Sonder: Youth Mental Health Stories of Struggle & Strength | Page 36

BETTER CONT.
You were lost. You did research. Clinical anxiety goes hand-in-
hand with SPD. God, how you hated the sound of SPD. Disorder.
What an awful word. Why don’t you just write “MESSED UP” all
over my psychologist application form? You thought. You were jealous
of people with mental conditions that sounded simple, low-key.
You started a new school. You made new friends, you got into
fights, you started over. You forgot for a while, because your life
was limited to middle school and you were occupied with the
side effects of that.
Then you started seeing a therapist regularly. She worked in
the same practice as your family therapist. Convenient. You
could see both of your therapists in one trip, if you pleased.
She helped. New strategies, mantras, notes, and words filled
the shelves of your head and that was great. Your parents
smiled and mostly didn’t pick for the details of your meetings,
because your therapist told them to leave it be. You were
getting better.
You were improving. You still are. And that’s what’s important.
You’ll never be “fixed,” but you’ll be stronger. And you will know
so much more than when you started. You won’t be 100%
better, but you’ll be better off. And that’s great. ●
34  Anxiety