It's funny how we have all these issues attached to seeking help for a mental/spiritual/emotional problem, when most of us will blithely run off to a doctor without thinking twice about it.
I was saying this to Mr. Diva just the other day. How is this really any different than going to see your MD when you've got an infection? There's an imbalance, you find the proper treatment to restore (or gain) balance. Sure, therapy is a lot more work than just going to the doctor and getting a prescription for antibiotics (sadly), but I've really gotten to the point where I see it all as being a part of the same process. I don't see going to a counselor as any different from going to an MD, or a massage therapist, or an accupuncturist. It's just all a part of trying to find the very best way you can of taking care of yourself.
And it's a learning process, too, sweetie. Just because you don't have the tools right now to pull yourself out of your doldrums, doesn't mean you won't in the future. I spent most of my life horribly depressed, suicidal at times, stuck in that space and didn't really see a way out of it. But I spent a lot of years in therapy, and tried a bunch of different stuff and eventually got to the point where I figured out what works to pull myself out of it. But it took nearly twenty years to get to the point I'm at now. And I still have minor spells of feeling moody, but they're very short and never very serious. I have the tools I need now to head off a big depression at the pass. So you may get to the point where you are able to figure out what you need to pull yourself out by your bootstraps. But don't feel bad that you need someone to teach you how to do it. That's sort of like feeling bad that you needed someone to teach you how to read. Sure, some people teach themselves to read, but not very many, and how silly is it to imagine that we could get through life without the input and assistance of other people or without giving assistance and input to others?
We spend all these years being taught ways of being in the world that don't work for shit, and then beat ourselves up because they don't work and we don't know what else to do. And everyone's best course is unique, so of course it takes a lot of work to figure it out, and also to learn to ignore the well-meant suggestions of other people which don't work for you. It's no wonder that most of us need therapy/12 step groups/etc. and that those that aren't going really probably ought to be.
Just know that my prayers are with you, and that I am certain that you are going to find everything you need to express your life in the fullest way with the greatest joy.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-02-19 11:11 am (UTC)I was saying this to Mr. Diva just the other day. How is this really any different than going to see your MD when you've got an infection? There's an imbalance, you find the proper treatment to restore (or gain) balance. Sure, therapy is a lot more work than just going to the doctor and getting a prescription for antibiotics (sadly), but I've really gotten to the point where I see it all as being a part of the same process. I don't see going to a counselor as any different from going to an MD, or a massage therapist, or an accupuncturist. It's just all a part of trying to find the very best way you can of taking care of yourself.
And it's a learning process, too, sweetie. Just because you don't have the tools right now to pull yourself out of your doldrums, doesn't mean you won't in the future. I spent most of my life horribly depressed, suicidal at times, stuck in that space and didn't really see a way out of it. But I spent a lot of years in therapy, and tried a bunch of different stuff and eventually got to the point where I figured out what works to pull myself out of it. But it took nearly twenty years to get to the point I'm at now. And I still have minor spells of feeling moody, but they're very short and never very serious. I have the tools I need now to head off a big depression at the pass. So you may get to the point where you are able to figure out what you need to pull yourself out by your bootstraps. But don't feel bad that you need someone to teach you how to do it. That's sort of like feeling bad that you needed someone to teach you how to read. Sure, some people teach themselves to read, but not very many, and how silly is it to imagine that we could get through life without the input and assistance of other people or without giving assistance and input to others?
We spend all these years being taught ways of being in the world that don't work for shit, and then beat ourselves up because they don't work and we don't know what else to do. And everyone's best course is unique, so of course it takes a lot of work to figure it out, and also to learn to ignore the well-meant suggestions of other people which don't work for you. It's no wonder that most of us need therapy/12 step groups/etc. and that those that aren't going really probably ought to be.
Just know that my prayers are with you, and that I am certain that you are going to find everything you need to express your life in the fullest way with the greatest joy.