“How are you surviving like this,” she said to me.

I did not plan on answering; even though her eyes were begging me to. The words were
on the tip of my tongue, but my lips would not let them through.
“Is there anything you need to tell me?”
The next thing I knew we were all sitting on a couch in front of a woman we had never
seen before. Yet both my parents and I were crying in front of her, asking her for guidance,
seeking the help we needed. The help I needed.
In the U.S. alone, two out of ten children in the U.S. suffer from mental health problems.
However, one out of ten children ask to go to some form of therapy or counseling. Which means
that half of the kids who need help do not get any because they feel uncomfortable or scared.
I was frightened at first too; I did not want to be looked at as if I had become a different
person. Though I was strong for saying something, and for sitting on that women’s couch. If only
more people understood this. One in every four people will experience a mental health problem
at some point in their life; and most of them believe that asking help and support will make them
a target for stigma and stereotypes.
I wasn’t looked at as fragile or feeble; however, I was pitied. I could see it in their eyes,
and hear it in their voice as they made an attempt to show their interest and concern. It was
quite annoying in the beginning, but it brought me and my mother closer together in the end.
I was also getting to know the woman whose couch I sit on, my therapist. We have
gotten to know each other pretty well and I have learned three main things about her: she is
also a teacher, she values empathy, and she absolutely loves cheez its. I have merely known
her six months but there is no doubt in my mind that she knows me better than I know myself.
By the year 2020 there will be a 40 percent increase in job opportunities for counselors
and therapists. Imagine the increase if everyone who needed help asked for it. If people would
be more accepting and caring of others and their situation. Though. I don’t let the assumptions
and comments get to me. I continue to go to therapy, and sit on that same couch.
“I need to talk to you.”