Treatment of my mental health was not simple nor obvious. It took 3 doctors and 4 therapists before I found the right ones who could figure out not only what was going on with me, but also what was going on with my mind.
Because when I first started losing my mind — that wasn’t obvious either.
My friends first noticed it, when I would stare off into the distance for minutes on end without hearing what they were saying. Then my family noticed I bagged off from going to the usual family affairs that I normally would show up to.
Then my work noticed when I stopped coming into work. First I claimed that I was sick. Then I was sick — with my mental illness. But I couldn’t tell them that, of course, for fear of losing my job and my security clearance.
Treatment of my mental health was not simple nor obvious. But it was a necessary step in my recovery, and I’m glad I went and suffered through all those doctors appointments. Because while I wouldn’t say I was “cured” by any stretch of the imagination, I am doing much better now and am back at work.
But mental health in America still suffers… and we’ll talk about that more next month.