Is it a common occurence in the USA (as depicted in movies) for ordinary middle class people to have a shrink they visit regularly?

I don’t know of many,but there are alot I’d like to send to one ;)

Well, I have a psychiatrist that I go to for a legitimate medical condition, but I also have a therapist I go to in order to “get things off of my chest”.

Honestly? I don’t care what people think about me going to see a psychiatrist or a therapist – it helps me, and that’s all that I care about.

I can’t answer for America as a whole, but in my circle of friends it is generally accepted as normal. This is true in part because at my school they published the percentage of students who visited the psychological services at least once and it was off the charts—something ridiculously high. Once you have the proof that a lot of your friends have seen a therapist, it kind of becomes normal.

Another thing that has served to normalize therapy for me is that after major disruptive events, my schools (including my high school) have always had therapists on hand for students to talk to. So after 9–11-2001, after a kid at my school committed suicide, after a kid at my college committed suicide, after there were various campus deaths (car accidents, things like that) my schools either brought in therapists for students to talk to or made it clear that they were available. My dean at college even spoke with students one on one about the necessity of mental healthcare. If a student was doing poorly, she’d bring them into the office and try to figure out why. If it was metal health reasons, she’d recommend CAPS (the on campus service) or a few in town psychologists and psychiatrists for if you didn’t want to use CAPS. She was my academic advisor and I found when she checked on how I felt emotionally and socially about the school to be incredibly endearing and supportive.

Mental health is like any other healthcare—if the cost is a concern, there is always a way to get around that. If you attend a college, there is usually some form of free care available to you. If you do not, but live in an area with a therapist degree program, you can still make inexpensive or free appointments, usually.

At the same time as all of this, I have a friend who I believe found it preferable for others to assume she was abusing prescription medications than actually explain she was on an antidepressant. So clearly there are still people who feel it is stigmatized. I’m not sure which way the majority of America trends, but I suspect it falls more towards the stigmatized, but that therapy is becoming less and less stigmatized all the time.

No. The middle class people I know see therapists for when your mental state needs specific care – and I live in NYC, supposedly the capital of such stuff. Woody Allen has a lot to answer for, but he portrays the lives of the idle upper classes. Perhaps they use therapy that way, but not the people I know.

Getting stuff of your chest? That’s what your pals are for, at least in my experience. Life coaching is a different phenomenon entirely, and meant for when you want to do something specifically to help you make more money or start dating (or re-enter the dating world after a divorce) or eat better, or something along those lines.

I was in therapy for a total of four years, and it was specifically for PTSD.

Never been to one, although I’m sure there are plenty of people who would reccomend it for me. I’m just concerned I’d cause the shrink harm.

My then-girlfriend saw the school psychiatrist when we were in college, for social anxiety problems. My most recent ex-g/f and her son saw a therapist together to work on issues with his behavioral problems. My sister has seen a therapist due to depression (she tried OD’ing on pills a couple years ago).

I don’t know that I’d call it “common”, but I certainly wouldn’t call it uncommon.

In my own experience, it’s relatively uncommon. I’ve consulted a clinical psychologist only once in my life, and he was already a friend of mine.

I don’t think anyone goes to a shrink just for relaxation; it’s just too costly. Most insurance companies ae pretty strict about what they will fund. I don’t have any numbers about the proportion of people in the US who go for therapy, but I would hazard a guess that it is quite a small proportion.

Depending on how many ordinary middle class people have mental problems. Its their lives. If someone feels better speaking with a therapist, thats good for them. Anyone that frowns upon that can go stick something rather large up their ass.

By the way, good for anyone that has the courage to see a therapist. I know too many people with real problems that need treated, but are too afraid to even schedule an appointment because of judgment.

@meagan That is a good point about the judgemental aspect. I’m sure that deters some people that should be going for help.

Not where I come from. I don’t know anyone that goes to a shrink. The image we “country folk” have is that it is required if you live in LA. Unless you are suffering from some huge car wreck of a life changing event you handle these issues yourself.

Well, with a personal accounting of the thirty or so middle-class people I can think of that I know well enough where I’d consider my knowledge of their visiting a shrink likely, I’d have to say it’s uncommon (or at least a lot less common than the movies would have you believe). In fact, I can’t recall any of them, off the top of my head, having ever been to one. And speaking for myself, I can’t envision ever scheduling a visit.

Whether one decides to visit a psychiatrist or psychologist in the United States seems to largely depend on whether this individual operates in a community of practice that is accepting or expecting of such therapies. For many, visiting a psychologist may be seen as a positive addition to their daily lives, particularly if they have enough disposable income and time to actually make the effort to engage in self-improving or healing therapies of the western variety. One might talk openly about this kind of therapy as they might a yoga or acupuncture session (which in the west, is viewed as an indicator of wealth and status and so thus an indicator of upward mobility among the middle class). On the other hand, because psychiatrists often prescribe medication for psychiatric disorders or other “dysfunctions”, in mainstream contexts at least, one is often less likely to advertise this fact due to the stigma of being ‘psychologically broken’. There are of course, those communities of practice which may extol the virtues of instability attendant in psychological disorders or imbalances, such as being diagnosed as bipolar disorder (mania), having certain forms of OCD, or even epilepsy which may be associated with brilliance, artistry, or even religious experiences.

When I came on the internet, it seemed incredibly common to me, but it doesn’t seem that common in real life. I don’t know anyone in real life who sees one regularly. But it does seem to be one of those things that is increasing over time. Whether that’s a good thing or not isn’t really clear. On one hand, the stigma of seeing one has been removed, however, on the other hand, it could indicate an increase in mental illness in this country and that doesn’t seem like a good thing to me. It could also indicate an increase in the perception of mental illnesses and disorders, which is an entirely different thing.

Whether one feels completely comfortable to regularly see a psychiatrist has to do with more than just their class – it also has to do with their gender, race and ethnicity. I would say that in the West the notion is welcomed.

@worriedguy beat me to it, but as the saying goes: you aren’t a true Angelino unless you go to the gym, use a cell phone and have a therapist. I’m 2 for 3, but I’m a native, so it doesn’t apply to me. ;)

In US people don’t see shrinks for just “life counseling” when they feel perfectly healthy. That would be a luxury health insurance wouldn’t cover. When people are stressed out enough and their life is messing up possibly because of it, neurosis, anxiety,—not major psychiatric illnesses —people see shrinks. This may be far more a city or suburban phenomenon than a small town or rural thing. Education and health insurance coverage are often factors.
Still that doesn’t make it common, just not uncommon.

A shrink is actually a Psychiatrist, which is someone that can prescribe medication. These people went to medical school and have obtained an MD. A psychologist, which is more common to see, is a person with a Doctorate (PhD or PsyD). They are the actual therapist whereas, shrinks simply prescribe medication.

People with what we call “severe mental disorders” (e.g. Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, Multiple Personality Disorder) need to be on medications, which they get from a “shrink”

People with more everyday problems, depression, anxiety, phobias, typically go to a psychologist. This is less expensive then the shrinks and the experience involves therapy, not meds. People with severe mental ailments also will be seeing a therapist.

The instance or “prevalence” of mental disorders hasn’t necessarily risen in the past decades. Now it is simply becoming more common to discuss your problems and realize you’re not permanently screwed up!

@Floyd “Shrink” is a slang term for any kind of therapist, be it a psychologist, psychiatrist, or counselor.

@MrItty @Floyd from “headshrinker”