Psychologists Debunk 25 Mental-Health Myths

Business Insider asked three clinical psychologists to debunk 25 of the most common myths about mental health and therapy. They explain that schizophrenia is not about having multiple personalities and that obsessive-compulsive disorder is not just about being neat. They also delve into therapy — explaining that it’s not like having a paid friend and that it doesn’t last forever.

0:00 Intro
0:27 People with schizophrenia have multiple personalities
0:47 All “neat freaks” have OCD
1:23 Bipolar disorder is just mood swings
1:51 Anxiety is just getting stressed out
2:48 Being depressed is the same as being sad
3:27 Depression is not a real illness
4:12 Talking about depression just makes it worse
4:57 Depression is always tied to one event
5:22 Only women get depressed
5:53 Antidepressants and mood stabilizers change your personality
6:32 Antidepressants always cure depression
6:55 Bad parenting causes mental illness
7:27 Being gay or transgender is a mental illness
8:31 Gun violence in the US is a mental-health issue
9:06 All people exposed to trauma will have PTSD
10:01 Everyone who experiences loss is devastated
10:49 There are five stages of loss
11:31 Myers-Briggs personality tests are reliable
12:24 Therapy is about dredging up the past
13:20 Therapy is like having a paid friend
13:48 Therapy is for the weak
14:07 Therapists force you to discuss devastating events
14:59 Therapists encourage you to take medication
15:45 Therapy is for life
16:33 Only wealthy people can afford helpful therapy

MORE MYTHS DEBUNKED CONTENT:
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Psychologists Debunk 25 Mental Health Myths

[timatou]

The man who said that those seeking therapy are actually some of the strongest people really touched my heart. All my life I was never called strong but rather weak.
Edit: It's happy yet sad at the same time that this comment resonated with so many people😥.But hey at least we all now know that we are not alone❤
Edit2:Hi, me again, I just wanted to thank you guys for all your words of encouragement, I'm now doing way better than before and moving on with my life. I really hope everyone of you is feeling way better now. Sorry if I'm making mistakes, I'm actually from a french speaking subsaharian african country (I'm not american), so english isn't my first language.

[camillesadventures]

i wish they talked about eating disorders because there's a lot of misconceptions about them

[audreymoyers]

One of the strangest feelings I’ve had is not wanting to do something I know I will enjoy.
I don’t think people who haven’t experienced it can understand.

[samanthacarrasco]

Finally. Someone said it. Sometimes you do feel relief when someone passes who you had an awful relationship with. I think more people need to hear that than "you're going to regret not making up with X before they die."

[Chantwizzle]

Can we talk about "thinking positive will cure you". I have a physical disability, and because of that I was diagnosed with depression. People continue to tell me "if you just think positively you won't need medication. You're just sad." Yes. I am mourning my former self, and I do get sad. But I'm not "just sad". People don't take mental health issues seriously because the terms are part of pop culture and regular speech. Also, if you need help and can't afford therapy, there are student therapists that work for lower rates.

[lalakuma]

I don't think that women have a greater tendency to become depressed. But I do think that women have a greater tendency to REPORT the fact that they are depressed. A lot of men are still ashamed to talk about their emotions or seek mental help, so their depression go undetected and they might act out violently or in a self-destructive way as it gets worse.

[DestinyBlossom]

I had a BetterHelp therapist tell me there’s 5 stages of grief and I couldn’t figure out which one I was in cause I didn’t fit in any category. Hearing that it’s a myth is such a relief. I thought I wasn’t normal for feeling different about my fathers death.

[jasminejustice]

I would like to point out that “bad parenting” can, indeed, cause mental illness. It’s not a secret that childhood trauma, especially trauma caused by parental figures, can alter the actual structure and function of the brain; during development and then presenting throughout the rest of your life, if not addressed. It literally alters your perception of everything; you’re basically indoctrinated by abuse/neglect.
This is one of the reasons I actually developed PTSD and OCD - I’ve experienced mental/emotional, physical, and sexual abuse from my parental figures and I know I’m not alone in these experiences. I think it was quite shifty to just casually gloss over the reality of bad parenting and not elaborate on such an important/serious topic.

[irtap]

I'm a psychologist. It bothers me a lot that psychological terms have made it to popular culture, and that's been happening for decades, for example the word idiot or histerical. Lately, it's OCD, or PTSD. I'm not a native English speaker and I can't judge, but same might be happening around anxiety (which is indeed not the same as stress or being nervous or afraid). It's dangerous because it invalidates people with mental disorders. I'd be happy if people at least understood the definition of mental disorder, which is, "(...) These symptoms must cause the individual clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning". If whatever you are experiencing doesn't fit with that, then you cannot use a clinical term for it. You're not depressed, you're sad/down. You don't have OCD, you just like to organise/clean.

