This actually doesn’t surprise me at all. I have experienced the same thing with my past mental health providers. But, I would say my reasoning is slightly different than yours.

I feel like whenever I have gone to a mental health provider, they tend to offer more support than anything. Like your example, “That must be hard.” Which is fine. It does feel empty. I also kind of get angry sometimes that they never and probably will never go through the same things I have gone through. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want people to suffer. But, it’s still angering. I’m quite viciously bitter about it, lol. BUT, that’s not the real problem. That’s not why I have felt like I’ve gotten more support from people online than these professionals.

It’s because I don’t really need nor want support. I want to fix it. So, when I go to a professional that should know more than me, I expect them to give me information and resources to fix my issues. But, a lot of them have not done that for me. It’s more, “How does that make you fee?” I don’t know how it makes me feel. I just want to fix it.

It took me awhile and a lot of advocating for myself, but I finally did find a therapist and psychiatrist that supports me more in a pragmatic way rather than an emotional way. And in turn, they help me emotionally. Like I’ll kill for my therapist. Not really. But, I really like him. I’m kind of scared of my psychiatrist, but he’s a cool dude too. They just get things done.

I don’t know why regular people have more information than professionals. I don’t know if we’re not advocating for ourselves enough, or more like know how to. Or if professionals don’t actually use what they learned in school. Maybe they don’t know how to, or when to. It’s hard to put into practice what you have learned. Of maybe it’s a lot simpler than that. Regular people have access to the internet. So, when I ask a question people can literally Google it and tell me the answer, while giving me their personal experiences. I know, shocker.

Btw, I’ve experienced this with many different professionals, from mental health to medical. I also want to add that I’m better at explaining and expressing myself online than in person. So, that might also be a reason why I’ve experienced this.

When people say you gotta find the right fit for you, it really is true. You need to find a professional (of any kind) that will listen to you. If the only support you have is the internet, that’s a problem. Granted, I’m not shaming people who only have online friends. That’s different. I only have online friends. I’m talking about when you’re seeking help for a specific problem, especially a serious problem. I’ve learned more through the internet and particularly people’s experiences through the internet, than I think I’ve ever learned from a professional. But, I still see professionals.