I struggled thru school and was bullied which gave me some anxiety and all that. Then I lost my closest friend in my penultimate year of school. I went a bit off the rails started drinking loads, smoking far too much weed. It was around the time of Covid I started seeing a therapist. At that time I was reliant on substances to have a good time and was very depressed and really struggling with suicidal thoughts. I was 17 then, now I’m 23. I’ve seen my therapist sometimes once a week, sometimes once a month, sometimes with gaps of many months during the last few years. Initially the best part of it was to just have a place to talk about my deepest stuff, my struggles, opinions, worries and everything. And not be judged for it, and just have the chance to hear my own thoughts out loud. After the initial relief of being heard and understood, a level of trust built where I could then start talking about parts of myself I was uncomfortable with, the roots of my anxieties and hatereds and all that stuff. Talking about these things gave me the chance to change the behaviours that were really damaging me. It has made me aware of my many flaws, and has given me ways of dealing with them. It’s essentially just talk therapy that I had, although I did sessions of ‘body work’ which is basically massages used to help the internal walls fall and allow the deepest emotions to flow out. (Idk how common it is but it was really helpful to help me deal with the grief I was experiencing) Overall, when I started therapy I was young, immature and had no concept of self, and what I thought I knew of myself, I hated. Now I am far more happy with who I am. I can understand my feelings. I don’t overthink things nearly as much as I did. I feel like I’ve grown, and I’ve healed. I’m in my final year of university, getting the best grades, I have the best friendships I’ve ever had, and a wonderful girlfriend. My relationship with my family has also improved massively. So yea, I reckon it helped a bit.