My comment may be somewhat different from everyone else's. My therapist basically told me the same thing over several months. I have depression and anxiety. You didn't say what your diagnosis is, so I will speak to only what she told me.

My therapist told me that the bad experiences I had earlier in life laid down a sort of roadmap in my brain so that I coped (or didn't cope, more to the point) in certain ways. As a matter of survival when I was a child I was doing the best I could in an untenable situation. But as an adult those strategies were not so helpful. Yet they appeared to be the only ones, according to my brain (when I was in stressful situations).

So she taught me how to re-train my brain. She said that studies showed that people could develop better pathways of thinking and different, and more appropriate (for the here and now) strategies for coping with stressful situations.

I take a medication for my depression. I use affirmations (a version of a "good talking to myself")--at first I said them morning and night and sometimes during the day. Now I say them in the morning as I am going to work (which is the source of my stress right now).

I stopped focusing on negative things. For example, I stopped reading the news online at night because it disrupted my sleep which was ruining my health.

I purposely found things to find joy in. For me it is photos of animals (friends help me with this by sending me cute ones), videos of animals, beautiful places.

I practice smiling. Another thing I found out (I can't remember if my therapist told me this or I read it in article) but if you smile, those muscles activate good feelings in the brain. It is true! So as I go into work I think of the most charming thing (which happens to be a little video I saw) and I start to smile (I am smiling now as I think of this). What I found out is that my sunny expression brings out the same expression on other people's faces. Not everyone of course--but enough where my mood was lifted.

I also started looking at the "I can't" of my life. I have reconsidered my job, where I live, how I live and whether I will continue my education or not. As an example--not so very many years ago there was no such thing as a cell phone. Yet many people today think "I can't live without my cell phone". Really?? I can. I have.

The point is that every "I can't" in your life can be re-examined and re-examined more than once, at different stages of your life. Allow yourself to step out of the lockstep of your thinking, particularly the idea that you can't get better. At the very least none of us know what better, more effective therapies and medications may be developed in the coming months and years.

Let me caution you that all of that said, if you have been prescribed medications, do not think I am advocating going without them. Not at all. Some mental illnesses have a component that make the person think he or she is not ill. So we must rely on the good judgment of doctors and therapists in those situations. Nevertheless, you are and can be an active partner in your own treatment towards better well-being.

I hope this helps you and/or someone else.