The Moment I Realized I Need A Therapist

For what seems to be my entire life, I feel that I always manage my stress, anxiety, and struggles on my own – which I don’t think now looking back was the best thing to do. If I can be honest, I have always been insanely independent, and don’t like asking for help. I was always “that person” who brushed off the idea of a therapist, or speaking out my problems with someone who may be able to make me feel better.  This is the story of when I came to what felt like my breaking point, and I finally realized that I need to seek help by getting a therapist. 

I’m no different than any Millennial or Gen Zer, and that is that fact that dating and relationships are INCREDIBLY hard, and mentally draining. I’ve always had the best luck meeting people, but the problem was that they were always the wrong people in terms of goals and intentions with me. My breaking point was essentially the last straw where I was mentally done having people waste my time, where I could have been putting that time towards someone different. This caused me to honestly break down for what seemed like weeks, entirely upset with myself, and what was wrong with me. 

I have trouble talking this out to friends, family, and well anyone close to me – this seemed like an absolute safe space given I don’t “really” know any of you. Going back to the story, the way I acted and behaved was truly out of line in my eyes, because no relationship is worth the tears and frustrations that this one caused. I really am a confident person in my day to day, so why was someone who ended up not being significant to me ruining this vision of myself? I finally realized that there are some things I can deal with on my own such as when I have a lot on my plate that stresses me out, or a debacle with a friend over something not that important. Although, the root of a lot of my stress and negative moments mental health-wise was in relation to relationships with potential significant others.

This led me to finally seek help from a third-party source, a therapist. I’m still in the process of seeing which kind of therapist would be the best fit for me, especially since there are different kinds of specialties they have. All I need to say to wrap up is that I don’t know why I was originally so blind sighted to say that I don’t need a therapist. I should be prioritizing my mental health more often – especially more now as an adult.

If you see a therapist, when was the moment you chose to start seeing one? What was your process like in finding one? Were you ever resistant to the idea of therapy? Have you ever reflected on items that specifically trigger anxiety or depressive symptoms?