I think this world would be a lot easier to live in if we could all just admit that nobody gets out of it without some kind of emotional scars. Yet, for some reason, when people ask us how we’re doing we are taught to respond “Good.” When things go wrong we’re expected to smile through it on our own. Why is that? Take a minute and ask yourself what is so wrong with asking for help? Since when does being vulnerable and being broken mean you’re not strong? Even concrete breaks.
Everybody who has gone to therapy is aware of the stigma attached to it. Everybody who has gone to therapy and avoided telling people about it is also aware of the stigma. Last but not least, everybody who has wanted to go to therapy but is too embarrassed is aware. It's important to talk about these illusions that surround therapy because the first step to normalizing it and the people who are feeling vulnerable is knowing of the issues that surround them.
One of the biggest misconceptions of those who go to therapy is that they are crazy. This is the furthest thing from the truth. In fact, it would be alot easier if the word "crazy" could just be omitted completely. First, it stigmatizes not only the people who go to therapy but those who are mentally ill. It's also important to realize, that not everybody who goes to a therapist is mentally ill. Google defines crazy as "mentally deranged, especially as manifested in a wild or aggressive way." Most of the people who go to therapy are going because they are overwhelmed with their thoughts, or they're trying to sort through feelings that are consuming them.
The other one I hear all the time is that people who go to therapy are weak. I can't even begin understand how people can think this. Maybe if you've never been at a point where you needed someone else's help you're just blind to it. But, to me, those who are willing to admit that they need to get help and are actively trying to find ways to better themselves are stronger than anyone. If society can get rid of this conception that people who need help are weak, a lot more lives could be saved. A lot of broken people could be fixed.
When someone has to go to the doctors because they’re physically ill nobody bats an eye, because we know they can’t control their sickness. They didn’t ask to be sick, it just happened. So why is it that when somebody goes to a doctor because they’re mentally ill, or even just in need of someone to talk to, we feel the need to look at them like they are different. They didn’t ask to be sick, it just happened.
