Mental Health. Oh what a stigma it has that this day and age people still can label you as “crazy” or “weird” for wanting a therapist. But less blatant is that people think if they can get by in their day to day they don’t need it. But do you really want to just get by or do you want to thrive?
Do you see patterns in your life that are holding you back? Relationships that are draining or unhealthy? Are you overall not as happy as you want to be? I feel all of those things. And that’s why I decided it was time to see someone. I got to a point where I didn’t feel in control of my emotions anymore and everything escalated. I either was angry, annoyed, sad and/or didn’t want to see or talk to anyone in a day. You can imagine that’s not the funnest person to be around. Anytime Danny and I would get into a tiff I was so in my emotions I couldn’t get to the solution and it bothered me to the core because all I want is a solution so why do I keep defaulting to my emotions all the time? Don’t get me wrong, emotions are valid and should not be ignored but they should never block you from progress, especially for minor issues that are easy fixes. It’s like deep down inside I like sitting in my misery. But actually I HATE that. And I hate not being able to just say, “Hey self! Stop doing that!” If only it were that simple. I would have good days where I think I’m making progress then a “bad” day comes and I realize I really don’t have a hold on it like I thought.
Well, it got to a point where it started to feel unhealthy and extremely counter productive and I decided it was time to seek outside help. I come from a very emotional family, we function off our emotions and not always logic which can be very handicapping. Depression also runs in my family and even though I don’t think I’m depressed, what I saw around me growing up was people sitting in their misery and I’m sure that affected me in some way.
Sometimes I think it’s hard for people to believe in God and go to therapy . In a lot of people’s minds and many times subconsciously it’s an either or situation. Pray or therapy as if both can not co-exist. Let me tell you, you can’t just pray away everything. You also have to put in the WORK. It’s like asking God for a million dollars and not working your butt off everyday. If I ask God to shed light on something and notice my behavior is damaging but I have no idea WHY or how to change it, I can pray all day but may never find out because I’m not really trying to change. I’m praying and hoping God will change it. Faith is not magic, in fact faith without works is dead.
I say this not because I think everyone should go to therapy but I do know deep down we all know when we’re not firing on all cylinders. If you don’t know on the inside, the outside world will end up telling us in a not so pleasant way. Did you know MANY CEO’s and successful people go to therapy? It’s not by coincidence. If you had financial problems would you think it was weird to seek out a financial advisor? If you want to get fit is is weird to hire a trainer? So why is it so weird to hire a therapist to help you with your mental health? In fact many of our financial problems, health problems, career problems etc. could possibly be helped if only we started to work on the patterns we do that create them. AKA whatever is going on in that little brain of yours that allows you to continue patterns that are not the best for you.
I want to help de-stigmatize mental health. It’s even MORE important than your physical health yet the most neglected. Your brain is the most important organ in your body, and the hardest to understand. Don’t ever feel embarrassed to seek help.
I know it’s not an overnight fix, but it’s long overdue and I’m really excited to finally take steps to feeling better, more productive, and overall happier. I’ll keep you posted on my journey along the way.
