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We watched Adolescense a few weeks back, in German. It was a very interesting and thought provoking series. I was surprised, it isn’t the sort of thing my wife usually watches. It was very well made and the story very harrowing.
I found the discussion interesting about the AI therapists and I’m with Georgia, as long as the AI can hallucinate, it shouldn’t be let near patients with life changing or “dark place” problems. I suppose it could be used for things like aracnaphobia, as Georgia said, although I would have thought that even here hallucinations could be harmful.
When I was growing up in the UK, it was always a film or TV cliché that Americans went to a therapist. It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I found out that there were psychiatrists in the UK that didn’t work on the psychiatric ward or in special hospitals.
I think the first time I was aware of someone who was in therapy were the children of a German friend who had divorced her Italian husband. Although I think maybe she should have gone as well. I was babysitting once and as I arrived, she sent the son, 4, up to his room for not playing nicely with his sisters (6 and 7). She just shouted at him and sent him upstairs, she didn’t tell him what he had done wrong, then she left.
He was upstairs screaming and crying. I thought he would settle down, but he didn’t. After a few minutes, I left the girls watching Kika and went up to him. He said he was bored and wanted to play with his sisters. I asked him if he knew, why he was sent to his room? He said no. I actually spent 10 minutes trying to explain what he had done wrong and that the punishment was meant to be boring, that he was supposed to reflect on what he had done wrong. I told him that his mother had been sent to her room as a child when she did things wrong. After explaining what he had done wrong and why he was here and that he needed to think about what he had done, he calmed down, nodded and accepted that he had to stay up there for half an hour.
I think it was the first time in his life that anyone had actually explained to him that actions have consequences and why he was sent to his room. I think the mother was overwhelmed with the situation and just shouted at them to go to their room, without explaining what they had done wrong or why they were being punished.
I have met a handful of people who have been in therapy, but it is certainly not something many people have had. Is it really as widespread in the US as TV and film makes out?
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