If you’ve experienced anxiety, depression or any other mental health issue, you may be thinking about seeking therapy. But, perhaps you’ve been too nervous to take the plunge. What if the therapist doesn’t understand me or judges me? What if I don’t know where to start? Our Anxiety In Teens Summer 2018 Fellows are here to clear the air and give you the confidence you need to seek the help you deserve. From their collective input, we’ve compiled some of the most important takeaways from their experience in therapy:
You Are In Control
If you don’t want to talk about something, you can just say, “I don’t want to talk about that right now.” If you don’t think something is working, you can say, “Let’s try something else.” One of the aspects of therapy that I found so scary was that I thought I was going to go into a situation in which I had no control. The truth is that you are the one leading the session, and the therapist is a guide.
Hitting Rock Bottom
You get to choose your rock bottom. When I was hospitalized, I was talking with my roommate one night about how hard it is to know when you’ve reached the bottom. Other people tell their stories and it sounds like there is this “aha” moment for everyone where they wake up and know, “It’s going to get better tomorrow.”
This isn’t the case. I was depressed for months thinking, “It’s got to get better soon.” Then I resumed cutting to cope and I would think, “It’s got to get better soon.” Then I developed a voice in my head and I would think, “It’s got to get better soon.”
Do The Work 
It wasn’t until the conversation with my roommate that I realized that things don’t get better on their own- you need to do the work. It’s painful, and some days you can only make one tiny, agonizing step forward. Other days you’ll slip back into old habits and wonder if you’ll ever get out. That’s okay, as long as you’re trying. In the end, each of those tiny steps will lead to huge progress- you just have to make the choice to start going up. – Andrea
I wish I went sooner!
“I wish I had known before that day that I was okay to ask for help from medical professionals because they validate your feelings with medical evidence. If I could have seen a doctor for my anxiety and depression five years earlier than I did I think that I would be further into my journey with my struggles.” -McKenna
Symptoms May Come Back, But You Can and Will Handle It
“I still struggle with my thoughts and anxiety from time to time but I know there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve fought through this once and I can do it again. I know my OCD will never “go away” but I can learn to not listen to it because it is not who I am. The keys to successfully battle a mental illness are; motivation, being proactive, support, and enlightenment. These things have helped me throughout in my journey. Of course, I would rather not have OCD, but if I didn’t I wouldn’t be who I am today. I believe it has made me mentally stronger than most.“ – Shaymus
By: Collective Anxiety In Teens Contributors