When I was younger...

[CaptainCadet]

...I was called in to the guidance counselor. I was really anxious about it and afraid he knew I wasn't normal. I felt like I had been "caught" or something. Walking there was one of the scariest moments I had in that building.

But the meeting lasted less than a minute or two, he was really dismissive about the whole thing and I felt really relieved when he let me go.

But I keep thinking about it now. What if, I had went in there and been honest or if he hadn't acted like it was silly. I don't even know who set that meeting up. I don't know anything about it. I know it's pointless to worry about it now but it's just one of those things that keeps popping into my mind now and then.

How things might have been different.

It's really hard to talk about stuff like this, even anonymously. I can't help but feel like things would just be so much better though. Maybe one day.

[mrzyphl]

Guidance counsellers are there to listen to you tell them what you want and help you achieve that. They are not there to tell you what they want.

I too was called to the Guidance office in High School and had no idea why. I had no goals, no self confidence and nothing but anxiety about my future. I don't remember what she said but she definitely never gave me any encouragement or advice. I had less than a 60% average so I don't think she really expected anything from me.

[Fuzzy12]

hi captain, I'm sorry the guidance counsellor wasn't more helpful. I don't see what the point of a counsellor is if they are this disinterested and dismissive. At the least they shouldn't make you feel worse. i remember once going with my mother to her psychiatrist. He was horrible. Didn't want to listen to anything she had to say and was very very dismissive. I kind of lost faith in mental health professionals after that and my mom absolutely refused to see any other psychiatrist after this guy. So she never really got a serious diagnosis.

l struggle with what-ifs as well. Not necessarily with respect to any diagnosis but other stuff. But i know how difficult it is to let go of them. What if someone could have recognised what was going on with you. What if someone would have tried to help you. It might have made a huge difference. It might have saved you a lot of struggling and pain. I don't really have any advice. I just wanted to say that i think it's normal to think about there key moments and wonder how they might have changed our lives.

I hope you are getting better treatment now at least.

[SeanQuail]

I think we all have regrets about how our differences were understood or handled. The one thing I do know about all adders is that we don't need any help in beating ourselves up, having regrets or obsessing about things we can't change.

So please try and be kind to yourself. We all do the best we can in the moment, and you should give yourself credit for that.