Thought Picnic: Appreciating The Need For Therapy

Knowing yourself to others

It has taken quite a while for me to begin to realise to any appreciable extent the consequences of serious illness.

I am 3 years away from a life-threatening diagnosis that I survived and have continued to recover from in other aspects of my life.

Somehow, the force of my personality was not helpful for the additional support I should have received from the outset. It transpired that people who had suffered as I once did are usually offered therapy as part of the holistic treatment regimen just to ensure that other issues do not complicate the medical situation.

Demand help either way

Apparently, I seemed to project the idea that all was fine, especially because I was not exhibiting any of the classic signs of depression that professionals could easily address.

There was no doubt in my mind that things had changed about my personality and confidence but those were difficult to assess using any of the conventional measures that all I ever got was the opportunity to chat to a stranger after struggling for 3 sessions to convince them I needed help.

Losses and keeps

Meanwhile, what I have termed the long tail of illness was waging war against my ability to get a job and I was losing things like my confidence, my purpose, my possessions and literally all that I had acquired in a lifetime

I could not explain the feeling that hit me when I realised that literally all my worldly possessions were given away when I thought something will be obtained in exchange for the stuff, I had trusted people with a responsibility they did not assume properly you just had to walk away and be thankful for life.

I gained my health whilst everything else was lost except the will to live and hope that change for the better was on its way.

Keeping sane

My lesson is with the onset of serious illness, get treatment for the body and well as for the mind, for the greater battle is always in the mind and it will determine how well you come out at the end of that experience.

Therapy is good for the soul and it is not about going mad, it is about keeping sane.