Have you seen my brain? I'd like it back.

Ok, so I blog for therapy but today I went to ACTUAL therapy. I was enrolled by my psychiatrist when I was having some destructive thoughts a couple weeks ago in an intensive outpatient group therapy program. I really liked it! I found it so helpful to talk to others who are struggling with the same things I am, and to learn coping skills to help me take control back in my life. Medication only helps me stabilize, they aren't happy pills that fix all my problems. Now that I'm getting stable I need to learn how to handle my stress and anxiety, because that never goes away.

My mom taught me something this week that I hadn't thought about before. One thing this disease has done for me (she's still trying to talk me into being grateful for it) is that it has stripped away all of my pride and brought me to new levels of humility, and not in a bad way. I have exposed my weaknesses and struggles for everyone to see. I used to be afraid of that, SOOO afraid of admitting I had a mental illness, because I didn't want to be judged or teased. There is a social stigma associated with mental illness that is perpetrated in the media, in hollywood, in books and magazines and movies. What I found instead was support, understanding and acceptance. Not being afraid of it is actually accelerating my healing.

So yay for group therapy! There really is something to be said for sharing our common experiences and knowing we're not alone! My other favorite kind of group therapy? A girls night out at the Golden Spoon.