Your only exposure to therapy might be through TV and movies. In the past, these depictions were mostly limited to crime and suspense (think The Sopranos or Silence of the Lambs). The Golden Age of Television has brought us a wonderful number of TV shows and movies that show mental health issues from a much less stigmatizing and more humanizing perspective (such as Netflix’s Atypical). But these are still meant for entertainment and the therapist is usually only shown when the client is super-dramatized or the therapist has done something wrong, thereby creating a plot device for the character with mental illness (such as Netflix’s Thirteen Reasons Why and Atypical).
It makes sense, then, that therapy isn’t shown at all for folks whose issues aren’t entertaining enough for prime time. Just like a legal drama doesn’t show young associates clicking through document review for hours on end and medical dramas don’t show doctors filling out paperwork before bed, TV shows and movies aren’t going to show a therapist working with a high functioning client who just wants to improve their quality of life a little bit. And yet, those clients are the most common clients.
The confusion actually lies in the idea of what therapy is, rather than what “crazy” looks like. The same techniques that help a client who loses their job because they’re too scared to leave their house can also help a client who is doing just fine but wants to lessen their mild social anxiety so they can take on new tasks at work. But the stigma of being someone who “needs help” can be so strong that it can prevent people from checking out their options.
Fortunately, things are changing. Mental health is becoming a more common topic of conversation and interest. There can be downsides to this interest. For example, even though Netflix’s show Thirteen Reasons Why gave a huge platform for people to discuss mental health, it also gave a harmfully inaccurate depiction of depression, especially for the impressionable teenage audience. The upside, however, is that it is becoming easier than ever to access therapy and that allows clients to hopefully find a better therapeutic fit, which has shown to make up as much 40% of the success of psychotherapy.