Mental Health Intersects With Everything. Including Misinformation And Polarisation.
An interview with a psychotherapist on where to get started.
The pandemic has been tough on our mental health, whether we consider ourselves mentally ill or as having a disorder. Or ‘normal’, whatever the hell that means.
This point is driven home each time I do a workshop on dealing with misinformation. Inevitably, the questions also turn to how we respond to questionable information, rumour, propaganda and hate speech. Which leads to the state of our minds.
Not enough time has been spent on researching the effects of misinformation on people who are dealing with anxiety, depression, phobias, disorders and conditions. Or the effects on people who don’t have any named condition but are still struggling.
I thought it was time we did a Q&A with a therapist with the most basic questions I could think of. Such as:
When do I know I need professional help with therapy?
Is therapy only for those who are mentally ill?
What sort of help do those who don’t fall in the spectrum of mental illness need?
How many different types of therapy are there?
Is counselling just another name for therapy?
Can you ‘force’ your loved one to go into therapy?
And so on.
I spoke with Varkha Chulani, who wears three hats. She’s a psychotherapist, a clinical psychologist and an enablement expert. She patiently answered all my questions in great detail. I think you will find this a useful and illuminating conversation.