Q for
@Zoral64 : How common is it, in your view but also if you know figures from research, that people who study psychology on higher levels, esp with the aim to become therapists, themselves have psychological problems on more serious level than the odd mainstream neurosis?
( my personal guess is that it at least was pretty common not uncommon before CBT became so very very popular. i.e. I believe that CBT to some extent draws another type of practitioners into the field... )
Okay, first off, I love this question. I really do. Because it require the therapist to perform self-analysis and question their motivations. Excellent question.
From personal experience, I can't say I've met persons with advanced degrees that had particularly severe mental conditions. Many of the ones I've worked with were actually quite stable, especially compared to me. That being said, the turn-over rate for mental health employees in lower ranking positions has never been higher. Many of them leave due to mental/emotional issues and there are several valid causes for that to occur. I'll try to break some of those reasons down.
First off, we need to remember that the field of psychology (while it has been around for 100 or so years) has only recently become an option for "common man" to study and pursue. Up until the 1970s, it was all but impossible to go into the field directly, and for someone to study it, they first had to go to medical school. So I'd say availability plays a serious role in the rise of mental health professionals, in general.
As you pointed out, this field attracts a certain kind of personality, and let's think on that for a moment. All too often, the people that voluntarily choose to study and work within these fields are there for personal reasons (trust me, it ain't for the money. Lol). The individuals that come in are usually already dealing with their own traumas and psychological issues (I'm calling myself out on this one) and want to learn more about how to resolve these issues for good. So these people come in with issues already.
Then we factor in the exposure element, where these (possibly already "damaged") professionals voluntarily expose themselves themselves to other peoples traumas and horrors on a constant basis. Where they are expected to empathize with patients who have lived real-life horror stories, to listen and observe the horrific results over and over. This is one of the many reasons why health care professional (whatever their title is) are encouraged to seek mental health support themselves.