I was a sophomore in high school when I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, which is characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry, that is, apprehensive expectation about events or activities.

Prior to my diagnosis, my life as an academic and perfectionist came to a screeching halt. After one bad class experience, I suddenly found myself paralyzed by the fear that I was not and would not be good enough, smart enough, whatever enough to complete schoolwork, so why even start?

I wanted to get my GED, drop out, do homeschooling, anything that would seemingly take off the crushing pressure I had put on myself. But at the time I couldn't recognize it was a pressure I had applied to my own life, I thought it was the rigid Catholic institution I attended or hard classes that I wasn't ready for; I thought these standards were being set by society and I felt trapped. So after many fights with my parents about how a seemingly star student like myself could want to quit entirely, I saw a therapist.

My therapist was extremely helpful at the time, giving me coping tools, especially in regards to schoolwork--ways for me to break up work so I wouldn't get overwhelmed and how to put larger problems into perspective so my thoughts wouldn't snowball. So, like must young people that attend therapy, I stopped going after a couple of months. Seemingly "fixed" I continued my high school education as a straight-A student, graduated and continued on to college.

I made it almost a year before similar lingering feelings came back into my mind, as school work was increasing in difficulty alongside increasing personal problems with friends and loved ones. For awhile I attempted to manage on my own, again, only really focusing on the ways I could increase school productivity by putting my anxiety aside. This helped me academically and professionally, but my anxiety did not go away. And for the first time this made me realize that my anxiety was not simply confined to the realms of my education or job, but that it was a part of all facets of my life. So this past year I decide to start going to therapy again, as my anxiety had led to near-debilitating insomnia despite my general success in life at the time.

Therapy has been great and I think it's important for people to know that it can be. It gives me a place to move the incessant dialogues that analyze every little detail in my mind outside of myself. My therapist often does not arrive at different conclusions than I would, or correct my perspective on issues so much as gets me to stop thinking about problems I've already solved. Once she and I find an end, I can stop worrying about issues that would continue to consume me. And those aforementioned coping techniques, whether they be for school or something else, still are useful. Overall, I use the space to verbalize my own self-awareness: my goals and the way they impact my daily life, my principles and they way they impact my interactions and decisions, etc. It helps me become content with the opinions I have and choices I make; it's a sounding board for my every little thought, my inner monologue.

But this constant flow of thoughts only explains part of where my anxiety stems from. To actually treat it I've had to change the way I live my life on a daily basis alongside my therapy. I started running again, and spend time cooking healthy and delicious food. I started doing meditations when I wake up and go to bed to help me turn my brain on and off in more productive ways--despite the fact that this is way out of my personality's wheelhouse. In other words, I fill my non-working (or non-schooling) time with things I love and keep me busy in healthy and enjoyable ways. How can I sit around over-analyzing my life when I'm enjoying the beauty of my neighborhood on a jog, or the new flavors and ingredients I'm cooking with. How can I panic about my day when I'm waking up or trying to sleep if I'm listening to a soothing meditation or a song that I love? I love music, so I spend more time making playlists, going to concerts, and enjoying albums. I love art so I spending more time reading articles about it, and drawing myself. I love politics so I spend time watching current events shows or reading the news. I love fashion so I read magazines. I love reading novels so I read contemporary fiction. I love good humor so I watch comedy and funny TV.

All of these things make me far happier than just therapy alone would. I need therapy, but I also need every other moment of my life to prevent the sort of feelings that make me need therapy in the first place. I need daily preventative care so that my corrective care isn't so hard, or so necessary. So that maybe one day I can go without therapy again, or maybe be able to go a little less. As my title suggests, therapy is great, but things to keep you from therapy are better.

But one final thing to note, even if you try your hardest to work on the causes of your anxiety each and every day, even if you are going to therapy, anxiety does not go away. That is why I referred to therapy as a way of treating anxiety, not curing it. You will still have bad days and they will never get any easier, but that is okay. In reality, all of these treatments are just small steps, none of them will fix the problem, not even when used together, so don't treat them as cures. Work towards them, as they're each important in their own right and will help more than you can know, but you will still have anxiety. That is okay, now you just have to be okay with it.