(Note: This post mentions therapy, but I'm ESL so it's hard to tell the exact difference between psychologist and therapist in English. So I use the two words in this post, but in French, the ones I'm thinking of is "psychologue clinicien·n·e" - someone who is able to receive patients, so they have a Master and are licensed for clinical therapy. But it doesn't mean having a doctorate and obviously it's not the same as a psychiatrist. But to be honest, it's a quick disclaimer as I'm not arguing about the differences in my post. I think you'll get the general meaning below!)
Statistics and feelings might change as society evolves but I think people in general aren't exactly encouraged to see a therapist in specific environments and professions, which to me includes military organizations. There's the persistant idea that asking for help is a sign of weakness and staying strong means suffering in silence.
On the Normandy, it's obvious there is an issue regarding the lack of psychological help, as many of you have pointed out before.
And for years I've thought about this and just had no idea how to say this without it coming out as character bashing but I really think Kelly Chambers contributed to the problem in a major way. She's not exactly there to be a good psychologist no matter what she says, and she's extremely inappropriate. It's on purpose in the story obviously, but her behavior is appalling to me (especially considering she's acting like that in an environment where surveillance and distrust are already present during what is called the "Suicide Mission", making it so much worse when real psychological help is much needed).
And obviously I can say she's young and influenced and she will grow into a better woman (leaving Cerberus is already a good step) but during ME2 I avoid her entirely because I can't stand what she's doing. And you might say, but you like Miranda! And she's also flawed and a part of Cerberus! Yeah, I'm not saying my likes have to do with something purely rational. I think Kelly is tied to a specific pet peeve?
(I also think Miranda is a bit more honest and authentic while Kelly tries hard to appear innocent. But I can recognize that Miranda has a bigger role, and that plays a part in how both appear. So, nuances.)
Putting aside privilege because it could be a separate post and I also think perspective varies depend on where you live: I'm also really sad when I see people refusing any psychological help because they believe it's all bad and unhelpful (unless they've had bad experience, which is something else. I mean people who have never met a psychologist but believe it's all garbage). I am critical of the system (never enough time or enough money...) and I do acknowledge that some therapists can be bad (many, in fact!) but the point is that when they're competent and good at their work, they can really help others. I work with psychologists who are like that and I hugely admire them. I know they exist irl, so they can exist in fiction as well. So I often think about what a competent person would have been able to do on the Normandy, before or after the Suicide Mission!
And another thing not directly linked to my feelings about Kelly but a widespread idea about therapists that I don't like and that you often see in settings like ours: 'Therapists can't help because they're not a soldier themselves! They've never been dropped in a major combat situation, they've never killed someone so they're useless because they don't know what it's like!' And I'm like... Wait, what?
Of course you can have preferences and it can be a huge help when your therapist knows immediately what you're talking about. A good example to me is being neurodivergent and wanting a neurodivergent therapist. But even so, there's no guarantee that you will be better taken care of. And pushing this logic to the extreme means a therapist can't receive a patient unless they have done or said exactly what their patient have done or said, which is quite something to demand? Even in a broad sense, it's a lot. It seems like a way of rejecting therapy itself but with a sort of logic applied to it. I also think our society associates trauma with specific circumstances (often thinking you can only get PTSD after experiencing war), and that's an issue in itself that prevents people irl from getting the help they need.
And to end this post (way too long, I'm sorry!!!), I'll say I also don't like people playing Kelly Chambers in fandom. I don't mean people who have a general opinion and make posts/headcanons about characters and their mental health. I don't even mean psychologists who state their profession but use a disclaimer and are talking in a general way about trauma, recovery, etc. That's always interesting and something to learn from. I mean someone who states they're a psychologist, their ideas are directly linked to their expertise and they're doing some form of therapy work on fandom characters publicly, mentioning specific ways of recovery and giving recommandations. I think it's a bad idea, even if it's well meaning. Because the risk of misunderstandings (on this website especially) and people applying those ideas to themselves is quite high. Again, the danger is not in sharing the opinion, as stated above. The danger is associating the opinion with the expertise of a psychologist, thus making it possible for people to think it might be a general truth (especially if the OP provides no disclaimer) or that it's possible to apply what the psychologist is sharing to a similar situation. I know I'm easily influenced, I can see videos by therapists and try to apply what is said about recovery to myself (especially linked to the nervous system) BUT that's precisely the danger and why I think it's a bad idea because often, the recommandations -while not horrible- just wouldn't work on me or have the opposite effect of what I want them to have. And in the end, it has many difficulties and it's not perfect at all, but I believe the work done in person really matters because it's as specific as it can get. It's entirely tied to one person.
So that's my two cents. It's all over the place, sorry. Needed to get that out.
