this post was submitted on 12 May 2026
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me_irl
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Therapists are grifters. Imagine if real doctors said "only you can cure your own cancer". If they don't solve health issues then what are they for? "So what is your biggest struggle? Cancer? And why do you think that is? That'll be 70€, see you next week."
Good doctors do tell their patients to eat better and get exercise to address a massive amount of issues. The patient has to put all the work in.
Not neglecting general self-care is entirely separate from fighting mental illness. Imagine if someone had a brain tumour and their neurosurgeon told them they had to "put all the work in" to challenge their body's sickness. It's a pretty ridiculous mindset to have when someone's physiology is literally preventing them from doing that without external help. Why even bother giving the time of day to a practitioner if their advice directly implies that their suffering is entirely their fault?
Ok but now consider a physical therapist telling you that the reason your body hurts is because you're sitting and moving wrong or because you lost strength after an injury and offering you training during appointments and exercises you need to do to fix it. If you say "this is your job to fix not mine" you're just going to stay incapacitated.
Hell, cardiologists love giving homework. Not just general self care, but diet plans specific exercises, regular tracking, shit like that. A lot of doctors have recommendations and instructions, and while they can do more, prognosis is largely influenced by patient willingness to engage in treatment plans.
You keep focusing on life and death physical conditions. Most therapy is not about life and death issues.
See, this is the problem with the average person's understanding of people who get therapy. For them, it is a matter of life and death. They wouldn't be going to therapy if they felt otherwise. An illness like depression, bipolar disorder or even general anxiety can be just as valid and severe as any cancer or disease. Please reconsider the inherently fallacious standpoint you're following of categorizing mental issues as less severe than physical ones. It's incredibly harmful.
Cancer is not always something under your control. Your behavior, mostly, is your own, barring organic issues or not being of sound mind. Your choices, mostly, are your own.
Coping skills can be learned. But just as a teacher can’t learn the material and create your own competency with that material, through practice, a therapist can’t cure you.
Teacher is probably the closest analogy for a therapist.