Does it sound weird for a therapist to tell their patient "You are suffering from clinical depression. Your friends won't understand this."

I've never been diagnosed with depression, nor seen a therapist, so it's perfectly possible I'm missing the nuance. But it just looks like it's setting the patient up for isolation where it doesn't need to be. Some friends might not understand, sure. But all of them? Or even to imply a majority? Hardcore.

This toilet does not impress me. Had to replace the seat (it was an instrument of torture,) the cat keeps falling IN and getting water everywhere because the water is so much lower and she isn't that coordinated, tempermental flushing....

People are proving to me that it really doesn't matter what I say as a precaution, they'll blithely do (or ask) stupid things anyway. I don't know why I bother.

eta: ita, yes. Weird and likely damaging.

That's an odd thing to say, ita. There may be a context that is not revealed to you though.

Yeah, ita, that's a very odd way to open that discussion.

There may be a context that is not revealed to you though.

That's what I'd hope. Apparently it resulted in the patient wielding it in a "You're doing exactly what my therapist said you would" way.

Odd. I hope it all turns out okay.

Several things come to mind:

1) the therapist has heard talk from the patient about the friends and feel they have a decent understanding of them

2) the therapist would have been better served saying "most people" instead of "your friends", in which case I think the therapist would be correct

3) the therapist is a tool

4) the therapist knows the patient and made the statement to get a specific reaction

Apparently it resulted in the patient wielding it in a "You're doing exactly what my therapist said you would" way.

Aha. Perhaps the patient in question has some issues of his/her own, and using the therapist's words to back him/her up.

I don't know. People are crazy. Not saying this person you know is, but the brain processes shit in such weird ways I can hardly trust anything I don't witness first hand.

I'm not so bothered by the context we've seen so far. It's true IME that friends don't always understand clinical depression; that a therapist said that and it got mangled in translation seems likely.

I'm not going to go into masses of detail, because not really the Internet's business, but it was framed that way during the diagnosis discussion (or at least how it was reported shortly afterwards), and then some time later it was hauled out as a "told you so!" to someone who was trying to understand. Turns out the patient admits that most of the friends did understand in the end.

That seems very odd, but I am still very slow. and i think the real results - that most friends had some understanding is normal.

I am going to make a BLT for lunch .