Why You Should Try Therapy Too

Yesterday I finished my last of the four funded therapy sessions and I wanted to talk about it.

If you know me, you might be a bit surprised. I am usually the happiest most enthusiastic chap on the block, who never thought that she needed therapy. Which was a huge misconception of course. Underlying notion of being happy = not needing therapy is complete nonsense and I know that now. Which is why I wanted to share this.

For the past couple of years I have had some family circumstances that have had an effect on me that. I have not felt bad or stressed but my body definitely did. So half a year ago I decided to finally actively look into it (and by it, I mean me).

I have developed bruxism — teeth grinding and jaw clenching. After trying all the tricks I could find online, including getting a very expensive mouth guard that made me sound like I have a cute lisp, I am now more or less managing it with a daily meditation. I personally think everyone should meditate 100%. But if you haven’t gotten around to it, here is a bonus for you — meditation helps you take care of your muscle spasms very nicely.

On top of bruxism, I have developed a bad sleep anxiety which meant that I couldn’t sleep properly and had mild panic attacks at night from time to time.

I started going to therapy in December and yesterday when I finished my last government funded session, I almost teared up because it was such a great time and I am going to miss it so much. My therapist gave me a hug and it felt like I was leaving home to go to college (weird but cute?).

Disclaimer: I have it better than probably 99.99% of population. None of it prevented me from working, kicking ass, being delightful as fuck, helping human people around me and just generally living a great freaking life.

So this is to say that even if you think you are “fine”, it shouldn’t stop you from looking internally at your state and seeing what help you might need.

Personal development definitely ties in very well with mental health. So if you want to look at therapy / meditation and other tools as a step towards a better self, you should.

We are made to believe that mental health only concerns people with severe problems or even weak people (person who is really close to me pointed out that therapy is for the “weak” and I couldn’t disagree more).

Actively working on figuring out ways to make your life and thus lives of everyone around you better is the most courageous thing you could do. It is not a cop out, or an easy way out. It is probably the hardest journey you can take. It has definitely been tough for me.

During just four sessions, I did so many mental exercises and tried so many different techniques that it made me feel that the whole therapy thing should be a mandatory course at school. It takes time and work and effort and it is the best thing you could do.

I am still slack as hell with meditation (although I am on my 51 day streak as of today, thanks Headspace). I am still seeing a really awesome counsellor and we mainly talk about books we read and how we deal with life in general.

In a way, I am so glad I had some triggers that made me try all these approaches because now I know that there are tools out there to help you work on yourself. Without these, I would be still thinking that therapy or counselling is for someone who has “big” issues.

It is not. These tools are there to help you deal with life stuff, no matter how severe or light you got it.

I hope you take this opportunity to think about your mental health today and how you are actively (key word here) working on it. I hope you encourage someone who is struggling to look more into it or help them on their journey with no judgement or stigma.

Love you hoomans!