I still don't think I totally understand what you mean. I guess it depends on what you call "problems" or "sustaining oneself". I for one am able to lead a pretty "normal" life - most people I interact with probably wouldn't think there was anything wrong with me... but inside my own head I have pretty bad self esteem, am unrealistically afraid of failure, and basically carry around fear physically (tense shoulders, etc). Those are not good feelings!!!

Since the root causes of why I feel this way started in my early early childhood - I've just grown up with this negativity *in* me. Yeah, I can learn about how to have good mental health while in therapy - but that's just an hour a week. If you add up how many hours I've spent telling myself really unhelpful things over the past 25+ years... a few hours of therapy don't even come close to the same level of impact. It's just unrealistic to think I'm going to be sustain a completely peachy-keen & emotionally healthy attitude all week, after just an hour's worth of therapy.

So that's why I look for other sources of support - books, this website etc.

Does that answer your question?