Though the current project started as a series of posts charting my grief journey after the death of my mother, I am no longer actively grieving. Now, the blog charts a conversation in living, mainly whatever I want it to be. This is an activity that goes well with the theme of this blog (updated 2018). The Sense of Doubt blog is dedicated to my motto: EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY. I promote questioning everything because just when I think I know something is concrete, I find out that it’s not.
Hey, Mom! The Explanation.
Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.
I thought with this post that I would take a minute and review recent blog stats.
I know a lot of these stats represent bots, especially when I see the last month stats shows over a million hits!
Deeper in it's possible to sift out the real people from the automatons.
This November stats line shows a big spike in activity Friday when I did not even have all my posts up yet for the week, but I did have Wednesdays post election post up.
This chart looks like it shows more actual readers or at least clickers because the post about Ellory leads all others by triple.
All these stats are from the last seven days.
Now, looking at the last 30 days, this is interesting.
What caused the huge spike in mid-October? Surely that's a ton of bots as I previously surmised.
But still, that's a ton of activity.
Again, looking at posts gives a better indication of actual readers based on what is popular.
Once again, the post with Ellory logged significant numbers for the month as did two of the Dracula posts. Music always charts well as shown here. It's interesting that "toxic multitasking" tops the list, surely because those words generate clicks. But it's tied with one of the Dracula posts. Speaking of clickbait, near death experiences, data centers, and revision all reaped some substantial numbers. What surprises me most is that the DC Universe time line post accumulated 272 views over the month.
Looking FOR THE YEAR, we see these posts earn high view counts:
These lists always surprise. It makes sense to see my Heroes post, the first ever on the blog, score highly both for being first and following the death of Hayden Panettiere. The "Burgers or Booty" post has always charted. However, what's with the student introductions post from my first Concordia Class? It's kinda cool to see the subway tunnels post earn so many views this year, but I am surprised to see the ambient music post earn so many views, especially since it was a reprint. And why is the Le Guin post far and away the most viewed post? That's a post from 2017. And I used an image of Vin from Mistborn long before I read it even the first time (and now I have read it again). I have no idea why this post is getting so many clicks. There's some cool music from Sound Cloud at the end of that post, so is that why?
It's great to see some comic book posts in the top ten for the year and some of those recent ones carried through.
Even though I am often reprinting or sharing or making a post with little original content, I like the daily discipline of posting something online via my blog.
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2611.07 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 4146 days ago & DAD = 800 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #4281 - Not Everyone Should be in Therapy? - I DISAGREE
Long before I decided to become a clinical mental health counselor and long before I was in therapy myself, I always said that EVERYONE should be in therapy.
It's very simple. One seeks medical care simply for routine maintenance of one's physical health. True, some people avoid the annual physical or even seeing a doctor and urgent care when they are ill. I wanted to say that most people get their annual physical; however, the numbers show actually only 20% of the adult population sees their doctor once a year, but 92% believe it is important or even necessary to see their doctor at least annually.
Following the same logic, would 92% of the population affirm that seeing a mental health specialist even semi-regularly is good for one's overall health? What does Gemini say?
There is no single universal statistic for how many Americans believe people should go to therapy, as surveys measure actual participation, personal use, and cultural attitudes differently:
Personal Use & Seeking Care: About 45% of U.S. adults say they have sought mental health care in the past, and 17% say they want to seek care in the future, according to data from the American Psychological Association. [1]
Recent Treatment Rates: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 14.0% of U.S. adults received counseling or therapy in 2024, while 19.3% took medication for mental health. [1]
Stigma and Hesitation: Cultural views remain mixed. For example, a widely cited survey reported that 47% of Americans viewed seeking therapy as a sign of weakness, while others avoided it because they felt they could handle problems alone or that their issues were not "big enough". [1, 2]
Demographic Differences: Acceptance and usage are much higher among younger generations—such as Gen Z, where 53% have sought professional mental health services and 87% report feeling comfortable discussing mental health. [1]
Okay, so not as many.
Everyone can benefit from therapy in much the same way as everyone can benefit from routine medical care for physical health.
However, the problem is access.
