Not "Damaged" Enough

     I started going to therapy because I couldn't go a day without having a panic attack. My anxiety had gotten to the point that it interfered with my ability to function on a daily basis, and so my primary care nurse practitioner suggested that I try mental health counseling. Fast forward to today, and I'm in a much different place. My anxiety no longer interferes with my ability to function, and I haven't had a panic attack in (possibly) close to a year. In other words, I no longer seem "damaged enough" to need weekly (or bi-weekly) therapy anymore, but I still go to my appointments.
     My mom recently met someone at work who's story feels similar to mine. This person deals with anxiety on a daily basis and has often-occurring panic attacks to the point that the person's primary care doctor put them on anti-anxiety medication. (They were actively having a panic attack at work when my mom met them. It's actually WHY she met them. She wanted to help.) When my mom asked them about therapy, they told her they had tried to get therapy, but the provider told them they were "not damaged enough for therapy". So, they never tried to seek therapy again, despite the anxiety and panic attacks that still continue to interrupt their life.
     There is this idea of what people need to be like before they're "allowed" to justifiably seek mental health counseling. You know, they need to be suicidal or they need to be literally unable to function in their day-to-day life. Or, they needed to have had a really traumatic event happen to them, like surviving a war, domestic and/or sexual violence, or some other terrible thing that really "damaged" them. Society needs to be able to objectively see that someone is  unarguably "damaged" before therapy is necessary. In other words, society tells us that therapy is only meant to be used as a last resort to help someone survive instead of a resource to help someone thrive.
     That's completely the wrong idea to have about therapy. Therapy isn't meant to be a last resort. Therapy is actually meant to be a resource to help everyone thrive. I honestly believe that a yearly mental health check-up should be a common part of the usual yearly check-up list. Nothing has to be "wrong" with anyone for them to go get a yearly physical or to go get their eyes checked every year. So, nothing has to be wrong for someone to make an appointment with a therapist every year or every six months for a brain check-up.
     Thriving instead of just surviving is so important. The first minute that you start to notice something feels "off" or that your thinking has shifted to a place that you don't like, go ahead and call a therapist. Nobody else has to tell you that you're "damaged" or that you need help before you're allowed to go and get it. You can do that as soon as you feel like you need it because you know yourself better than anyone else. You don't have to wait until you're barely functioning to go talk to someone. Again, therapy is a resource, not a last resort.
     Therapy can also help with stress management. (Even happy changes and events can be stressful, friends.) Therapy can help you be a more effective communicator or a more effective boss for your employees. You can also go to therapy to learn about and understand yourself as part of an adventure in  personal growth.
     I'll end with this: Society tells us that therapy should only be used as a last resort to help us survive, that we must be "damaged enough" and at our breaking point before we seek help. That is the wrong way to think about it. Therapy is a resource that is meant to help us thrive as well as survive. Therapy is a great way to start a journey of introspection and personal growth as well as a treatment for mental health conditions.