why don't conservatives trust therapists?
Are Liberals Crazy? part X: institutional paranoia.
69% of Republicans do not have a great deal of trust in medical scientists, as opposed to 47% of Democrats. How much does this difference in institutional trust affect the diagnosis of mental illness?
Imagine two individuals with a mental issue. One is a Kamala supporter, the other a Trump supporter. Who is more likely to make an appointment with their doctor to get a diagnosis and medication?
Because political affiliation is heritable, liberals are more likely to be surrounded by liberal family members who push them toward diagnosis and therapy; conservatives have family members who are more likely to stigmatize, ostracize, ignore, or “pray about it.” Conservatives are more religious, meaning that, in response to a mental issue, they are more likely to go to church than to a therapist.
Unless a major crime has been committed, diagnosis requires some level of cooperation on the part of the individual with the mental illness. Conservatives are less cooperative with “experts,” like therapists and psychologists, who they widely distrust. This is because experts tend to be liberals.
Liberals are twice as likely to seek out “emotional therapy due to political division.” Does that mean liberals are disproportionately affected by political division? Not at all. Conservatives are more likely to lose romantic, sexual, economic, and social opportunities due to political division. Conservatives are also less likely to punish liberal family members for partisan reasons.
Conservatives are more likely than liberals to be subject to bullying, harassment, exclusion, and “cancellation” over their political views. So why do liberals seek out therapy for “political PTSD” much more frequently than conservatives, despite the fact that they receive less abuse?
It may be that liberals are more neurotic and sensitive than conservatives, and express worse symptoms than conservatives even when subject to less harsh psychological conditions. On the other hand, it may be that conservatives cope in different ways than liberals, through religion or overeating.
In Part 11 of this series, I will explain my skepticism with the Kierkegaard and Dutton hypothesis of leftism and mental illness, and offer alternative methods of testing the hypothesis by direct measures (rather than self-reporting).
Don't need a headshrinker or their pills to deal with modernity. I find my own answers in books.
Maybe a certain percentage of people *like* talking about their problems to a therapist, they find comfort in the process itself, while many people just don't like talking about their problems to a therapist and prefer to deal with those problems in other ways. It's possible that those who like talking to a therapist have certain characteristics that also make them more likely to be leftist or liberal. Perhaps talking to a therapist is in fact helpful for the people who genuinely like it, but of more dubious value for people who don't like the idea of talking to a therapist. People are diverse, especially personality-wise, and what works for one type of personality might not for another one.
Now, I think it's pretty much a fact that some people have biochemical imbalances in the brain, and medication can be very helpful to such people. There's value in trying to determine if you or a loved one is such an individual. I myself take mild anti-anxiety pills and they have improved my quality of life, at least a little bit.
But just having regular talks with a therapist about concerns in my life... that doesn't really appeal to me. I've never really felt comfortable with the idea of unloading my emotional concerns on someone who isn't a close friend or family member.