So, just now I reached out to get counseling via Lori’s employee benefits program. I gave them my information and now I’m waiting for them to connect me with somebody in the area who I can talk to. The anxiety and feeling of being overwhelmed that I’ve described in these posts doesn’t seem to be going away, so I think it’d be good to talk to a professional about it. But! Because I’m who I am, there were a few roadblocks I had to overcome just to make the call to the benefits people;
“Things really aren’t that bad right now. You probably don’t feel bad enough to try getting help.”
The Healthlink BC website addresses this and says “Unfortunately, many people don’t seek treatment for anxiety disorders. You may not seek treatment because you think the symptoms are not bad enough or that you can work things out on your own. But getting treatment is important.”
Also, one time on Christmas Day I thought I had appendicitis and went to the ER. After seeing a doctor it was determined not to be as bad as I thought at all. But I didn’t feel like a rotten person who wasted everyone’s time; I felt relieved that I’d spoken to an understanding, reassuring professional. If it’s true that my problems “aren’t that bad”, it’ll still be good to speak to a professional about them and get advice.
“You don’t really want to bother those nice counselors, do you? Leave them be so they can help those who really need it.”
I’m not “bothering” a counselor to access their services. Talking to people like me is literally their job. Also, as someone once said, the fact that another person has a broken leg doesn’t mean your ankle isn’t sprained. Still needs attention!
“Since you can only use the employee benefit plan a certain number of times, hadn’t you better save it for when you really need help? “
Nope! As Lori wisely pointed out, she pays the same amount into the plan whether or not we get any use out of it. So I might as well!
Thing I Saw Yesterday: A variety of so-called “Neon LED” decorations at an electronics store in town. They’re things like flamingoes and cacti shaped out of strings of LED lights. But like, the words “Neon LED” next to each other don’t make sense to me, because an LED isn’t a Neon Light, because neon’s a gas, and and and anyway a good fix would be to say “Neon-style LED” decoration.
Thing I Learned Yesterday: Playing Skyrim on Switch with good headphones makes some dungeons legitimately tense and creepy again, especially anything with those friggin’ spiders. I never minded the spiders when playing on the Xbox 360, but now they’re seriously unnerving me.
I’m Grateful For: Access to health benefit programs through work!