The C word

WARNING: vulnerable Gabi writing…Counseling is the C word, calm down. Get your head out of the gutter. It is hard to admit you might need help, and even harder to go to counseling/therapy. Going to counseling and/or therapy is not a bad thing, and you can go for many reasons.

It took me a very long time before I would admit that I needed to go to counseling. It was something that once I started going, I kept it a secret and did not tell any of my friends, not even my roommate who was my best friend. Our society has created such a stigma around mental illness that we feel embarrassed to admit when we need help and/or when we start getting help.

Seeking help should not be something that you feel embarrassed about or something that is bad. It is not bad to get help, it is not bad to admit you are struggling mentally, it is responsible to ask for help. You need to do what you think is best for your body even if it means people judging you, your mental health is more important.

Tying back into one of my first blog posts, mental illness is real. It is as real as someone who has cancer, in fact it is a little similar. Someone who is suffering from cancer before starting Chemo/radiation, it is very difficult to see that someone has cancer, when looking at them physically, just like it is hard to see from the outside, if someone is suffering from a mental illness.

Having a mental illness, and asking for help is not something to be ashamed of. I am someone who has suffered from depression/anxiety/ and PTSD for many years, and most of my friends have no idea, unless I tell them about it. Not all mental illnesses can be seen from the outside, and depending on the person, because some people like myself can hide it.

Counseling/Therapy can be very helpful if you invest your time and emotions into it. For the past couple of years I have had very few counseling sessions where I have talked about the “deep and dark” stuff that happens in Gabi’s world. It is hard to want to talk about the deep stuff because then you have to feel it again and or it is just not a topic you want to speak about. It is a hard toss up because sometimes in order to move forward from something or grow from a situation it can help to talk about it but sometimes it does more harm than good.

Going to counseling is sometimes just nice to have someone to talk to that only knows the things you tell them, they do not have any other outside information that you do not give them. It is very easy to talk to a “stranger” about all of the crazy things going on in your life when you can control what they know about you, and if you choose to you can be completely vulnerable.

I do not know how you feel, but I recommend going to counseling or therapy if you think you need to. It is not something to be embarrassed about, it is something that is understandably nerve racking, but not something that you should be ashamed of going. You should be proud of yourself for asking for help.

Anyways, I hope if you needed a sign to go to counseling or seek help, I hope this helps. Ask for help. Do not let your pride take over. Your well being is more important than your appearance to others.

Gabi :)