Mental health care providers have long wait lists or are closed to new clients. Even people with SERIOUS mental health disorders may find it difficult to receive any care let alone regular care. Access varies by location, surely. However, tele-health has significantly increased the number of people receiving mental health care. Google's Gemini again has answers:
Telehealth has significantly expanded overall access to psychotherapy and mental health services in the U.S., driving up the total number of people seeking care while changing how treatment is delivered. [1, 2]
Impact on Overall Therapy Use
Higher Overall Numbers: The percentage of U.S. adults receiving outpatient psychotherapy increased from about 6.5% in 2018 to roughly 8.5%–10.5% in subsequent years following the rapid adoption of teletherapy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. [1]
Current Distribution of Care: According to research published in JAMA Psychiatry, outpatient mental health care is now split across modalities:
50.6% of patients use in-person care alone.
27.8% use telehealth (video or phone) alone.
21.5% use a hybrid approach (combining in-person and telehealth visits). [1]
Dominance in Behavioral Health: Telehealth visits remain heavily concentrated in mental health. Behavioral health appointments consistently account for a majority (over 50%) of all telehealth claims across many health systems and insurance networks. [1]
Who Has Benefited Most
Convenience and Reduced Barriers: Telehealth removes travel time, cuts down on transportation hurdles (which are linked to a 2.4x higher likelihood of telehealth use among those with transit issues), and lowers social stigma. [1, 2]
Demographic and Socioeconomic Gaps: While total numbers are up, access via telehealth has grown faster among specific groups. Studies show that teletherapy use is higher among:
Younger adults (ages 18–44) compared to older adults
Women compared to men
Individuals with higher income, private insurance, and college-level education
Urban residents compared to rural residents (who often face broadband and digital literacy hurdles) [1, 2]
Mild-to-Moderate vs. Severe Conditions: People dealing with mild-to-moderate psychological distress or receiving psychotherapy from counselors and social workers use telehealth at higher rates than those with severe, chronic psychiatric conditions, who often require more intensive, in-person clinical management. [1, 2]
And yet, there are still not enough therapists to go around.
Does this mean we should dissuade people from seeking mental health care? Absolutely not.
It simply means we need more clinical mental health counselors and the jobs for them to fill, the money to pay their salaries, the means for them to accumulate and see clients on a regular basis.
The solution is not to dissuade people who wish to be in therapy to lighten the load of overworked and burned out therapists. The solution is more therapists and more medical providers in general because everyone needs to see medical providers.
Given that seeing a therapist is met with stigma, the majority of the population is NOT seeking therapy, so the solution to convince some people that they do not need therapy for loneliness, struggles at work, or social isolation is incorrect and actually counter to the mandate of mental health counselors who are supposed to ADVOCATE for mental health.
Another argument Lieberman levies in the New York Times opinion column shared below is that unhappiness can be better treated by making social connections rather than therapy.
However, frequently, people complain about a needy friend dumping on them with a cry of "tell it to your therapist."
It's true that unhappiness is not a mental health disorder and that not everyone experiencing anxiety and stress has Generalized Anxiety Disorder, but that argument implies that everyone seeking therapy truly has a mental health diagnosis, which is a problem in and of itself. The DSM-5 is a great tool to consider criteria and how they may apply to clients and a necessary tool for convincing insurance to pay for therapy, but confining human psyches to little boxes is extremely flawed as is the expected process to diagnose someone after a short in-take before therapy actually begins rather than AFTER a dozen or more sessions when the picture is clearer.
Lieberman makes a case for the dearth of counselors, but his conclusion for what to do about it is wrong. He writes the opinion article below in weird lunge and fade weave in which he makes claims about the importance of therapy and how everyone can get something out of therapy while at the same time suggesting that therapy is really for people who have persistent and intrusive thoughts that they cannot control and other similar issues.
The word "health" in mental health seems to imply that the goal is for everyone to be healthy, a goal that cannot be realized without therapy. At least that's what I hope because I have hitched my wagon to that career.
Dr. Lieberman is a psychologist and a founder of the Institute for Community Living, a social services organization.
As a clinical psychologist with over 50 years of experience,
I know that therapy can be essential. A person with persistent intrusive
thoughts can learn ways to reduce their intensity. Someone in an acute crisis
can hear a perspective that helps steady his or her thinking.
But I hear from former patients and colleagues that people
are often turning to therapy not because of disordered thoughts, but because of
difficult circumstances: loneliness, conflicts at work, financial strain.
Therapy seems to have become the default prescription for all forms of
unhappiness.
