At least I have started writing. ( *sigh of relief from the Swede )
I found your comments on the American HealthCare system very thought provoking – it explains a lot. Maybe they need to start RANT ANONYMOUS or NORMAL ANON. Please keep commenting though I do apologise for less than speedy response – an astonishingly busy week.

I tried several times and it didn’t gel so I thought this BLOG route would be more comfortable AND IT IS. Who knows where it will all end but at least I am getting it down on proverbial paper.

Love your story above – it verifies my own thoughts.

Did you know that all the syndromes that psychology is full of, is a direct result of the American (non-existing) health care system. Unless a ‘patient’ can be labled in accordance with their bible for psychological disorders (compiled by insurance companies) that lists a large number of syndromes, their health insurance will not pay for any form of ‘treatment’.

So rather than rightly concluding that we all are different and simply trying our best to deal with life as it is thrown at us, we are constantly being compared to some imagined norm of ‘normality’. A standard usually set by churches and other authorities in our societies to fit their needs, not ours. Aimed at making us comply with the demands from society by dishing out guilt for not being ‘normal’.

Although this sounds like relics from the dark ages, only this week there have been examples in the news of how therapists are trying to ‘cure’ homosexuality or how the police somehow still find it difficult not to blame women for being raped. All in the name of some weird standard for ‘normality’.

So not wanting therapy or hugging yourself to a better life can be a very healthy sign.

Even better than therapy may be to have a good old rant about what the world has become – where you dear Swarmite is setting a very good example for all of us.

Keep up the good work. We all need people like you if we are ever going to become normal.

Have had similar conversations with 2 friends this month. They were complaining they wanted help with their lives but couldn’t seem to get anywhere. Turns out the ‘style’ of help being offered was the client talking and the therapist asking ‘how did that make you feel’… ‘what do YOU think it means’…. ‘what do you think you should do’
For pity’s sake – you could have that conversation yourself, at home. Cop-Out Theraphy?

Ever think about writing a book on this Madge?

A few years ago I was sitting outside a coffee bar and got into a conversation with two psychotherapists/psychologists. When I told them I was waiting to meet my ex-girlfriend for coffee, they were very surprised. I explained we were still good friends and the only comment one of them could muster was “God, I didn’t think it was possible to be friends with an ex.” Wow, sign me up for a session at 50 euros an hour!

What we need is authentic teachers and guides in life, the more authentic the better qualified they are to help. And you Madge, hats off to you for telling me the other week “I can’t help you there, I have no experience of that” is what I mean by authentic.