Instead of the whole list thing...

Idk, I love this treatment, somehow it's one of the things that made me so into this manga.

I think it's all right for a step-by-step rehabilitation of the mysophobia (and makes for a good plot, don't get me wrong), but I feel that any good psychologist - or person who had studied psychology - would have understood the importance of dealing with the underlying reasons for the mysophobia in the first place. I know, plot and lovely romance! And like I said, I love it! And I love Shirotani, and Kurose! But daddy issues are also a bit... of a let down, as a major reveal. Just kinda makes it more apparent that it could and should have been identified a lot earlier.

Like anyone can diagnose themselves with "Daddy Issues". The only reason we know about the root of his mysophobia is coz of the author but in reality, people are a tangle of mysteries.

Yeah, gotta agree w/ you

Again, to be clear, I love the author and the manga - but to me, it actually seems that all along Shirotani was very aware that he had issues to do with his father (and also Bitchface, whose name I've forgotten). It makes sense that he could have been totally resistant to talking about it, when he sought treatment for his mysophobia before (I mean, before he met Kurose). All I'm saying is that really, in the end it could have been dealt with a lot earlier.

And even though I love him, I can still find it slightly amusing that the root of Shirotani's whole story can be summed up by the description "daddy issues". -- IMPORTANT: I would never make light of mental illness btw, I'm chronic depressive, and some of my absolutely most-loved people are bipolar or fellow depressos.

So? Nobody's making light of mental illness and I see no point in telling us you're chronic depressive. It's funny how some people think it's a valid point to use the fact that they're experiencing mental health issues as proof that they know what they're talking about. People react differently to help so even if everybody is diagnosed with mental illness, it doesn't mean you're going to recover the same way at the same time. Hence, Anon's words "people are a tangle of mysteries".

The fact of the matter is while Shirotani "might" have known his mysophobia rooted from his father's pedophilia tendencies, it doesn't change the fact that a normal person (especially one as complicated as Shirotani) would up and go to a psychiatrist and trust that person easily. The only reason the treatment worked with Kurose is because of the trust built between them so whoever that former "professional help" was, they clearly didn't establish the most important step in recovery.

It has always been about that. Japan's culture led Shirotani to become a fully-fledged mysophobic. The mentality that you need to fit into the society's norms hindered Shirotani for asking anyone for help and fix his problem, I think. He knows well he shouldn't fap to his Dad's sexual life, and he knows if he tells anyone about it, adult or a same age friend, he'd get the same disdain he got from Ms. Bitchface. So he opt to keep everything all to himself and probably never thought to fix it as years went, even when he wanted to, he just doesn't have the resolve to continue it to the end.

... Did you actually read what I wrote?? I distinctly said that it makes sense that Shirotani might have been resistant to talking about his issues, when he sought treatment for his mysophobia before. My original post was a light-hearted comment on the fact that it could have been dealt with earlier.

And I brought up the fact that I and people I love have experienced mental illness to say that although I can see Shirotani's daddy issues in a humorous light, I don't think mental illness itself is a joke. Nothing to do with my views on Shirotani's treatment, simply explaining that *I* don't see mental illness as something to make fun of, because I didn't want to offend anyone. So I feel that there was a fucking point.

I agree with you. That's actually pretty much what I meant when I said in my original post that he's reached PEAK daddy issues. I was honestly originally just making a joke about exactly what you're saying - it doesn't get much more Daddy Issues than Shirotani.

"Pedophilia tendencies", sorry but where did that come from? Was that a theoretical scenario? Because that wasn't how it was in the manga. Wasn't his relationship with Ms. Bitchface mutual? She is underage and his student but she's in her teens and I think she was the one seducing Shirotani's father. Pedophilia is towards children, aged 13 years and below, primarily prepubescent children, thus his relationship with Ms. Bitchface does not count as pedophilia. Just clarifying this, btw. Unless you were something theoretical. Sorry if I misunderstood.

I guess it's how you phrased it that some reacted to it.
Plus I think he could never fix his problem as long as he couldn't overlook society's norms and his resolve. If he was in another county/culture, probably he would find the courage to seek professional help but he's Japanese, so...

Yeah, you're right - maybe it sounded like criticism rather than a joke.
From what I know (which admittedly isn't all that much) about Japanese cultural
or social conventions around putting oneself down, and not being/seeming too self-confident, Shirotani's intense self-loathing could have been intensified by being Japanese.

Some can't detect sarcasm, plus it's a read comment. Sarcasm is easier to detect when spoken, I guess.
Same here. I don't know as much but reading and watching manga and anime that run the same themes, you kinda get that it is not just in fiction, it happens in real life. After all, fiction depicts a part of a culture's reality. Not saying it only happens in Japan but it is just extreme in there.