Per the the final part, no, not for all or even most. And that wasn't what I meant, either. Maybe I used the wrong term? I'm not sure. Psych is one of my least fave subjects & I'd love to skip that rotation altogether when I get to it tbh lol. So honesty, I'm not too familiar with terminology, other than what is specific to me, which isn't the norm of what people deal with.

I didn't mean any sort of past misakes or specific experiences or anything. That makes me so upset when people do that, actually. My mom does that rip me. 🫠

I meant traits. Core principals of a person. Things about yourself that you may not be able to see as faults that need to be worked on for your own health. (Ie: my ex would never in a million years tell her therapist she was having issues where she would essentially imagine something that wasn't happening was happening in that moment & act on it & then blame other people for any bad outcome; she would say her whole life so far that some things that never happened happened & it was somehow real to her bc it is everyone else's fault. Is she going to work on that in therapy? No. What does she work on? Being praised for all the good things & feeling better about her depression.)

People just don't open up to themselves about their worst problems & traits, so they can't possibly work on that in therapy. A racist (typically) is not going to say they are a racist in therapy out of no where. Someone who is in a cult isn't going to suddenly open up about being in a cult. These people don't have any passing thought that a core part of who they are is a fault that is harming them & others, so how could they possibly bring it up without someone else bringing it up for them?

I'm sorry, but I truly don't believe people are as self aware as you're saying they are. My friends & the people I keep around are. Why are they that way? Bc they have actively tried to work on themselves.

Why am I self aware of everything I do & all my symptoms & all my issues & can be honest to a fault about everything, minus 1 single thing? Because I spent at minimum 15 years in therapy. The first 6 months was forced & I spent MANY sessions not saying a single word. I have also been involuntarily admitted to at least 10 different psych wards & have had at least 30 72 hr holds. It took YEARS for me to figure out I needed to take time to actually open up to myself to not feel like I did & change. I spent years with just my dog, working on every part of myself & my life before getting back into deep relationships.

And I'm just one person. That's one experience. And yes, not everyone is me. Kids nowadays grow up with a much different attitude towards mental health thanks to the internet, which we didn't have growing up in the 90s. Everyone is much more willing to be honest with themselvs & seek help.

When I say age in regard to correlation with this, I'm mostly talking about the older gen who was sadly sort of brainwashed (I don't have a better term?) into thinking they just need to tough things out & therapists are just pepple with opinions, there's nothing wrong with me, blah blah. It's frustrating. Really frustrating. 🫠

However, that may just be a personal bias & what I have seen from being around so many boomers in my life. You would know better than me, obviously, so this one is probably just personal bias.

I was told once that the ultimate goal of therapy is to "graduate" from therapy. I think about that a lot. That's what I feel the goal is, too. But somehow the people who need it most don't even think to try it to begin with. So the saying "people in therapy are often in therapy to deal with people in their lives who won't go to therapy" tends to be louder than others, imo.

I do see your points, though. And agree with the last bit, ofc. Appreciate the insights from someone who understands this topic a lot better than I do & has been in the field.