Reasonable Response Times for Emails? (Am I Crazy?)

[RainbowSearchParty]

I want to know: what is a reasonable response time for a professional email? I'm really struggling with this for a few reasons, and I have no idea if my perceptions are correct or not. Please tell me what you think!

I am an American living abroad. In the States, emails and other professional communications are typically responded to in 24-48 hours, MAX. If someone is out of the office, they will have an out-of-office reply with info on who to connect with instead of them if you need a more urgent response. But here, in this new country, emails (from all sorts of businesses, services, etc) will go weeks and weeks at a time without reply. And this somehow seems to be normal?

I reached out to a potential therapist three weeks ago after being referred to them by another person who was in contact with the therapist directly. It's been radio silence. If I were in the US, I would write this person off as non-responsive and a bad fit for me. But it seems like everyone here is non-responsive, or that the norm is different, and I'm afraid that I'm making a cultural error here.

How long is too long to wait for a reply? What is normal? Is this normal? And do I just have unreasonable expectations for prompt replies?

(and this isn't a question of the US vs other countries, just me trying to see if I am totally crazy or not ....)

 

[Flossy]

Okay just an update. I reached back out like you all suggested. She responded quickly and like @Midnightmoon said, it was just a case of an email getting lost in the shuffle. Something about the response felt defensive and weird to me, and now I’m trying to sort out how I feel about that. Apparently there is a waitlist to see her, so I asked to be put on it because I figured that it was better to have options than not. We will see.

For me, "something about the response felt defensive and weird to me"..= Nope! Not a good fit. Walk away. Trust your gut. You dont need a person in your life who gives you this warning instinct.

 

[RainbowSearchParty]

Walk away. Trust your gut.

I think my gut has indigestion. But I'm still on the waiting list; for better or worse she is one of the few therapists with any trauma experience in my area. Trauma therapists here are a strange breed to come by, and in general (in the country I'm in) therapists have very little training. So I'm feeling a little out of options and think I need to see if this might work.

 

[Flossy]

I think my gut has indigestion. But I'm still on the waiting list; for better or worse she is one of the few therapists with any trauma experience in my area. Trauma therapists here are a strange breed to come by, and in general (in the country I'm in) therapists have very little training. So I'm feeling a little out of options and think I need to see if this might work.

You will know for sure, once you meet her. I am sure your gut is knows what's going on. It's just our slightly broken ptsd brains. I just read my old posts from ten years ago and I am amazed at how much better I am and my life is. Best wishes.