As someone who’s been going to therapy consistently since their sophomore year of high school, I can attest to the fact that it can be extremely helpful for maintaining a stable mental state, especially throughout college. Whether or not you have a diagnosed mental condition that may require you to attend therapy sessions, I am a firm believer that everyone should receive mental health counseling. Knowing that someone is there specifically to listen to you and to understand and empathize with your problems, and help you better yourself mentally, is so important for everyone to have.
We have no idea what other people deal with in their daily lives, and most of them end up having to go through hardships alone, with no one to lean on. Before I started therapy, I found myself crying alone in my room all the time, feeling so alone, like I was the only person in the world who understood what I was going through. After going to my first counseling session, my therapist made me realize that there are thousands, millions even, of other people feeling exactly what I’m feeling and understanding my pain, and that thought was so comforting.
Even if you don’t have diagnosed depression or another mental disorder that would require counseling, it’s just a great option to have someone who will listen to you whenever you need them who won’t judge you. For years I struggled to cope with my emotions in healthy ways; I relied on unhealthy coping mechanisms and self-sabotaged myself more times than I can count. I’m not saying therapy completely “fixed” me because these bad habits still resurface every once in a while, but it definitely made it easier to cope with trauma and heavy emotions.
Ever since therapy became a thing, there’s always been this negative connotation surrounding it, almost like we were shaming people who admitted to needing help. In reality, realizing that you need counseling and taking those steps toward bettering your mental health takes so much courage, and I applaud everyone who has taken those advances to be their best selves mentally. There’s no reason to feel ashamed about going to therapy because I can guarantee that most people wished they had someone to talk to about their problems that way instead of suffering in silence. Being your own problem solver and dealing with things on your own is exhausting, anyone can admit, and counseling just makes that load a little bit lighter. We need to stop making people feel like mental health issues make them lesser than everyone else or consider them “weak-minded” for needing to reach out for professional help.
In college, I feel as though it’s more important than ever that everyone receive mental health counseling. These can be some of the most trying times of people’s lives, trying to juggle school, work, internships, having a social life and extracurriculars—it’s so easy to get overwhelmed along the way. Having someone to talk to about all these things who can help you manage your time and reduce your stress is essential to improving or maintaining your mental health.
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