Realizing something’s not right
Max has had times in their life where they've felt completely exhausted and not interested in anything. These feelings were especially strong when they first came out as non-binary to friends and family. The feelings would make it hard for them to go to school, but they would take a few sick days and then make up the work.
Now that high school is over, Max needs to work to pay for rent and groceries. Missing a few days from work really puts Max in a hard place with their budget. They keep waiting for the feelings of being tired, sad, and stuck in life to go away, but the feelings are only getting worse and they feel overwhelmed.
They keep telling themselves it's not “that bad”, but after missing another day of work, they look up online, “am I depressed?” and realize they probably need help.
Asking for help
Max took a few days to try and figure out how to get help but it all feels too stressful. They're worried about being labeled or judged. They don't know where to start. Max can't get an appointment to see their regular doctor for a few more weeks, and they're nervous to talk to their brother about it because he always tells them to stop complaining.
Max decides to open up to their friend Ava, who's always been a non-judgmental friend. Max asks Ava to meet at the park on Saturday, so they can talk face-to-face. Ava asks Max what she can do to help, and Max asks for help finding a therapist who sees other patients who are non-binary. Ava says she'll try asking around.
Dealing with a crisis
While Max and Ava are looking for a therapist, Max finds out their dad has cancer. The news is almost too much to handle. They don’t know how they’ll be able to care for him while going to work and feeling depressed. Max feels like no one understands or can offer help. They remember they can text the 988 mental health crisis line. Max reaches out right away to chat with a crisis counselor trained to work LBGTQ+ youth.
Finding care
Therapists and
Counselors
Psychologists
Intake
Coordinators
Nurses and
Physicians Assistants
Psychiatrists
Peer Support
Specialists
Ava helps Max call therapists all over the city but can't find one that takes their insurance. Max finally gets to see their doctor, who finds an appointment with a therapist who works with lots of LGBTQ+ clients.
Therapists and
Counselors
Psychologists
Intake
Coordinators
Nurses and
Physicians Assistants
Psychiatrists
Peer Support
Specialists
Waiting for treatment
Max is worried about their therapy appointment-what will the therapist ask? Will the therapist take Max seriously? Will the therapist understand their identity? How will they feel after going? Max does some searching online to learn about what happens in a therapy appointment and feels a little bit better.
Max finally meets with the therapist and expresses that they're nervous. The therapist reassures Max that those are normal feelings and Max doesn't have to talk about anything they're not ready to. After a couple of session Max starts feeling comfortable and is more comfortable talking about the hard feelings.
Getting help, feeling better
After a few months, Max is still regularly seeing their therapist and is taking medicine to help them through this extra hard time. They've opened up more to Ava and shared with a few other friends that they're going to therapy-and found out some of the friends are too. They feel less alone in general. Max has even caught a few moments lately of feeling something that they might even call normal. These moments give Max hope.
Max's therapist explained that getting better is like an upward spiral-that not all days are great, but the overall trend is positive and moving up. Even on their down days, Max at least knows they're heading in a better direction.