Mental Illness: Diagnosis and Therapy | Matti May Hardie
Hey all, how's you?
Daaaammmn Matti, back at it again with the mental illness posts. This post came from a thought I had whilst I was in the bus on the way to my first "therapy" session. I put that in "" (I can't remember the name, go away) because it wasn't really a therapy session as such, it was a meeting with my school adviser. Her official name is a "orientation and psychology advisor", but the word 'psychology' caught my eye and figured what the heck, I'm at a point now where I have nothing to lose. So I made an appointment with her to see if she could help me or not. It got me thinking about mental illness and diagnosis and that kind of thing so I decided to talk about it today. Fun times.
Before you're diagnosed with a mental illness, you think that diagnosis is the be all and end all, that once you're diagnosed it'll magically get better, but actually diagnosis is just the beginning.
When you suffer from a mental illness, a lot of people think that once they're diagnosed, that's the end and everything's sorted. It'll magically go away because whoo hoo, you know why you're feeling like this, the end. Huh. Guess not. Diagnosis is just the beginning. Once you're diagnosed, you're generally directed to a therapist who can then help you get your mental illness under control, how to live with it in order to not let it take you over or so that you can still live your life, or even to get rid of it. That in itself can take a month like it can take a year, like it can take ten years, depending on the intensity of your mental illness and state.
I feel like people underestimate therapy and even just the act of going there. I was only really going to see the counceller so that I could say that I had tried. But it actually felt really good to get it out there, for someone to acknowledge that there was something that wasn't quite right, that I needed help, even though she couldn't do anything for me specifically, though she did give some contacts where I can go where I can find someone who can help me.
I wanted to talk about the actual appointment with her because to her eternal credit, she was amazing. We sat down and I explained what was wrong, and when she said she couldn't really help to much of an extent she wasn't dismissive at all, just simply stating a fact. She was really mindful in the way she spoke and even at one point asked me if I was anxious and when I said yes, she offered to open the door for a bit of air and asked if there was anything she could do to lessen the anxiety. I think that was the first time someone had been so mindful when I had told them about anxiety.
So, conclusion, was there going to see that lady pointless? I'd say no. I don't think it was. I think it was really helpful to just talk about it, because even though everyone says it, it's so true that the first step is accepting that there's a problem is to just talk to someone about it.
If you have a doubt that there's a problem, even the slightest little doubt, please contact someone and talk to them. I know that's a really cliche thing to say but it's so fucking true. So yeah, a more fun and upbeat posts resuming next week!
I feel like people underestimate therapy and even just the act of going there. I was only really going to see the counceller so that I could say that I had tried. But it actually felt really good to get it out there, for someone to acknowledge that there was something that wasn't quite right, that I needed help, even though she couldn't do anything for me specifically, though she did give some contacts where I can go where I can find someone who can help me.
I wanted to talk about the actual appointment with her because to her eternal credit, she was amazing. We sat down and I explained what was wrong, and when she said she couldn't really help to much of an extent she wasn't dismissive at all, just simply stating a fact. She was really mindful in the way she spoke and even at one point asked me if I was anxious and when I said yes, she offered to open the door for a bit of air and asked if there was anything she could do to lessen the anxiety. I think that was the first time someone had been so mindful when I had told them about anxiety.
So, conclusion, was there going to see that lady pointless? I'd say no. I don't think it was. I think it was really helpful to just talk about it, because even though everyone says it, it's so true that the first step is accepting that there's a problem is to just talk to someone about it.
If you have a doubt that there's a problem, even the slightest little doubt, please contact someone and talk to them. I know that's a really cliche thing to say but it's so fucking true. So yeah, a more fun and upbeat posts resuming next week!
Matti x
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