Anyone who simply needs a listener may get something out of
therapy. But when every struggle is routed toward a professional, we risk
mistaking mental health issues that require treatment for problems of isolation
or circumstance.
Unhappiness is often not a disorder, but a structural
condition. In 2023, the U.S. surgeon general identified loneliness and social
isolation as urgent public health concerns. He pointed to an erosion of
everyday social connection as a central cause, yet much of the response has
focused on expanding clinical access rather than rebuilding relational life. In
2019, about one in 10 American adults reported receiving counseling or therapy.
By 2024, that figure had risen to roughly one in seven.
The cracks in the clinical system are beginning to show. In many regions, therapy wait lists
stretch for months, and clinicians report burnout. Patients with the most
disabling conditions are left competing for the limited time, and those who are
primarily seeking friendship and connection may leave feeling disappointed.
Part of the confusion lies in what therapy reliably
provides. When it is effective, it often helps with persistent problems that
come from within: obsessive thoughts that return no matter how often you try to
dismiss them, fears that repeatedly damage relationships, periods of despair
that continue even when life circumstances improve. Therapy can be especially
useful when people’s habits deepen their suffering, or when painful experiences
remain difficult to make sense of alone. But when distress is shaped primarily
by situational difficulties or the absence of community, therapy may not be the
best fit.
Consider a few situational difficulties: child care
frustrations, anxiety after relocating to a new place, a family dispute.
Sometimes, these problems can affect thinking in ways that therapy can help
resolve. But on their own, these issues do not necessarily require clinical
intervention. They can be painful without reflecting a disorder.
Some people would say that a therapist’s consistent, neutral
perspective would help anyone. It’s true that many people benefit from having a
place to think and to be heard, and from a therapist’s disciplined attention.
But therapy’s tools are limited.
In my own practice, I helped patients understand their
problems in a new light — but those insights could go only so far if their
circumstances remained unchanged. Some who came in after a life crisis told me
that after a few sessions, they began reconnecting with friends and family,
seeking support they had not known how to ask for during the crisis. Looking
back, I suspect that restoring those connections often mattered as much as
anything we discussed in my office.
All around us, more of what was once understood as part of
life has come to be seen as something requiring treatment. Psychiatrists
including Allen Frances, who led the task force that developed an earlier
version of psychiatry’s diagnostic manual, have warned of “diagnostic
inflation.” Prolonged grief now has its own diagnostic category. Newer
diagnoses that were intended, in part, to reduce the overdiagnosis of childhood
bipolar disorder may also place more childhood behavior, such as tantrums, on
the spectrum of mood disorders.
As the boundary blurs between a disabling disorder and
ordinary distress, people may start to view their suffering through a clinical
lens. But often, distress functions less as a symptom than as a signal. Feeling
anxious does not mean you have an anxiety disorder. It could point to
circumstances that are worth changing.
Before turning to therapy, consider reaching out to someone
you trust, volunteering, joining a community activity or reconnecting with a
group that once mattered to you. Meaningful relationships rarely develop
overnight, but those are all small steps toward deep connections. Sometimes
hope arrives before companionship does. If your distress continues to interfere
with daily life and relationships, therapy may be the right next step.
Rebuilding relationships should not fall entirely on
individuals, but also on schools, workplaces and governments. Britain has
treated loneliness through a national strategy that includes a “social prescribing” program, a model designed to provide
patients with personalized care plans that connect them to community groups and
volunteer opportunities. Japan established an Office for Policy on Loneliness
and Isolation that has supported community-based efforts to address social
disconnection.
In the United States, states or counties could adopt a
similar approach; many of the institutions that shape social connection —
libraries, schools, recreation programs — are organized and supported locally.
Government agencies could help communities measure loneliness, identify groups
at greater risk and support outreach efforts that connect residents to existing
resources. The challenge is often not creating new opportunities for
connection, but helping isolated people discover and participate in the ones
that already exist.
The psychologist William Schofield once described
psychotherapy as “the purchase of friendship.” More than 60 years later, his
words ring true: Modern societies have formalized the practice of receiving
someone’s sustained attention. For some people, therapy can help in ways
nothing else can. But many will find that the best forms of understanding and
emotional support flow from informal networks of relatives, neighbors and
friends, not the health care system.
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2611.06 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 4145 days ago & DAD = 799 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
