Can Pills or Therapy Save You? episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 26, 2026 · 10 MIN

Can Pills or Therapy Save You?

from The School of Life · host tscol

The advent of medication to treat mental illness from the 1950s onwards has had untold benefits, enabling countless numbers of us to manage the symptoms of our unwellness. Yet pills can never ‘cure’ us on their own: they must be married with therapeutic treatments to be lastingly effective. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/27M0k Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/3Csil The School of Life runs a global online psychotherapy service that assists clients from over 40 countries. To find out more and book a session today, please visit our website: https://t.ly/xP3EL FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/3iVTZmr “A standard strategy, when we are physically unwell, is to head to the doctor, take a pill and then expect, in a short while, to feel a lot better. This recourse is so established, so practical and generally so successful, it is only natural if we were to try to replicate it in the mental field. Here too, when we are feeling ill, we may want to visit a doctor, take a pill and wait for our symptoms to disperse…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Hannah O’Brien https://www.hanobrien.com/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The advent of medication to treat mental illness from the 1950s onwards has had untold benefits, enabling countless numbers of us to manage the symptoms of our unwellness. Yet pills can never ‘cure’ us on their own: they must be married with therapeutic treatments to be lastingly effective. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/27M0k Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/3Csil The School of Life runs a global online psychotherapy service that assists clients from over 40 countries. To find out more and book a session today, please visit our website: https://t.ly/xP3EL FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/3iVTZmr “A standard strategy, when we are physically unwell, is to head to the doctor, take a pill and then expect, in a short while, to feel a lot better. This recourse is so established, so practical and generally so successful, it is only natural if we were to try to replicate it in the mental field. Here too, when we are feeling ill, we may want to visit a doctor, take a pill and wait for our symptoms to disperse…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Hannah O’Brien https://www.hanobrien.com/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Can Pills or Therapy Save You?

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This episode was published on June 26, 2026.

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The advent of medication to treat mental illness from the 1950s onwards has had untold benefits, enabling countless numbers of us to manage the symptoms of our unwellness. Yet pills can never ‘cure’ us on their own: they must be married with...

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