[PatchworkRose]

I always told myself that I wouldn’t go and tell a stranger about my personal problems, and then my anxiety relapsed and debilitated me back in April. I now go to a therapist and it has helped me get my life back and learn how to tackle my anxiety and panic. You aren’t weak for going to therapy, you are strong for accepting something is wrong and wanting to change and fix it.

[vanshika]

I'm a psychology student and I just lost my mom to covid. I agree with them. I feel relived that she passed away. The pain I saw her in is something which still haunts me when I'm alone in my thoughts and I can't even imagine how she would have lived with the way she was affected by the virus.
But so many people say "oh you're not crying" "Oh such a strong girl who doesn't cry at her mothers death" No that's not true. I'm devasted to have lost my best friend of a mother. But I'm happy too. I'm happy she's past the pain and hopefully living a smashing afterlife up there. Losing a mother isn't easy, especially so suddenly and when you have such a strong bond with her. But it's important to let go when you see your loved one in pain. And rather than crying, it makes you happy that your loved one isn't in any pain anymore. And that doesn't mean you're not bothered or you're "strong" or anything. It's just a way of coping with death, especially death of your loved one. It's your love which makes you happy and relived, not sad and gloomy. And as Vision once said "What is grief if not love persevering?"
(Though I do still understand those who cry in such situation. Their emotions are as valid as mine, it's just a difference in the way you accept death)

[Nemamka]

I love how he said "the people who are ready to look at themselves" are strong. And I love how they confirmed that everybody handles grief differently, and you shouldn't be shamed for _not_ being devastated over something. Somehow this little video helped me a lot to just go on today, thank you for sharing the knowledge!

[wescokubrick]

I wish my parents can understand that therapy is not a paid friend.


Edit: y’all stop contacting me about this comment. Literally made it a year ago and forgotten about it

[saltynoodles]

LOL THE FIRST WOMEN “LAURA” IS MY THEREPIST IRL

[elliesilver]

My parents actually were the main cause of my mental health issues. After hitting a wall with treatment I was finally diagnosed with PTSD and got the help I needed. I always thought it was my fault I was sick, but it wasn't.

[ELisa-qfmw]

Wow, as an Italian therapist I have to say that some of these "popular myths" actually imply a level of psychological culture in the general population that is beyond imagination here in Italy at the moment. Maybe it's also because clinical practice itself tends to put much less emphasis on diagnostic labels than in the USA culture (and I think this is not a bad thing itself), a lot of people have never heard about "OCD" or "Myers Briggs" at all, they just think therapy is for weak crazy wrecks who enjoy paying a scammer for not doing anything or for manipulating them, and they morally despise both therapists and their clients. The difference between psychologist, psychiatrist and all those pseudo-professionals who pose as therapists after a year of weird seminars with exotic-sounding names is unknown, with obviously harmful outcomes on people's health and chances to get proper treatment. Still a long way to go, but each time a new client says "I used to think I would never come to therapy but XY told me about their experience", or I bump into a young client on the street and they greet me and go "that's my therapist!" to their friend, I feel there is hope.

[marsyedid]

bad parenting *can* cause mental illness in a child but as we grow older we cannot use that for others to accept our bad habits or actions. The psychologist should've been more clear... As kids we don't know our parents are harming us emotionally until we get older and it does take a couple of years to heal from the mental abuse. I'd rather have less questions in a video if they go into detail about the question. He answered it in 20 seconds and made it seem like parents didn't mean abuse you mentally/emotionally. Insider should be more careful on how questions like this are answered- one day the wrong person will see a video like this and will justify a wrong doing.

[lailadobb]

I wished they talked about the spectrum (Autism, Tourettes, ADHD, Aspergers etc) there are SO many myths about it! As someone with Aspergers and my friends have variety of the spectrum.

[jacobjenkins]

Therapy should be just like going to the dentist, frequent check ups should be the norm

[ananya.a]

I disagree with this video when he said that bad parenting doesn't cause mental illnesses. People suffer for their entire lives from the scars given to them by their parents, and they become incapable of having healthy relationships because they never had one with their parents. Good parenting is extremely important, and I wish more and more people would realise that. Maybe that doctor has met an increasing number of parents ready to take responsibility (which is good), otherwise there are so many awful parents out there who are shameless about the kind of abuse they do to their children.