It’s Monday and the whimsical tone of my phone pings to notify me of my therapist appointment in 10 minutes.
Oh goodness, do we have to do this today?
It’s during these diminishing minutes when I truly struggle with whether or not I should take the appointment.
According to the popular mental wellness site GoodTherapy, 1 in 5 adults deals with a mental health condition and less than 40% of those people seek treatment.
I wish I could say this statistic was my reason for accepting the meeting with my therapist, but if I’m being honest, it was mainly because the week prior I was galivanting my therapy badge like an honored cub scout during an awards ceremony. Telling family and friends how important consistent therapy session was for my well-being and how they too should try it.
Yes! Marvel upon my emotional stability which I treat with the utmost care!
However, here I was with my first appointment in more than six months and debating whether I should accept it.
The American Psychological Association believes if you have anything that makes you nervous or uncomfortable talking about, it’s a usually good indicator you have something to discuss in therapy. I did have something to talk about on this day: I was taking a leave of absence from work and had been struggling to address it with my parents.
It was something I spoke about with my wife and loved ones intimately but insurmountable to discuss with my father. Basically, I needed some time away and, for some reason, I couldn’t for the life of me talk about it with my father.
Dad, I’m feeling anxious and need some time away from work.
You see, emotions aren’t a typical thing we talk about in our family and I’m willing to guess they weren’t something you talked about in your household either. Now if you spent your entire life discussing your emotional well-being in a supportive environment with people you trusted, then bravo, pass go and collect your $200!
You likely know the importance of keeping your emotional health at an optimum level. My wife had a similar upbringing and understood the importance of talking about things. She was the reason I started seeing a therapist in early 2019 when a lot of my behavior growing up was like that of a person with bipolar disorder and was the predominant reason for my current leave of absence.
Throughout my life, I have gone through what I can only refer to as cycles, which have either been great or outright terrible. Talking about these problems as they begin to mount has done wonders for me and I would encourage you to also take the time to check in on your emotional well-being.
One of the most effective ways of taking care of yourself according to the National Library of Medicine is by taking steps to manage your mental well-being, suggesting Psychiatric disorders are associated with other diseases which could impact overall health.
Granted, therapy will not solve all your problems and if you go there without a goal, your standard therapist may not know how to engage you in a productive manner. However, this doesn’t discredit that you should make it a priority to talk with a mental health professional.
I ended up attending therapy and it went well.
Later, I spoke with my dad regarding my leave of absence, and it also went well. He may not know how to talk about his problems, but he knows how to listen to mine. It also helped that I had met with someone who helped me navigate the conversation with my father and how I could cope if the conversation didn’t go the way I hoped.
The B Side 