How to tell my parents I want to see a therapist?

[Anonymous]

So, for most of my life I've dealt with anxiety. I have trouble getting close to people and hardly trust anyone (including parents). I try to not stress about things, which is easier said than done. Lately, I've been feeling more depressed and my parents just think I'm being moody and making excuses. I have trouble sleeping and am often found tearing up past 2am. I want to see a psychiatrist to help me out but my parents are more of the people to say "you're fine" and "tough it up". So, in other words, if they can't see the problem, it isn't there.

[Outofthegrey]

Call a therapist's office and tell them that you would like to come in, but do not think that your parents would understand. They have dealt with family members like that plenty of times and are going to be far more convincing than you ever could. The mere fact that you talked to a therapist and they felt it important to talk to your parents about coming in is going to be a pretty strong argument.

[ironeddie]

Are you actually over 18? If you are it's none of your parents business.
Either way I suggest you speak to your family doctor first. Maybe get a referral from him/her.
Another thing is try a Google search. Something like "Anxiety Clinics Help _____ (insert your City, State) There should be places near you that you could call for assistance

[JasmineGrace]

Your age group says you're between 18-24. If that's correct, then you're an adult and you don't need your parents' permission to see a therapist. You don't even have to tell them about it.

[Asker]

I'm 16

[JasmineGrace]

In that case you should see a doctor, get a referral and ask the doctor to explain to your parents why this is important.

[Asker]

It's still hard to get them to take me to a doctor without fully explaining what's wrong.

[JasmineGrace]

Explain the physical symptoms to your parents as the reason to go to the doctor.
You may be experiencing any of the following symptoms:
www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml

[Asker]

I've shown my mom an article about anxiety when I was having a really bad anxiety attack about the nausea, headaches, lightheadedness, and that weird state where I feel like I am unattached to reality. She said I was overreacting.

[JasmineGrace]

You don't need to convince your mum that you have physical symptoms from anxiety; you need to convince her that you are experiencing real physical symptoms that the doctor needs to check out in case there's something wrong. (You and I know that anxiety is valid as "something wrong", but since your mum probably doesn't hold that view there's no need to specify what you think the problem is.)

Thanks for MH 😃
Let me know if you get help.
I'm here to talk to if you ever need to. I used to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks.

[Asker]

Thanks. It's not really that simple. We don't really have a family doctor. I just go to specialists if I have an issue that needs to be taken care of rather than being referred. Also, since the anxiety constantly gives me headaches and nausea, she just thinks it's something I ate. Once I actually told her I thought I had anxiety, she said it's all in my head. Of course it's all in my head, that's why it's called a mental illness.

[JasmineGrace]

Oh right - I live in Australia where we have the system of general practitioners who may or may not choose to send you to a specialist. You certainly can't rock up to see a specialist without a referral here.

The problems in your brain affect the way the rest of your body functions. So yeah, it's in your head/brain, which in turn affects how well your body functions.

[Asker]

And even if I were 18, I couldn't go to a psychiatrist without insurance, and I don't even know how much it would cost to go see a specialist.

Yeah, I know how much it affects the body. I have vocal cord dysfunction (I blame anxiety for it), if you don't know what that is, it's when I breathe in and my vocal cords close instead of open which blocks the airflow to my lungs (which isn't good since I run cross country). And throughout the school year I get so worried about my work load that my brain pretty much shuts down and all I can do is lay on the floor and listen to music or drink tea to calm down a bit.

[JasmineGrace]

It sounds like you're really struggling - I'm so sorry for that. 😥

You could buy this book:
"Feeling Good: the new mood therapy" by David D Burns.

I've found occupational therapy really helpful to me. I don't know if your mum would be open to that...

[Asker]

I'll check it out, thanks a ton!

[daniel7]

tel them what you are telling us right now.