Hi there,
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<br />I have gone to counseling once in my life, and I think it was about the age you are now. I was only in counseling for about 6 months or less, but it really helped me get through a time in my life when I needed help. I was mildly depressed and I was also diagnosed with anxiety. I was put on an anti-anxiety medication and took that for about a year for the anxiety. I didn't like the side effects, so I stopped it.
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<br />I still suffer from very mild anxiety and depression from time to time, but I always get through it. I think I found ways to deal with it myself now and I have had to learn to accept who I am. It's a learning process for me. But sometimes you just have to seek a little help from time to time and let your feelings out to someone who is unbiased and able to help you sort through your issues.
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<br />I remember my counselor, when I told her I had CF, the horrible look on her face. She was like, "Oh...that is a terrible disease from what I remember." And she then told me about her only experience with a CF patient. She was in social work school and was working on a peds floor with kids with mental issues. One of the girls had CF. She said, "This poor girl was so sick and she had to be pounded on several times a day." Luckily I was able to educate her on how CF treatment has progressed and people with CF do much better these days. But her recollection of CF was not a positive one. But it was nice to educate her a little about it and it really was therapeautic for me to get to tell her about how far we've come in 30 years.
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<br />Counseling is definitely a good thing though if you're feeling a down and out. It's always worth a shot. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">