Thank you! “having another person reflect your situation back to you” sounds exactly like “paid friend”, though the reality is that I do not actually have such real life friends so ultimately I might take it up. I could try AI, but so far AI is too much of an “ass-kisser”, Claude AI just agrees with me about everything… I hear GPT-5 is “harsher” which might be good.
One thing that is holding me back is that I am not really a big believer in the, how to put it, the power of thought in such matters. I think more like we are chemical machines, for example I heard stories like for some people a literally ONE time iron supplementation gave them the immediate energy to overcome certain obstacles. For this reason I tried some antidepressants, but the results were very underwhelming, yet, I think it is possible to fix our minds through our bodies, be that exercise, healthier eating, supplements etc.
“having another person reflect your situation back to you” sounds exactly like “paid friend”
I do suspect the reason everyone needs therapists now is that we’ve destroyed our communities in the west and are in the middle of a loneliness epidemic. Though a therapist is a friend who spends all day talking to people about their issues, so they’re probably particularly good at it.
I think therapy is probably around as helpful as exercise, for example, but you might be foolish not to do both if the effect size of both is significant enough to make both worthwhile. They’re independent, and doing one doesn’t rule out the other. Having a therapist to keep you accountable also helps you stick to things long-term.
Anyway, the cost of trying it is very low compared to the possible payoff.
Thank you! “having another person reflect your situation back to you” sounds exactly like “paid friend”, though the reality is that I do not actually have such real life friends so ultimately I might take it up. I could try AI, but so far AI is too much of an “ass-kisser”, Claude AI just agrees with me about everything… I hear GPT-5 is “harsher” which might be good.
One thing that is holding me back is that I am not really a big believer in the, how to put it, the power of thought in such matters. I think more like we are chemical machines, for example I heard stories like for some people a literally ONE time iron supplementation gave them the immediate energy to overcome certain obstacles. For this reason I tried some antidepressants, but the results were very underwhelming, yet, I think it is possible to fix our minds through our bodies, be that exercise, healthier eating, supplements etc.
I do suspect the reason everyone needs therapists now is that we’ve destroyed our communities in the west and are in the middle of a loneliness epidemic. Though a therapist is a friend who spends all day talking to people about their issues, so they’re probably particularly good at it.
I think therapy is probably around as helpful as exercise, for example, but you might be foolish not to do both if the effect size of both is significant enough to make both worthwhile. They’re independent, and doing one doesn’t rule out the other. Having a therapist to keep you accountable also helps you stick to things long-term.
Anyway, the cost of trying it is very low compared to the possible payoff.