Whenever someone mentions that they're thinking of doing some therapy or counseling, I tell them, "I have a little saying about therapy. It's: 'therapy's great!'" I'm dumb, but I want to do whatever I can to help remove any stigma from f'ing going and getting some help for what ails you. You don't have to wait until you're dying to go to a regular doctor -- no one will look at you weird if you go in to the doctor to deal with some joint pain or a nagging cold or such. And just so, you don't have to be full-out crazy to go get some help from a professional about mental issues. If nothing else, having someone's whose job it is to listen to you complain -- what could be better?

I did some therapy a few years ago here in Chicago, not to fix anything major, just to kind of figure out where I was at. I figured some stuff out, and got some good tools for just dealing with things better. (My guy was great, and if you're looking for a recommendation in Chicago, I've got one. Especially if you're a guyish-guy. My guy had a bunch of baseball analogies and stuff that I could tell were aimed at making 'I'm a manly man, why am I in therapy' types feel more comfortable. Almost made me wish I cared about baseball.)

Heather Armstrong posted something really powerful today about her own experiences with therapy and brain-fixing drugs and says the same thing -- if you need help, go get it. Ain't no shame in that.