Has anyone here taken genuine therapy/seen a professional about their mental health issues?

I went to therapy when I was younger, didn't really do much except give me an excuse for my shitty behavior.

The major turning point in my life was when a friend of mine told me how good my life was and how lucky I am, and from there I pretty much realized that I needed to stop using autism as an excuse and to recognize when/how my autism affects my day to day interactions with other people and how to work around that.

I didn't turn into a chad and I'm still terribly awkward with people and struggle to read a room, but I'm able to hold down a job, afford a house and I'm happy.

Moral of the story, idk, the diagnosis helped, but YMMV with therapy.

Wen through 2 years of psychoanalysis with the head of the department+ head teacher of a local uni. I got absolutely nothing out of that.
I can see it working for other people but I don't think I can be fixed.
Answering your question in a more direct way, you should at least try psychoanalysis.

>I don't know if it really helped but I always ended up with female therapists and it was interesting to see how they reacted to things I said.
tell more

Haven't been to therapy but learning how to do DIY therapy (reading lots of books by legendary therapists and applying their techniques to friends and strangers both online and IRL) helped me go from a quasi-autistic shut in NEET that hated everyone and couldn't socialize at all due to crippling anxiety to an introverted but confident guy with his shit together who can get most anyone to open up

what sort of techniques are you using?

it can be very bad or very good. some push you to get medicated, some push you into a diagnosis. i think it's best to gain perspective from different therapists while truly looking into how you operate cognitively as an individual in order to piece together a proper diagnosis. bring your findings to a good therapist and they will work with you. ive been diagnosed schizoaffective and bipolar in the past but it ended up being bpd. good luck!

One that helps massively is learning how to ask the right questions. Most people ask awful questions that go nowhere in conversations, but therapy is specifically about asking questions that lead to somewhere meaningful or divulge interesting information about the person you're asking it from (without violating boundaries, of course)

Another thing that's hugely useful is learning how to *actually* listen. Most people are terrible at listening, even the typical "good listener" type of people that just stay silent while their friend vents. That's not listening actively, that's fucking boring. How you actually listen is you keep confirming with the person you're talking with what they said, your understanding of it, and then you can share your opinions about it once you feel like they've talked enough for you to have enough context to formulate an interesting take. Just going "yeah... uh huh" is brainlet tier listening. Just this skill of active listening will probably put you in like the top 10% of conversationalists in the world, you wouldn't believe some of the shit people will tell you if they feel like they're actually being listened and understood on an intimate and attentive level.

There's a ton of other stuff as well about improving your rapport with people, navigating around their ego and insecurities, how to compliment people in an authentic way that will make them actually feel flattered instead of sucked up to etc. It's all about knowing how humans work.

Can you recommend some good books on this?

It works depending on what your issue is, what therapy you use and if you put in the time and effort to do your part.
My anxiety got way better after CBT. Now I have the mental tools to break the spiral without meds.

Yes, they detected my schizoid disorder but failed to identify my depression, my pathological lies, and my extreme hatred of women
I spent a few months on it and learned how to pretend to be normal a bit better. I still hate women and im still schizoid.

i hate pretending to be normal
i wish i could bee myself properly

Just move out in the woods. There u can be what ever normal is to you

Sure, you can start with Carl Rogers' "On Becoming a Person". It's entry level and easy to read but useful. Once you get acclimated though, I recommend only reading academic books written for practicing therapists, not for a mass audience

Im working out to look good enough to not have to pretend anymore.

because I am lonely originally

How can you learn these things without going to a shrink? Any books you can recommend other than Carnegie?

Therapy is a lie and a money grab its terrible and it didn't help me nor did it help anyone I know

It's a way for weak pussies to lie themselves literally just stop being a bitch