The biggest regret I have is not starting therapy sooner.
For so long, mental health was stigmatized and people that dealt with mental health issues were looked at as crazy.
I wish I hadn’t bought into that narrative. I wish I realized mental health issues were just as valid as physical health issues. The brain is a part of the body.
I used to believe it was soft to talk about hard times or if I don’t talk about something and just deal with it on my own, I’d be good. I was very cautious about what I said to people because I didn’t trust them to keep it themselves.
I realize now — not talking about a tough time or a trauma doesn’t make you tough or doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect you. It just means what it says — you didn’t talk about it.
Whether you want to admit it or not, tough times and traumas affect us all. Not working on your mental and emotional well-being will have tangible negative effects on your life.
For me, having been on both sides, not going to therapy and going to therapy, therapy is a lot better.
How has therapy helped me? Therapy has given me the time to talk about my life selfishly, my past and process all that is going on.
The mental health professional is there to listen and can also ask great questions or provide insight on why you have certain insecurities based on your past or perspective/strategies for getting through a tough time. I’ve never had this type of space before to freely talk about all the thoughts in my mind and to just understand myself better.
All this is to say — if you feel like you have the ability to try out therapy, try it out.
You are not crazy to try out therapy. You are actually smart –if you want to be your best self, your mental and emotional health will probably need to be as good as it can be.
What’s actually crazy is to be struggling mentally and to not do anything about it to try and work on making the situation better.