Hi Innerbattle
I think one of the hardest things can involve putting our thoughts and feelings into words, especially when we've never been taught how to do it. Actually, if it's the complete opposite and we've been conditioned or taught how to not do it, this can definitely make things even harder.
Scared offers a brilliant way forward which involves putting words on paper and letting that paper speak for you. Even then it can be challenging. How to hand that paper over? If we've been conditioned to never admit to anyone we're struggling, it can be like handing over a written admission. Once it's handed over, there's no going back. Technically, that means only going forward and this is a good thing, the first step on a different path.
I think it's about how to put the truth into words and admitting that truth in a way that feels comfortable in some way. The truth could sound like
- I've actually come here for my mental health, rather than my physical health or
- I've reached a point in my life where I'm struggling to cope, mentally or
- I've come here today looking for some way forward, based on me feeling so incredibly lost and depressed or
- I need a mental health assessment and a referral (which is pretty straight to the point)
Just a handful of ways to phrase the same thing.
Once you throw out a line, if the doctor is good they'll guide you through the rest. They'll lead the conversation. While they may ask some challenging questions, such as 'What leads you to say that?', a simple answer may suffice. Again, the simple truth may sound like 'Look, I just can't put it into words but believe me when I say I'm seriously struggling in life at the moment and I need to speak to someone'.
One of the greatest challenges, when it comes to what we fear doing, can involve that emotion or that energy in motion that we can feel within our self. Stress, anxiety or fear, call it what you will. If you change what you call it and you call it courage, then that emotion can take on a different nature. Instead of 'I can feel myself becoming so worked up by stress (in the waiting room at the doctors)' it becomes 'I can feel myself becoming so worked up by courage'. It's amazing how similar stress and courage can feel. If the level of courage becomes too breathtaking, breathe some of it out if that's what works. Too much courage can feel overwhelming.
Btw, while I genuinely feel (sometimes to the point of tears) the deepest level of compassion and heartache for those who have experienced incredible trauma which has led them into a depression, there is no denying a depression can be felt based on many different reasons. We should never deny our self the opportunity to better understand our own reasons for sufferance.
