7 ms·

I’ve wondered for a long time about crowdsourced “therapy” — a kind of it, anyway. I don’t want to just hear myself talk for an hour, which is usually what the

I’ve wondered for a long time about crowdsourced “therapy” — a kind of it, anyway. I don’t want to just hear myself talk for an hour, which is usually what therapy amounts to for me anyway. I want other perspectives. I want to hear other people whove been through what I’ve been through talking deeply and honestly about their lives. And I want enough perspectives that I can figure out for myself what modes of thinking, strategies, etc, I might make the most use of. The problem is most people are incredibly closed. Myself included. We don’t talk about our internal mental life as it relates to the outside world. Well, we do - but not with much transparency. And we don’t talk about our personal histories, our childhoods, our teenage years, etc. We don’t talk about the intimate details of our lives. (And we really shouldn’t; to be clear. Not in a way that can be traced back to us. Much of personal histories are deeply embarrassing.) And yet, we’re supposed to figure out on our own what’s normal and what isn’t. I feel like I’ve spent literally years learning things that other people figured out a long time ago. I’ve been thinking for a while about making a website that’s 100% anonymous (but moderated), but encourages people to write honestly about their own lives. No advice. It wouldn’t be about advice. It’d be only a repository of individual experiences. I feel like such a site, if done well, could be a real boon to people who are struggling to figure out life, as I was.

taneq 8y ago
Online forums are great for this. At various points in my life I've spent times on forums which provided exactly what you're talking about - a chance to talk openly and anonymously with other people who've faced the same challenges.
smt88 8y ago
There is a group model similar to what you describe called DBT, and it's a standard treatment for borderline personality disorder. It's been around for decades. It seems to be useful for many conditions.
serpix 8y ago
There can be no real connection without showing your own wounds. Your wounds also heal when you look into the eyes of another human telling you their fear and trauma with tears in their eyes. You connect with the experience of very humbling and deep empathy as the pain and feelings you share are the same. They are universal. You are not separate and you become to understand that you were never broken or incomplete or different. This is the power of sharing yourself with others. We are not here alone and were never supposed to figure thins out alone.
aizatto 8y ago
I built a platform for myself to think about life's deepest questions, and I've been going around asking people their questions. On my business cards are different set of questions, and here are some of the answers https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/189/business-cards-introduction/ https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/189/business-cards-i... So far I have 50,000+ questions, 3,600+ answers (mostly mine) The platform isn't about advice, it's about people answering the deep questions to themselves.
jm__87 8y ago
How would this help you, though? I would think for therapy to work, you have to go through the process of challenging your own unhelpful thoughts and beliefs and then act in a way to reinforce new thoughts and beliefs which are more useful. The therapist is someone who knows which questions to ask to help you with the first part (as well as provide emotional support), but the second part has to be done 100% by yourself. This is a very difficult thing to do. Just reading about other people's life challenges may help motivate you a little bit, but otherwise the hardest part is making the change yourself.

taneq 8y ago

Online forums are great for this. At various points in my life I've spent times on forums which provided exactly what you're talking about - a chance to talk openly and anonymously with other people who've faced the same challenges.

smt88 8y ago

There is a group model similar to what you describe called DBT, and it's a standard treatment for borderline personality disorder. It's been around for decades. It seems to be useful for many conditions.

serpix 8y ago

There can be no real connection without showing your own wounds. Your wounds also heal when you look into the eyes of another human telling you their fear and trauma with tears in their eyes. You connect with the experience of very humbling and deep empathy as the pain and feelings you share are the same. They are universal. You are not separate and you become to understand that you were never broken or incomplete or different. This is the power of sharing yourself with others. We are not here alone and were never supposed to figure thins out alone.

aizatto 8y ago

I built a platform for myself to think about life's deepest questions, and I've been going around asking people their questions. On my business cards are different set of questions, and here are some of the answers https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/189/business-cards-introduction/ https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/189/business-cards-i... So far I have 50,000+ questions, 3,600+ answers (mostly mine) The platform isn't about advice, it's about people answering the deep questions to themselves.

jm__87 8y ago

How would this help you, though? I would think for therapy to work, you have to go through the process of challenging your own unhelpful thoughts and beliefs and then act in a way to reinforce new thoughts and beliefs which are more useful. The therapist is someone who knows which questions to ask to help you with the first part (as well as provide emotional support), but the second part has to be done 100% by yourself. This is a very difficult thing to do. Just reading about other people's life challenges may help motivate you a little bit, but otherwise the hardest part is making the change yourself.