Mental Health

Mental health. 

I feel like for years this topic has been labeled as “taboo” in the Black community, but I’m happy to see that misconception fading. 

During the last couple of years, I’ve experienced firsthand just how much my mental health ends up affecting my physical health. My body reacts to stress in the most terrible of ways, and nowadays, I try and ask myself what I can do to compartmentalize the amount of stress I have to deal with. 

In the past I’ve gone to therapy, but it wasn’t until last year that I realized that was something I needed to very seriously pursue again. I often get so overwhelmed and stressed that I just shut down. I don’t want to leave my apartment, I barely eat, and I just don’t have the energy to do parts of my daily routine. When I get like this, my mother instantly knows something is off. She’s the one who recommended that I start seeing a therapist again. 

I was hesitant at first, but then I realized how much I needed to talk to someone outside of my friends and family. After finding a Black, female therapist, I knew I was on the right track to getting my mental state to a better place. During my first session, I bawled my eyes out. I didn’t realize just how much I had been holding in. I was able to be vulnerable, which usually takes me a while to do. While I was content with my decision to start going to therapy, I’m upset that it took me so long to come to that decision. 

While life will never stop being stressful and challenging, I will never stop finding ways to deal with what’s thrown at me and grow because of it.