Author: John Carter

When to Go to Therapy: 13 Signs It’s Time to Consider Therapy

This includes taking note of any major changes in your mood, behaviors, sleep, relationships, and decision making, as well as your relationship with food, alcohol, or drugs, among other things. Some of these may be symptoms of actual mental health disorders like anxiety or depression, but they don’t have to reach that level of severity for therapy to be helpful. Therapy can help sort out some of the root causes of these reactions by getting at the thoughts or feelings behind them, as well as the patterns causing them. You may also learn to incorporate more adaptive coping skills so that you’re not always turning to a drink at the end of a stressful workday, for instance. They aren’t always going through an overwhelming or tragic event.

Health Challenges

Consider discussing any symptoms you may have with a mental health professional to help you adopt healthy habits to improve your focus. Medication can lessen symptoms you may be experiencing, while therapy helps work through unhelpful or unwanted thoughts that may impact you. A therapist can help you identify such thoughts and offer ways to navigate them so that they don’t get in your way. Many people will say that they can turn to their friends to discuss their problems and that they do not need a therapist. Although supportive friends can be a comforting resource to have, friends are not as objective as a therapist can be. Friends tend to side with friends, even if the friend seeking help is not making good decisions about their issues.

You Don’t Need a “Big” Reason to Start Therapy — Here’s Why

Insomnia can seriously impact your everyday life, leaving you feeling drowsy in the daytime and wide awake at night. It’s not uncommon to seek help dealing with a relationship that has become a source of anxiety or distress. Therapy can help you to better understand and nurture the relationships that are important to you. Relationships can have a significant impact on how you feel.

There are lots of reasons to start therapy, and all of them are equally valid

When you realize you’re going through a tough time and going at it alone isn’t working, it takes a lot of awareness and strength to admit you need more support. Making changes isn’t easy, even with a good support team. That’s why so many people don’t seek help in the first place. People who voluntarily go to therapy prioritize their mental and emotional health; they’re motivated to reach their personal wellness and relationship goals. The bad news is that there is still a stigma surrounding mental illness. The good news is that a number of athletes, entertainers, musicians, and others have been publicly opening up about their mental health issues.

My classes were going well and I’d just started dating the man who’d later become my husband.
Sometimes our actions or lifestyle choices may seem fine to us, but then we notice that they negatively impact the other people in our lives.
It can change how you see things and treat others.” —Juan Pablo Galavis.
This is important because if very public individuals can openly talk about their mental health struggles, so can we.
This includes processing racial trauma and microaggressions, ideally with a culturally sensitive therapist who makes you feel safe, seen, and heard.

When your mental health is suffering

They know their discomfort so well that rather than take a chance to pull themselves out of the emotional hole they are in, they will stay stuck due to unknowns they may face. Have you ever felt like you can’t quite articulate what you’re feeling or struggling with? In doing so, “sometimes something truly valuable comes from this process—becoming a more aware and better version of ourselves,” Dr. McCabe tells SELF. If you’re struggling with your mental health, know that you’re not alone. Having them or attending therapy does not mean there is something “wrong” with you.

However, it can be helpful to determine why you don’t want to. Symptoms can take weeks, months or even years to improve. Although this can be frustrating or disheartening, for therapy to work, you have to give it time.

You can go to therapy just because there’s something about yourself or your life you’d like to explore. People often cope with the feelings listed above in different ways. Others might seek out or do things that are unhealthy for them, like entering a toxic relationship, engaging in dangerous activities, developing an unhealthy habit or procrastinating.

If you’re considering therapy, something is likely bothering you and you want help. Life threatening events, such as crimes, accidents, and natural disasters, can stay with you long after they’re over. In time, a traumatic event can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Psychologists who specialize in treating phobias can help you recognize and tackle your fears using techniques such as exposure therapy and talk therapy. If you find it difficult to concentrate on everyday activities or work assignments, you may benefit from a therapist. Following are some of the erroneous beliefs that lead people to shun therapy.

You seem to have a shorter fuse than usual, and it’s affecting your mood, relationships, or other areas of your life.

If you’re diagnosed with a mental health condition, your mental health specialist may recommend therapy in conjunction with medication for your treatment plan. Friends may also gossip about the other friend, which may cause hurt, animosity, and mistrust among them. And friends often become weary hearing the same problems talked about over and over again without any resolution. Overall, friends can be a supportive and close group to have when times get tough; however, they should not be seen as a replacement to a professional therapist. The other benefit that therapy can provide people who don’t think they “need” it is pattern revelation. We all have subconscious patterns and tools we develop as coping mechanisms, and often these are invisible to us because we developed them organically, years and years ago—sometimes in our early childhood.