Nearly 617k people follow the ‘Memes to Discuss in Therapy’ page on Facebook. What’s more, the project has 585.5k likes on the social media platform. In other words, it’s proof that the content is relatable, witty, and a lot of people feel that it’s worth their time.
The Facebook page describes its content as stuff that’s “found on the Internet that feels like a personal attack and should be discussed with my therapist.”
And speaking of therapy, there’s still quite a lot of stigma attached to the idea that someone’s reaching out to a professional for help.
Earlier, Bored Panda spoke about the stigma of seeking professional help with British psychotherapist Silva Neves. He pointed out that, in his opinion, the situation has been improving over time.
“I think it is getting better and there is less stigma seeing a therapist now. It depends on your location though, there are still some parts of the world where therapy is still a taboo. Some people think that seeing a therapist means that you're 'crazy,' but this is not actually what therapy is about," he explained.
"Therapy is a confidential and private space where you can get help from a professional with anything that bothers you, from your work problems, relationship issues, or other psychological problems such as post-trauma stress, depression, and anxiety," the therapist said.
"Those things are actually very common and many people struggle with these things, it doesn't mean they're ‘crazy.’ Seeing a therapist when you have emotional struggles should be as normal as seeing your doctor when you have a physical problem. But at the moment, our society hasn't normalized therapy yet. It is changing with famous people talking about the benefits of therapy such as Lady Gaga and Prince Harry,” the therapist told Bored Panda.
Therapist Silva said that some people who have deep-seated insecurities can lash out at others to make themselves feel better. However, with proper self-compassion and learning to accept themselves as they are, they can develop a new, healthier mindset.
“Insecurity can manifest either by making themselves invisible (If I'm not seen, nobody will notice my flaws) or the opposite, by what we call 'bragging': shouting at everybody about how wonderful they are. This is usually to try to persuade themselves that they are good enough,” he said.
"Another way to counter the 'I'm not enough' [mentality] is by pushing others down, sabotaging other people's success, or attacking people as a way to feel powerful so that they can control their inner pain of 'I'm not enough,’” he said.
“All of these strategies don't work because what they do is either internalizing or externalizing the belief 'I'm not enough' rather than changing it," Silva explained.
"The key to becoming more secure is to change the underlying belief 'I'm not enough' to 'I'm enough,'" the therapist told Bored Panda.
"Perhaps parents didn't praise children enough, or they paid more attention to the mistakes rather than the successes. As an adult now, people can give themselves a hug once in a while and tell themselves, gently: 'you're doing good,' 'well done,' 'congratulations.' Eventually, the brain will listen and slowly change the message 'I'm not enough' to 'I'm enough,'" he said that everyone can try to overcome their insecurities.
"Rather than shouting your praise at other people, it is about speaking to yourself in a loving way. When people are genuinely aware of their successes, they can become genuinely more confident without the need to impose their power onto others."
