Lyrics from Pink’s “Happy”

In Pink’s song, “Happy” she sings, “I take another hit, I find another fake fix, ‘Cause it’s easier than healing. I don’t wanna be this way forever. Keep telling myself that I’ll get better”

Healing takes time, there is no easy way to heal. There is no short cut you can take. It’s often the attempts to short cut the process that cause more problems (such as using substances, or suppressing and denying what you actually feel).

In trauma therapy we often talk about the need to go slow to go fast. We have to slow down and do the foundational work so that we don’t cause melt downs, crises, or other unnecessary setbacks.

That is not to say you have to heal to find relief. In good therapy there should definitely come some easing of symptoms, increase in healthy coping, etc.

Don’t let the reality that healing takes time make you give up before you start. You deserve to heal and have many days, months and years of mental health in front of you.