When A Person Is In Pain And Needs Help, Not Everything Always Helps
Across the world we can find a lot of people willing and intending to help the other who needs help, but who cannot offer the help needed at that time. Let’s take an example…
Imagine that one day you woke up with a swollen face, a sore mouth and a fever. It will not seem logical to you to seek treatment from a physiotherapist or urologist. When faced with a mouth problem, the most qualified specialist would be the dentist.
What is intuitive with physical pain is not intuitive with mental or emotional pain. It is not uncommon to find that in the face of suffering of this type, a person who needs help sees other specialists in search of answers or medicines to relieve the pain.
At best, they see the family doctor for help. In the worst case, an unqualified person will try to deal with their pain.
Obstacles to seeking help
The process of seeking psychological help is sometimes fraught with obstacles. Until they reach the mental health professional, the person will have to dodge tarotists, healers, self-help books, naturopaths, and various trainers, among others.
Professional intrusion into mental health is a danger for both the professional and the patient. The risk is similar to that of a priest treating you for a toothache. The other person intends to alleviate the suffering, but they do not have the knowledge to do so.
Letting someone who is not specialized, instead of a trained professional, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist, deal with mental health issues can make the problem worse. The person does not have access to other alternatives that would have undoubtedly ended their suffering.
The white knights
There is another profile of people who, although they do not charge for the help provided, feel the need to help others and alleviate suffering. While this idea of someone who is willing to do anything for others may sound very romantic and tempting, it is a profile one should be cautious of.
White Knights are generally people who, without realizing it, “help” people in pain. Behind these knights are people wounded in the past who, symbolically, usually try to restore their own unease through the other.
If you are in deep emotional pain and meet someone with this profile, their help can come at the hidden cost of emotional debt. Indeed, after helping the other, the white knight usually feels frustrated because he does not feel like he has received everything he has given.
When what you need is a professional psychologist
When your mouth hurts, you go to the dentist. So, when your emotions are hurting you or you feel great emotional pain, you need to go to the psychologist. It sounds simple, but, as you have seen, the proper path to help is fraught with pitfalls.
A psychologist is a person who has been trained for years and whose education is based on scientific knowledge. He specializes in assessing what is happening to the person and in providing the tools necessary to increase their level of well-being.
Psychological treatment is a joint work between the person who suffers and the one who supports him in this suffering. It is a job that follows certain rules, including those of the code of ethics, which assure the patient that he is treated in an ethical and professional manner.
When a person is in pain and asks for help or we want to help them, we have to ask ourselves if we have the skills to help them. If you don’t let a priest treat you for a toothache, why are you going to let someone who isn’t a psychologist deal with your emotional pain?
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