I am grateful to my therapist and to myself that I embarked on this journey. There is no shame in me accepting this opportunity to grow, and I will add increasing mental health service access to my long list of contributions I want to make to this world before I meet my maker.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey ya'll!
I'm going to try a new posting schedule for my blog, once a week. This is because 1. I love writing and almost never do it without being prompted and 2. my therapist tells me routines are good.
Overview
Speaking of therapy, let's speak. I started going to therapy when I was a Junior in college, coming off of the 2016 presidential election. Born and raised in Bangladesh, where mental health is not a topic worthy of being discussed, I was not taught to think of myself as someone who "needed" therapy. This kind of thought process stems from social conditioning, which makes us feel like if we are not capable of dealing with our struggles ourselves, someone failed to raise us, and we failed to grow up.
This is entirely false. As humans, we exist in community. This is the pinnacle of humanity, seeking and providing help. While we continue to shift our collective global focus towards innovations in STEM, we ignore the brain's need for rest, for recuperation; our brains need time to process, to make sense of all of the information it takes in day to day.
Coupled with capitalism, i.e. the society structure that almost the entire world participates in, which dictates that our productivity and worth as humans comes from our ability to produce a good, our brains are almost always on overload. It stands to reason that everyone in our lives are experiencing the same levels of mental fatigue. As much as we may try, we cannot fully be each others' support systems all of the time.
Mental health services, such as professional therapy, is a beautiful fuck you to capitalism. Of course I am aware that no such services should have to be commercialized, and that there are so many obstacles in accessing mental health resources in countries where they exist. But still, the fact that there is a career dedicated to serving the brain, letting it breath, teaching it how to form healthy thoughts and living habits, in a career-driven society, is beautiful. Increasing access to such services will help everyone like it has helped me, a Type A, career-driven, capitalist human.
Nuggets of Wisdom
My therapist is my best friend (after my mother because come on), and she said 2 things about therapy I'd like to tell the world.
One
It is necessary to give ourselves time for ourselves. Since most of us are never taught how to spend time with ourselves in a healthy manner, structured therapy is a tool we can use to give our brains the time and space to focus on the human it exists inside of.
Two
Therapy can work for everyone, if they are willing and able to access it and understand that the goal of therapy isn't to magically heal you, but to provide you with the tools necessary to make sense of day to day life. This applies not only to tragedy, trauma, and misery, as stigmatized, but anything to do with balance, routine, coping mechanisms, conflict resolution, and conflict management.
Personal Connection
I personally started therapy because as someone going into public service, having lived in America for 7 years at the time, my entire career-path seemed hopeless. I spend my days advocating for increased rights for marginalized identities, and experiencing that election broke my brain.
Since going to therapy, I've come to understand that I did not need a "reason" to be there. I am human, and I deserve to dedicate time to understanding myself, and loving myself.
I've learned to...
talk to myself in ways that encourage growth, instead of criticizing who I am.
catch my negative thoughts, and turn them into harmonious ones.
behave in conflict in ways that establish compromise, not turmoil.
recognize what works for me, by learning to talk to myself and listen to myself.
As such, I've learned to appreciate my contributions, while recognizing my limitations. Ultimately, these skills have made it so my contributions to the world, and to the people that matter most to me, are more pure, and more worthwhile.
That's what therapy has done for me. And I am grateful to my therapist and to myself that I embarked on this journey. There is no shame in me accepting this opportunity to grow, and I will add increasing mental health service access to my long list of contributions I want to make to this world before I meet my maker.
In Conclusion
Please please use any and all mental health resources available to you, and encourage these conversations in your life that de-stigmatize the use of mental health resources. We're all just trying to survive. Please hit me up if you can't access any structured resources, I can share some things I've learned with you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey ya'll!
I'm going to try a new posting schedule for my blog, once a week. This is because 1. I love writing and almost never do it without being prompted and 2. my therapist tells me routines are good.
Overview
Speaking of therapy, let's speak. I started going to therapy when I was a Junior in college, coming off of the 2016 presidential election. Born and raised in Bangladesh, where mental health is not a topic worthy of being discussed, I was not taught to think of myself as someone who "needed" therapy. This kind of thought process stems from social conditioning, which makes us feel like if we are not capable of dealing with our struggles ourselves, someone failed to raise us, and we failed to grow up.
This is entirely false. As humans, we exist in community. This is the pinnacle of humanity, seeking and providing help. While we continue to shift our collective global focus towards innovations in STEM, we ignore the brain's need for rest, for recuperation; our brains need time to process, to make sense of all of the information it takes in day to day.
Coupled with capitalism, i.e. the society structure that almost the entire world participates in, which dictates that our productivity and worth as humans comes from our ability to produce a good, our brains are almost always on overload. It stands to reason that everyone in our lives are experiencing the same levels of mental fatigue. As much as we may try, we cannot fully be each others' support systems all of the time.
Mental health services, such as professional therapy, is a beautiful fuck you to capitalism. Of course I am aware that no such services should have to be commercialized, and that there are so many obstacles in accessing mental health resources in countries where they exist. But still, the fact that there is a career dedicated to serving the brain, letting it breath, teaching it how to form healthy thoughts and living habits, in a career-driven society, is beautiful. Increasing access to such services will help everyone like it has helped me, a Type A, career-driven, capitalist human.
Nuggets of Wisdom
My therapist is my best friend (after my mother because come on), and she said 2 things about therapy I'd like to tell the world.
One
It is necessary to give ourselves time for ourselves. Since most of us are never taught how to spend time with ourselves in a healthy manner, structured therapy is a tool we can use to give our brains the time and space to focus on the human it exists inside of.
Two
Therapy can work for everyone, if they are willing and able to access it and understand that the goal of therapy isn't to magically heal you, but to provide you with the tools necessary to make sense of day to day life. This applies not only to tragedy, trauma, and misery, as stigmatized, but anything to do with balance, routine, coping mechanisms, conflict resolution, and conflict management.
Personal Connection
I personally started therapy because as someone going into public service, having lived in America for 7 years at the time, my entire career-path seemed hopeless. I spend my days advocating for increased rights for marginalized identities, and experiencing that election broke my brain.
Since going to therapy, I've come to understand that I did not need a "reason" to be there. I am human, and I deserve to dedicate time to understanding myself, and loving myself.
I've learned to...
talk to myself in ways that encourage growth, instead of criticizing who I am.
catch my negative thoughts, and turn them into harmonious ones.
behave in conflict in ways that establish compromise, not turmoil.
recognize what works for me, by learning to talk to myself and listen to myself.
As such, I've learned to appreciate my contributions, while recognizing my limitations. Ultimately, these skills have made it so my contributions to the world, and to the people that matter most to me, are more pure, and more worthwhile.
That's what therapy has done for me. And I am grateful to my therapist and to myself that I embarked on this journey. There is no shame in me accepting this opportunity to grow, and I will add increasing mental health service access to my long list of contributions I want to make to this world before I meet my maker.
In Conclusion
Please please use any and all mental health resources available to you, and encourage these conversations in your life that de-stigmatize the use of mental health resources. We're all just trying to survive. Please hit me up if you can't access any structured resources, I can share some things I've learned with you!
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