Despite progress in our overall attitudes toward mental health, even in 2021, the stigma of therapy being something for “crazy people” still very much exists.
For boomers (our parents that seems especially true.)
There are parents out there who are supportive of mental health care or who see therapists themselves, but the reality is that there is still a lot of stigma around taking care of yourself in that way.
For some parents, it’s hard to understand why their kids suddenly want to see a shrink. Does it mean they were bad at raising them? What will people think? All the bad stuff comes up before any of the good stuffโlike being proud your kid is trying to take care of themselves.
A 19-year-old name Mina posting on Twitter under the handle @towelheadcutie shared a series of messages between herself and her mom in which she shows how her mother came around to thinking therapy is a good thing.
“my pakistani mom slowly warming up to the idea of therapy over time..” she captioned it.
In the first message, Mina is telling her mom she is running late on her way back from therapy.
“Why do you need to go to therapy,” he mom demands. “You are not crazy.”
“I think I am mama,” Mina replies. Been there.
In the next message, Mina tells her mom she spoke with her therapist, and the therapist suggested Mina and her mother set aside a day every month to spend time together to spend quality time, because they’ve both been so busy.
“I love your therapist,” answers mom, sending a bunch of heart emojis.
Then, in the last screenshot, Mina’s mother just texts her, “Go book a therapy appnt. Mina you need it now.”
Mina responds with a bunch of question marks and it’s probably the funniest part of the progression.
The exchanges are very heartwarming, and people are touched by the way mom came around:
We love a story about growth.