Clearly people were threatened with being thrown away into an institution when in the family and freaking out from abuses that occurred within.
I wonder if others here have been helped by therapy and could talk a bit about it?

I was thinking about this after reading the Rolling Stone Magazine article which mentioned fears of getting help. I can remember after I left as an adult, having been recruited as a teen who just turned 18, I did not even consider getting therapy.

I think in part it is because some people I had an idea that to see a therapist insinuates a person must be weak or defective or perhaps will get locked up in a ward or something for having survived the Family.

One thing I have realized since leaving many years ago, is that seeking therapy is a strength and that people do not get institutionalized unless they say they are actively homicidal or suicidal and then there is still a very specific set of factors that a professional will consider and getting sent to a psych hospital is a last line of action. EVEN THEN, if a person is institutionalized it is for a very short period of time especially if they are wanting to be released and patients/clients have the right to request a 24 hr letter and have an interview with a doctor. Unless they are very psychotic or say they have a gun and plan to go shoot so and so, or shoot themselves, they are out the door right after the interview.

It is not unusual for a person coming off of heavy drug use to be institutionalized because part of withdrawal can be psychosis. People can commit relatives, but in general, nowadays, the system errs in favor of the identified patient now called client.

Since patient's rights have been broadened, it is very hard to get in a mental hospital. People who seek out therapy and have feelings of rage are not in danger of being hospitalized for having those feelings.

I really believe suicides/homocides/drug overdoses etc are prevented many times when a person works with a good therapist and support system that works for them.

I remember when my children were small and got involved in some juvenile deliquent sorts of activities. I was certain that they would be locked up and the key would be thrown away for minor things. But that is not what happened. It is how I first got connected to help for myself and for my family via therapy.

My children are productive adult citizens now but back then I was filled with so many fears. The fear of imprisonment or institutionalization, from my experience, came from all the FEAR that was used in writings, skits, from Berg and Co. for years which combined endtime persecution with raids where people were hauled off to mental hospitals and got electric shock if they got too upset, like in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest".

Rage and anxiety are common feelings for survivors of trauma. Since I worked for a long time in the field of mental health AND utilized therapy for myself, I have come to realize the implanted fears of psychiatric help from within the family seem to be designed to make a person fear they are less than, defective, "sick", weak if they get help.

Psychiatric help in the family would mean a person was thrown away and labelled weak and defective. I guess I am talking about this after reading that article and hoping that people that are suffering get help. Not everyone is "saved" that gets it. But for some it can be the difference between life and death. Especially if you have a good therapist who is invested in helping you get connected to a good support system.

Coming out of the family for me was like coming out of another world or an alternate reality. That was very frightening for me. Before leaving the family I had experienced severe panic attacks and thought I was dying of heart problems. AND I was afraid to talk to a doctor.

I had really bad nightmares for years and there was a period of time when I went to bed with tranquilizers, a German Shepherd dog in the room, a chair against the door and a big butcher knife under my mattress.

Anyone relate?

The good news is that although it took some years it did PASS. I don't struggle with that debilitating fear and therapy was a PART of what helped me and my family.