If you’ve watched “The Bachelorette” at all this season, it’s easy to notice that the couples seem to be talking about therapy a lot more openly.
What did the men say on ‘The Bachelorette’ about therapy?
Last week in Episode 6, Zach Shallcross told Rachel Recchia that he is “a huge proponent of therapy,” and it’s obvious that resonated immediately with her. She responded animatedly, saying that therapy is “her favorite part of the week.”
Comedian Jared Freid “Live Screams” commentary about the episodes each week on his Instagram Stories.
When Shallcross and Recchia were talking, Freid said, “The new thing to do is to mention you do therapy. She’s like, ‘You’ve unlocked the key. You said therapy. I guess we can get married now.’”
The week before on Episode 5, Johnny DePhillipo opened up to Gabby Windey about his own mental health struggles and how much therapy has helped him.
“And I am not afraid to seek help,” DePhillipo said on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast. “I’ve seen therapists, and it’s a huge help. It’s a tool that I’m trying to use more and more as I get older. I just don’t care what people think. Get the help you need and you’ll feel 100 times better.”
Are more men going to therapy than ever before?
According to a survey in the United Kingdom by the Mental Health Foundation, not necessarily.
The 2016 survey found that only 36% of referrals to the National Health Foundation for mental health therapy are for men.
“It takes courage to be open and honest about mental health, but when suicide is the leading cause of death for young men, we all have a responsibility to push for cultural change,” Mark Rowland, director at the Mental Health Foundation, told The Guardian.
Do more millennials go to therapy?
According to a study published by the Journal of General Internal Medicine, millennials are far more likely to seek mental health counseling than any of the generations before them.
“The shame of needing help has been transformed to a pride in getting outside advice,” clinical psychologist Elizabeth Cohen told The Wall Street Journal.
What made going to therapy more popular?
One aspect that has changed, which the discussions on “The Bachelorette” are an example of, is that more people are talking about it openly.
This includes celebrities like Demi Lovato, Billie Eilish, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and many others, as well as friends and family discussing it more openly on social media, per The Wall Street Journal.
What can you do if you want help for your mental health?
As Utah psychologist Jenny Howe warned in an interview with the Deseret News, influencers should only be a small part of recommending mental health help.
“I validate that they have some symptoms that may make them feel like they’re struggling, but I would emphasize the fact that we are going to work together, to not minimize the symptoms, but how to manage life with anxiety as a passenger in your life, rather than something that needs to be fixed,” Howe said.
And as Freid points out, you can say you’ve gone to therapy if you’ve only gone once, but that doesn’t mean you’ve made any real changes to better yourself or your life. It takes work.