. I actually switched my therapist before I even had any activity on there because the first one they matched me with was someone who just wanted to text back and forth with me and I wanted to actually speak with someone.
Pros:
Direct contact with therapist
Outside help -- Not 100% internal motivation for change
Inexpensive compared to traditional therapy sessions
Every counselor on the app is qualified for this purpose
Cons:
Expensive compared to other options here
Possible consistency issues with quality of help depending on the person you're matched with
Link:
BetterHelp
#2 - Self help Books (Specifically a couple of titles)
This is a free option in a lot of circumstances. I am a big fan of Zlibrary for this sort of stuff, because there should always be a way for people who may not have the financial means to be able to get the information to be able to improve themselves.
There is all the information in the world out there as far as how to improve yourself available in this format (or, more loosely, on the internet -- but there's more ability to sift through who you're getting the information from if you go through books).
There are a couple of specific ones that I find helpful with regards to my mental health, and they are:
From Panic to Power; By Lucinda Bassett
This book is pretty good as far as having actionable techniques for dealing with Anxiety, which seems to be one of the big issues for people (especially young people) today.
The perfect day formula; By Craig Ballantyne
This one is all about planning how to effectively use your time, and also touches on adding gratitude as a part of your daily routine -- which is something that is well researched to help with happiness (and is one of the staples of the self-help industry in general)
There are also tons of other options available on Zlibrary for free, though I definitely recommend looking to learn about the authors before sinking your time into reading a whole book.
Pros:
Free or cheap help
You can focus in on one aspect of your life that you'd like to improve and target it directly
You can be very particular about who you're getting your advice from based on the author and reviews of their work.
Cons:
Time consuming to go through the content
Content is very dry -- little-no engagement other than note taking/exercises in the books
Reliant on being self motivated to do the work
Link to Zlibrary (at least one mirror):
Z-Library open library
#1 - Self-Authoring Suite
This is kind of the crown jewel of this topic. It's basically the best of both worlds between self-help and doing therapy. Designed by a group of clinical and research psychologists headed by the rather well known Jordan Peterson out of University of Toronto, this was designed to solve the problem of consistency in the treatment of mental health through standard therapy.
Basically, you can get world class, well researched and goal oriented therapy through this suite. It is more or less a group of guided writing exercises, much like you would get with a good therapist. The format might be different when compared with speaking with someone, but it is a great way to handle the situation.
The only real downfall is the same as the books: It's limited by your own motivation to do it. If you get the suite and then never do anything with it, then you're obviously not going to see any results.
I've personally had some pretty big breakthroughs mentally due to this suite though.
It has a low cost of $30 USD, and actually they have a 2 for 1 special so if you were to get it in conjunction with someone else it'd end up being $15 a person. I personally gave the second copy to my mother, since I can't think of anyone in the world who could use it more (Sadly she hasn't taken ANY action whatsoever with it, but that is something out of my control at this point).
Pros:
Well researched help based on the clinical practices of renowned psychiatrists and professors of psychiatry
Very goal oriented and directed to help you to get through the thought processes
relatively low cost, cheaper than a single session with pretty much any therapist (At least in the USA)
Accessible anywhere in the world via the internet
Cons:
Potentially could have issues if the website were to go down or be attacked or otherwise they were to decide to discontinue the service
Requires internet connection to use
Still bound by self motivation
Not as good as getting the same care person to person
There's a bunch more information on what this program is all about on their website:
Link:
Self-authoring Suite
Between the three of these things, I think that there is something to help anyone who might be struggling with anxiety, unhappiness, or discontent with their life.
What do you think of these resources? Are there any others that would also be worth mentioning?
Thanks for reading -- Stay saucey
- Guurg
P.S.
This is part 2 out of a 3 part series:
Pt 1: Commercialized mental health
Pt 2: Therapy in the modern day
Pt 3: A crisis of purpose
Cover Photo Source:
Unsplash - Jeremy P