the search
After Saturday's friday forte post (!) now comes the midlife bit and also the 'how to' constructive post - how to get started?
What?
The midlife relevancy to all this is perhaps a little stretched. All texts I've read so far cite rates of depression in women exceeding that of men, except in older caucasian male cancer patients. The obvious tie-in with hormonal events is currently under review but a woman's happiness does apparently wane with age. Maybe by middle age, women know what they want in life, are aware enough to get pissed at how little they're achieving it, and have the maturity to do something about it?
Why?
What kicked me into action? Looking through my diary, I've actually taken around two years to get moving. Maybe I'm a hopeless optimist, thinking each time I made progress that 'this' was the solution? Maybe I'm frankly delusional. My son is a great motivator - I want to be the best mum I can be. Also, checking with Moodscope every day confirmed that I was just bumping along in neutral.
How?
Finding a therapist is a little different to getting a good recommendation for a hairstylist or plumber. It's one thing to admire a haircut or chit chat about blocked pipes; mental well-being isn't usually discussed over a quick coffee. As an expat I don't have a huge network to tap into, so I turned instead to Google! Searching there quickly turned up Counselling BC which has a very handy Find function which filters according to office location, therapeutic approach and area of practice. Both counsellors and registered psychologists are listed (check with your extended health provider for coverage), often with additional information about each individual. As I said, a personal recommendation was not possible. Choosing and booking meant an afternoon of searching, looking at photos and reading bio's until I felt comfortable.
... and now I take the kleenex and talk it through :)
