[stagbeetle]

It could be argued that Aaron was in the prime position to dish out mental health advice, being a sufferer of mental illness. Compare that to mental health professionals who, while educated and more knowledgeable than your average joe about mental health, might not have first-hand insight on practical coping strategies that actually work (as opposed to some of the "let's talk about it -- we're out of time, here's a script").

[wilsonnb]

I don't think that would be a very convincing argument. At best, he would know strategies that helped him personally. A mental health professional would know strategies that help many people cope and have some idea of how to match different strategies to different people and situations.

First hand experience is valuable but the idea that it can't be translated effectively into second/third hand experience by trained professionals is misguided.

[stagbeetle]

It is not that it cannot be translated into knowledge by professionals, it's that they'll never be able to comprehend what exactly is going on unless they've also suffered from mental illness. I can tell you how to catch a fish, because I've read all of the books on catching fish. I've watched fishing tournaments, and I've even helped people get into fishing. But I've never fished before. I won't be able to tell you how to really work the line. I can fill in the gaps, but it's usually not as effective as first-hand account.

There's also the other side that most trained professionals are not equipped to handle serious cases. The lack of literature on quality-of-life increasing treatments for serious illnesses (major depressives, schizophrenics, etc.) is another factor. Most professionals get their information second-hand from textbooks and their education. Then secondly, from practice. Where as the first-hand experience of mental illness is the primary source of practical guidelines for those who suffer from them.

There's also the statistic that around 60% of people with mental illness don't get or stop getting treatment. With schizophrenics and more serious sufferers being on the tail end of that.

[wilsonnb]

>It is not that it cannot be translated into knowledge by professionals, it's that they'll never be able to comprehend what exactly is going on unless they've also suffered from mental illness.

This sentence reads to me like "It's not that professionals can't effectively use other peoples first hand experience , it's that they can't effectively use other peoples first hand experience".

They don't need to know exactly what's going on. It's impossible for anyone to ever know exactly what is going on in another person's mind. Psychology as a profession is completely useless if that's the bar for it being useful.

I apologize if my response comes off as aggressive, but I strongly believe that propagating the idea that mental health professionals can't really help people is dangerous for those that would benefit from their help.

[stagbeetle]

>This sentence reads to me like "It's not that professionals can't effectively use other peoples first hand experience , it's that they can't effectively use other peoples first hand experience".

It was reinforcing the point you were disagreeing with. They can make use of it, but not efficient use of it.

>They don't need to know exactly what's going on. It's impossible for anyone to ever know exactly what is going on in another person's mind. Psychology as a profession is completely useless if that's the bar for it being useful.

To use anecdotes: I've seen assistance from friend's and loved ones, who've experienced first-hand the illness, to have a more profound effect on the quality-of-life and recovery of the person suffering, than the average medical professional (psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, etc. ranked in their own groups). There are some astounding medical professionals out there that will definitely be very helpful in getting someone "back on track," but in my experience, they're never covered under your average joe's insurance. That leaves the bulk of available professionals' quality to be lack-luster, and arguably, a waste of time -- even detrimental in some specific cases.

The bar for doctor involvement and vested interest is nearing the ground, in the U.S.A. Unless surgery or extremely specialized treatment is needed (chemotherapy, gene therapy, etc.), you'll almost always get better care doing the research and treatment yourself.

>I apologize if my response comes off as aggressive, but I strongly believe that propagating the idea that mental health professionals can't really help people is dangerous for those that would benefit from their help.

And I believe if you don't first become aware of shortcomings, you'll never be able to fix problems. And mental health treatment, as an industry, has a lot of problems.