Baseball is life
Baseball season is in full swing. Opening day for so many people across the country is a signal that winter is done and warm weather and fun in the sun is right around the corner. I love baseball!! I love all forms of baseball from little league and t-ball to the major leagues. Every year when as winter drags on, I start to look ahead to the start of baseball season and everything that goes with it.
I can’t help but notice how baseball games and baseball seasons are a lot like life. Now bear with me here. In any given game or season, you have many ups and downs: as a hitter you go through streaks of hitting every pitch that you see to long droughts of not being able to hit a beach ball, Pitchers get hot for a few starts and then cool off, and teams go on 10 game winning streaks and the flip side, 10 game losing streaks. Such is life. Players, managers, owners etc. all expect that these things are going to happen and tend to not overreact to anything in either direction (positive or negative). We as human beings experience these ups and downs as well. However, we tend to be much harder on ourselves than a manager would be on a team. These natural ups and downs happen and are part of what we deal with day in and day out. Most of the time, these “slumps” go away on their own. It’s when they tend to stick around that they become a problem.
In dealing with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, it feels like things will never get back to “normal” or that “I will never feel good again.” Reaching out for help in these slumps can be the difference in beginning to get out of that slump or continuing to suffer and struggle. Reaching out for help does not have to be with a therapist, though that can be immensely helpful. Try talking to a spouse or significant other, a friend, a close co-worker, someone whom you can talk to about the struggle you may have. Half the battle in overcoming mental health issues is reaching out for that help and support and not going at it alone. Baseball players have hitting and pitching coaches to help them overcome their slumps, so should you have that coach or support available to you. Getting out of those hitting slumps does not always happen overnight and the same thing goes with mental health. The important thing is that you keep getting up to the plate and taking a swing to make it happen. Individual therapy and couples counseling are the ways we can reach out and get that professional support
Again asking for help is the first step, if need support in getting out of your slump, reach out to me and let’s talk about how I can help.
Patrick Schultz MA LPC NCC
Milwaukeecounselor.com